Day 18 – Pray to be Humble

Mac Davis used to sing a song called “It’s Hard to be Humble “.  The main lyric went like this – “Oh Lord it’s hard to be humble / When you’re perfect in every way.”  That was a catchy song in the early ’80s, and it was correct in theology.

We cannot be humble when we think we have done anything good with our lives.  The fact is that it is God who has blessed us and given all good blessings.  When we realize that the Creator is in charge and we can only follow Him, then we look at life a little differently.

It is with the posture of looking to God for goodness, hope, blessings, and direction for the day that we learn how to be humble.  Only when I realize I can do nothing without the help and goodness of God that we can become humble.

Then with a humble heart we ask God each day to give us today’s portion, to show us what we need to do, and to thank Him.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. James 4:10

Day 17 – Pray for Wisdom

I heard Andy Stanley preach a series of messages on the best question.  He asked what was the best question of all time?  The best question according to Andy was – What is the wise thing to do?

When confronted with a decision he said to ask what is the wise thing to do?

In light of my past, failures, future, hopes and dreams – what is the wise thing decision?

I can’t tell you how profound this question has become to me, and how I have shared it over the years.

Solomon was recorded as the wisest man in the Bible. But how did he get that way? If you look in 1 Kings 3 you will see that God asked Solomon one night in a dream and told him he could ask for anything, and Solomon asked for wisdom.

What would you ask for? Money? Fame? Popularity? Property?

The good news is that if you ask God for wisdom – I believe He will give it to you!

Day 16 – for a closer Relationship with Jesus

Who in this world knows you the best?  Is it your spouse, your mom, dad or best friend?  Who knows you well enough to finish your sentences?  Who do you trust and can be honest when you talk with them?  Who has the integrity that lets you respect them?

We have certain people who fit this bill – or parts of it.  They are the ones we call when the world seems to be beating us down, and the first one we want to talk with when something spectacular happens.  We trust them with our secrets, and we value their opinions.

I have family and friends who fit these criteria, but not all of them.  My wife is the first on my list, but I also have family and friends that I share certain information with and look to them for wisdom.  But what I also know is that just like me – they will fail me or fall short at times.

I have only one relationship that will not fail and that is with Jesus.

Jesus already knows my pains, joys, heartaches and passions.  He knows what I think and what I am going to think.  He knows where I came from and where I am going.  He just knows me.

The problem with our relationship is that I really do not know Him.  I have some knowledge of Him, but I really don’t know Him.  I don’t know His pains, joys, heartaches and passions.  So I have a hard time having a great relationship with Jesus.

Do you identify with this?  Do you know Jesus like He knows you?  To be honest I will never know Him like He knows me, but I need to be trying to know Him better.  I need to spend time learning what brings Jesus joy so our relationship can grow.

I believe there are at least seven ways to build your relationship with Jesus, and you can start with at least one of these just as soon as you read #7.

1. Sacrifice for Jesus

2. Communicate often and deeply with Jesus

3. Serve Jesus

4. Be patient with Jesus

5. Be loyal to Jesus

6. Share the same goals with Jesus

7. Have fun with Jesus

Day 15 – Pray over a Room in your House

Did you ever have a bad dream or just feel like something in our home is not right?  Do you have a room in your house that you go to for your quiet time each day?  Do you have children or meetings in your home?  Are you aware that you are being attacked by satan?  If any of these conditions apply in your life I think you need to pray over that room or maybe your whole house.

In Mark 16:17 the Bible says that we use the name of Jesus we can cast out devils.  We learn in Acts 16:18 that Paul commanded a spirit to leave a girl in the name of Jesus, and it came out right away.

I suggest the following steps to cast out demons in your home.  Remember, satan is powerful, but not as powerful as God.  Remember that 1John4:4 says that greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.

1. First you must be assured that you are saved and covered in the blood of Jesus.  If you are not saved none of the steps below will be effective or long lasting.
2. Pray to God and ask for clarity that what is against you is from satan.  Also thank God in advance for what He is about to do.
3. Put on the full Armor of God prior to battling satan as found in Ephesians 6:10-18.
4. Ask satan to reveal himself to you and the name of the demon.
5. If revealed to you rebuke the specific demon in the name of Jesus, if no name is given to you then just rebuke satan in the name of Jesus.
6. By standing in the room our house you are asking to be cleared command satan to be gone in the name of Jesus.  He is not welcome in your home, and by the authority of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit you command satan to leave.
7. Thank God for the ability to protect your family and belongings and ask for the Lord to put a hedge of protection around you, your family and home.

For reference and as tools read from your Bible: Mark 11:22-24, Luke 1:37, Hebrews 11:1, Matthew 17:19-21, James 4:7, James 2:19, Mark 3:11, Matthew 10:1

Day 14 – Pray while Looking over Family Photos

My son is about to graduate from high school, so I have been pouring over lots of pictures lately.  I have got to go back and took at family vacations, Christmas, Easter, and birthdays.  We have some good pictures of our kids playing outside and those first days of school each year.

I really like to scroll through those pictures and remember the way things were back then.

I have also learned to take my time and thank God for certain things those pictures mean to me.

1. Thankful that we were able to take vacations.  I am thankful for a job that gave us enough money and time away to take a vacation.
2. Thankful for the health of my family.
3. Thankful for the reason a picture was took to begin with.  That moment meant enough to capture it at the time, and remembering why I am thankful.
4. Thankful for the homes in which pictures were took.
5. Thankful that I had the resources to have a camera to capture the moment.
6. Thankful that I was there to capture not only the moment but the event.
7. Thankful that God trusted me with a wife, two children and a family that loves me.

Day 13 – Pray over a decision

I don’t know about you, but I seem to have big decisions I need to make come up quite often here lately.  Between my wife, children, family, church and work it seems I need to be making more decisions every day.

Now I feel that God guides me each and every day, and I really don’t have a problem making a decision.  From military training and my walk with the Lord, I feel I have been gifted and tested with the confidence to assess a situation and make the most informed decision.  I am not one to wait too long to pull a trigger, but then again sometimes I do not give decisions enough time to develop.

But with that said, there are certain things that I just do not have clarity about that I need to bring to God for direction.  These decisions come at me from situations in which I have not been exposed before.  All decisions should be made with the goal of bringing glory to God.

Sometimes it is the small decisions we make daily that add up to long term consequences or rewards.  We take these smaller decisions lightly sometimes, but I think we need to ask the Lord before we make any decision.

I need God’s direction in these type of decisions:

1. What I need to do during a particular day.  I need God to show me what He is up to and how I can be involved.
2. Family decisions are most difficult at times.  In raising our children and relationship decisions I need God to give me wisdom and not rely on my own understanding.
3. With financial decisions I rely on God first then my wife.  She has a much better head about financial decisions than me – or let’s just say she is more conservative in financial decisions than me.
4. In my job I decide how to treat customers, how to relate to my coworkers, and how to map out my long term objectives.  I need God to help me make the best decisions for those each day.

Day 12 – Pray for revival

The church Jesus established will not go away. It cannot die and it will not be replaced. But if you are just somewhat aware of the spiritual decline in the United States you will most certainly agree that today’s church is weak.

We are in dire need for a revival of God’s people.

A revival is needed during a period of apathy, defeat, moral decline and desperation.

A revival will happen when God’s people are desperate in prayer for God to revive the church with His powerful intervention and blessings.

I believe these are the characteristics and waves that define a revival.

1. Timing – revivals come during times of spiritual and moral decline, and that leads to fervent prayers. We can ask for it, but only God knows the time and circumstances are right for Him to allow it.
2. Prayer – God will put the desire for a revival into the hearts of His people who respond with earnest prayer.
3. God’s Word – the preaching and reading of God’s Word will bring deep conviction and desire for revival.
4. The Holy Spirit – will take people to a desire for dependance of God that we cannot ask for on our own.
5. Conviction – the lost will be convicted of their need for a Savior, and the saved will be convicted of their separation from God by sin. Both will cry out to God
6. Glory to God – from revival God will be glorified and His name will be lifted above all others for the gifting of revival.
7. Cyclical – a revival will not last, and a time will come again when revival in the hearts of God’s people will be needed.

So the question now for you is – do you think this country and God’s people need a revival?

If so, know this – it will begin in YOUR prayers.

Day 11 – Pray over meals 

I am a fortunate man no doubt. I will average around three meals a day. Breakfast is by far my favorite, and the one I do not like to miss.

The one thing I try to do with my meals is to give thanks for them. No I don’t always remember to do so, but I should. I think there are at least three good reasons to ask a blessing over your food before you eat.

1. I am thankful for the resources and ability to even have access to three meals a day. I know that everybody in this world doesn’t have this opportunity.
2. I need to remind those that I am eating with that we need to give thanks for the food God has provided.
3. To be a witness for those who see me that I am a Christian and that I stop to give thanks for my meals.

One thing I have read recently that I totally agree with is not to ask God to nourish my body with the food I am about to eat when it is nothing but junk. God does want to bless me and strengthen my body. But lets be real – when I put junk in my body I should not expect God to perform some kind of miracle and make my body flourish from it. I have to do my part and eat food and drink that are wholesome and nutritious.

Day 10 – Pray while driving

If you are new to prayer this might seem a bit strange to you, but I get a lot of quality time of prayer in while driving. And no it is not because I am fearful for my life or those around me in rush hour traffic, it is because I am alone with God.

The Bible tells us many postures to assume while praying. We can pray with our head bowed, with our eyes lifted toward Heaven, with our eyes closed, and with our eyes wide open.

Now I am going to make a big suggestion to you here – do not close your eyes and pray while driving. You just might meet Jesus faster than you anticipated….

While I am driving I sometimes just turn the radio off and listen to what God says to me. I will bring up some situations that I am dealing with that day and see what He says about them. Do I need to pay more attention to something, do I need to dig into a situation, or do I just need to let something go? If I will just be still in my mind and listen to our Father, He will direct me.

Day 9 – Pray with your children

For those of us who have been blessed by being parents I think we have no greater responsibility than to point those gifts back to God.  Children are such a blessing from God and we are to do our best to give them back to Him.

The Lord has given me and my wife two children to raise.  They are a few years apart and their personalities are total opposite, but they both are our gifts from God that we love so very much.  It is our privilege to love them and raise them to love Jesus.

One of the best ways we can point them to Jesus is to share time with them in prayer.  I pray for them daily, but I am being most effective in my parenting when I pray with them.  It allows me to model what prayer should look like and forms a deeper bond with me, them and Jesus.  I shouldn’t rely on our church youth group to teach them how to pray – no, that is my job as a parent.  I am thankful for the church and how it supports me as a parent, but they are my children to raise up in the Lord.

The Bible clearly teaches the parent to raise our children to love God with all our heart, soul and strength.  Deuteronomy 6 instructs us to share the Bible and the goodness of God with our children.

We should not only pray over our meals with our children, but we should pray in church with our children.  We should pray with the sick, hurting and helpless with our children.  We should pray with our children before we leave on vacation and when we get bad news.  We should pray with our children at good news and when they are facing decisions.

Just today I had an opportunity to pray with my son.  He is going through a difficult situation right now.  So this morning I gave him some advice and walk out of his room.  The Lord spoke to me so clearly – “you spoke but didn’t let Me”.  So I turned around and went back upstairs, took him by the hands (he thought that to be really weird of his dad) and prayed a prayer asking Jesus for clarity of mind, strength and for guidance.

Do I do this often enough?  No

But I am learning to pray with him more to show our dependence not on any person, but what Jesus says and how He guides.