Real Life

"Flash Prayers"

"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you" (Eph. 1:18 ).

This week, plan a prayer excursion. Go by yourself, enlist a fellow intercessor, or go as a prayer group. Go to a public place--a mall, a restaurant, and a ball game. Pray "flash prayers" for people you encounter. Ask God to open the eyes of their hearts so that they will know the hope to which He has called them. If you are with a partner or a group, you may wish to pray out loud in conversational tones. You do not need to close your eyes to pray.


Jennifer Kennedy Dean
The Praying Life Foundation
www.nationaldayofprayer.org

Eyes On Jesus

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" Hebrew. 12:2

This week, be fully aware of Jesus. He is God's Everything. During your daily prayer time, before you do anything else, fix your inner eyes on Jesus. As you go through your day, let your inner eyes see Jesus present in every situation. When you think of a friend or a family member, let your inner eyes see Jesus there with that person.


Jennifer Kennedy Dean
The Praying Life Foundation
www.nationaldayofprayer.org

Lord's Purpose

"Many are the plans in a man's heart,
but it is the LORD"s purpose that prevails" Proverbs 19:12

This week, focus your prayer time on embracing the Lord's purpose in your every action, every plan, and every endeavor. Each morning, list your plans for the day. Yield them to God's purposes. Be ready to change them if the Lord should direct you to. Be alert for how God is working out His long-term purposes through your short-term plans.

Jennifer Kennedy Dean
The Praying Life Foundation
www.nationaldayofprayer.org

Thankfulness

Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion.

-- John Henry Jowett

Psalm

VERSE:
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may
sing for joy and be glad all our days.
-- Psalm 90:14


THOUGHT:
What's the secret of having a good day? How about waking up and
recognizing that we begin each day just as we ended the previous
one -- we are in the grip of God's unfailing love. That should make
our hearts stir with love and our voices sing with joy. This song
should stir God's Spirit within us and lead us to a deep and
profound thanksgiving that gladdens all of our days. So rather than
waking up tired, cranky, and dreading another day, let this day
with a reminder of God's grace in our daily lives and a reminder of
God's promises in our hearts. Then, I don't think we're going to
have any problem singing the rest of the day!

PRAYER:
Glorious Master and Eternal Father, thank you for pouring your
love and joy into my heart through your Holy Spirit. Fill my heart
and satisfy my life with a sense of your abiding and unfailing
love. In the name of my loving Savior, Jesus. Amen.

www.heartlight.org

Much Prayer

Where there is much prayer, there will be much of the Spirit;
where there is much of the Spirit, there will be ever-increasing
prayer.

- Andrew Murray

Jesus does his best work at such moments. Just when the truth
about life sinks in, his truth starts to surface. He takes us by
the hand and dares us not to sweep the facts under the rug but
to confront them with him at our side.

-- Max Lucado

The Word Is Near You

"The word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it" (Deut. 30:14).

This week, during your prayer times, read the Scripture out loud. You will find that your mind stays focused better and that hearing the words and speaking them brings out nuances that you have missed by reading silently.


Jennifer Kennedy Dean
The Praying Life Foundation
www.nationaldayofprayer.org

Invite God

. . . prayer invites God into my world and ushers me into God's.
Jesus himself, who spent many hours in solitary prayer, invariably
returned to a busy world of weddings, dinners, and crowds of sick and
needy people. He rejected Peter's suggestion to build a tent on a
mountaintop and returned instead to the masses below. Following that
pattern, I look for ways to bring the two worlds together, God's and
mine, to let them become one.



-Philip Yancey in PRAYER Does It Make Any Difference?, p.167.

Never Stop Praying

Never Give Up


Then Jesus taught the followers that they should always pray
and never lose hope. Jesus used this story to teach them:

-- Luke 18:1 (ERV)


KEY THOUGHT:
Jesus had two points he wanted to impress into the hearts of his
disciples. First, he wanted them to be dedicated to prayer and have it
as a constant part of their lives. Second, he wanted them to know that
they must never give up, no matter what the circumstances might be.
While Jesus makes his points clear, why did he feel the need to tell a
story? The answer is pretty straightforward. Stories help us remember.
They connect to a different place in our hearts and in our heads rather
than just saying the main point. Finally, Jesus used stories from
everyday experience so that the sight or experience of something
similar would bring his teaching back into the forefront of their
thoughts. So the next time you hear about a Bible teacher or preacher
who tells too many stories, remind the folks of the Master Storyteller
-- Jesus!


TODAY'S PRAYER:
Father, thank you for Jesus' ability to put your truth into everyday
stories. Thank you for the truth that they carry and the power they
have in our memories. Thank you for giving so much of your truth in
Scripture in the form of stories. Most of all, dear Father, help me to
never give up as I seek your will, your presence, and your help through
prayer. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen

www.heartlight.org

VERSE:
I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my
name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his
reward. Mark 9:41


THOUGHT:
This simple and clear passage cuts two ways: First, we are
blessed when we bless God's children, even if the blessing is
simple. Second, we can rejoice when others do the simplest things
to bless us in Jesus' name, because we receive the kindness and
grace of others and because God blesses that kindness with his
overwhelming grace. Bottom line -- let's live to be a blessing!
When we do, God is blessed. We are blessed. We bless others. In
addition, when others are gracious to us, God has also promised to
bless them. God pours his blessings out on all of us. In God's
miraculous economy, the more we bless each other, the more
blessings there are for everyone!

PRAYER:
Gracious and loving Father, please use me this week to be a
blessing to everyone around me. But this week, dear Father, please
lead me into the life of someone who desperately needs your grace.
Please give me discernment to see them when you bring them across
my path. Give me courage to reach out and bless them. Keep them on
my heart and help me as I seek to be a long-term blessing to them.
In Jesus' name I ask for your help and grace to use this
opportunity for your glory. Amen.

Only God Could Love Like That

WHAT God did makes sense.

It makes sense that Jesus would be
our sacrifice because a sacrifice was needed to justify man's
presence before God. ... However, WHY God did it is absolutely
absurd. When one leaves the method and examines the motive, the
carefully stacked blocks of logic begin to tumble. That type of
love isn't logical; it can't be neatly outlined in a sermon or
explained in a term paper. It is inexplicable. It doesn't
have a drop of logic nor a thread of rationality. And yet, it is
that very irrationality that gives the gospel its greatest
defense. For only God could love like that.

-- Max Lucado

Our Fuel

The following quote is attributed to C. S. Lewis in Wild at Heart by John Eldredge:

"A car is made to run on gasoline, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on himself. He himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other."

You Are Not An Accident

You are not an accident. Your birth was no mistake or mishap,
and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have
planned you, but God did. ... Long before you were conceived by
your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. He thought
of you first. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor
coincidence that you are breathing this very moment. You are
alive because God wanted to create you!

-- Rick Warren

Pray for The Soldiers

Prayer

"Lord, please hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen."

Prayer Request: When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops around the world.

At The Feet of Jesus

Those who are willing to come apart from the clamor and demands of
each day's activity in order to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to
His heart are the ones who will be blessed with intimacy beyond that
which most believers will ever know.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss in A Place of Quiet Rest, p.235.

Purpose Of Your Life

The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal
fulfillment, peace of mind, or even your happiness. It's far
greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest
dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on
this planet, you must begin with God. You were born BY his
purpose and FOR his purpose. - Rick Warren

Be A Friend

VERSE:
Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
1 Corinthians 10:24


THOUGHT:
Isn't it amazing how the more we try to fix things for
ourselves, the more we focus on "looking out for number 1," and the
more we also find ourselves isolated from meaningful relationships
that make life worth living. "If you want to have a friend, then be
a friend," the saying goes. You know what? It's right! It's easy to
seek what is only for our own good. That's what most folks do as a
matter of course. But what makes Christians redemptive, what makes
them like God, is their willingness to think of others before
themselves!

PRAYER:
Father, forgive me, because I know that I am often selfish and
seldom think through the implications of my decisions based on the
needs of others. I want to have the mind of Christ and be more
selfless and sacrificial with everyone who needs your grace and the
tenderness that you have placed within me to share with them.
Please bless me as I seek to be like your Son in this area of my
life. In Jesus' name. Amen.

"Busy-ness"

www.heartlight.org

VERSE:
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own
business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that
your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you
will not be dependent on anybody. 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

THOUGHT:
What's your ambition? I don't know about you, but I'm not so
sure I could say my ambition is to "live a quiet life ...." But
when I hear the reason for that directive, I understand. So many
people I meet are frazzled, run down, and exhausted with all their
"busy-ness." So let's make a commitment to cycle down a little,
trust God more and more each day, and seek to live a life that wins
the respect of those around us!

PRAYER:
O precious and righteous Father, I need your help to learn to
slow down and tend to my own responsibilities instead of running
around out of control and without purpose. Please grant me not only
the wisdom that I have been praying for, but also the patience and
quietude that I need for that wisdom to change my heart and mind.
In Jesus' name I ask it. Amen.