Day 10

Good morning everyone! I hope you’re off to a great day. I heard from a couple of people yesterday that they went to read the day 9 devotional on my blog and it wasn’t there!?! I don’t get it! I posted it yesterday morning, and when I checked the blog this morning, there it was! I hope everything is working now!

Anyway…

Let’s pray! Lord Jesus Christ, speak to me!

“I no longer call you servants because a servant doesn’t know his master's business. Instead I have called you friends for everything I've learned from My Father, I've made known unto you. You didn't choose Me, but I chose you to go and bear fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name." John 15:15

On this past Sunday morning, we started a new series of messages on prayer. One of the things I really want our church to grow in this year is prayer. So, as our devotional this morning, let’s review the main points from the first message on prayer.

Sunday’s message was on the purposes of prayer. Here are the purposes we talked about:

1) Prayer is dedication
2) Prayer is communication
3) Prayer is supplication
4) Prayer is cooperation

Prayer as dedication shows that we are dependent on God. It shows that our lives our dedicated to depending on Him because we realize how badly we need him. One of the greatest enemies of prayer is our over estimation of our ability to take care of ourselves. Have you humbled yourself before God today and recognized your need to depend on Him today?

Prayer as communication points to the fact that we can communicate with God directly! We don’t have to some other medium to get to Him. He has opened up a direct line of communication with Him through Christ. He calls us friends! We are not simply His servants or slaves! God calls us his friends and wants us to know that we can communicate with Him anytime, anywhere- all the time for that matter!

Prayer as supplication means we can ask God for whatever our hearts desire. God wants to give us what we want! Doesn’t that sound a little too good to be true? But it is! He says multiple times in Scripture that if we reverence Him, living our lives for him, then we can ask Him for what we want and he will answer. The point is not that we can ask for a million dollars and get it. The point is, if our lives are lined up with what God, what we want will line up with His will. And don’t miss the point of bringing any and every request before God! He cares for you and wants to hear from you.

Finally, prayer as cooperation means that we get to work with God on His plan for earth through our prayers. God has limited Himself in such a way that He is saying, “I will not do certain things unless my children believe me for these things by praying ans asking for these things to happen.” I have no idea exactly how these works, but God calls us to pray! And prayer changes things! I don’t have to understand it! I just know that God says I can cooperate with Him in prayer.

Application – Pray. Talk to God. If you’re a Christ-follower, He calls you His friend. Grow your relationship with Him by spending some time talking with Him today.

PS - This message outline on prayer comes from Rick Warren.