Jesus Wants You To Know...

This blessing of three Persons in one greatly enriches your prayer life. You can pray to the Father in My Name; you can also speak directly to Me. And the Holy Spirit is continually available to help you with your prayers. Do not be perturbed by mysteries of the Godhead. Instead, respond to these wonders with joyous praise and adoration!

"Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me."

John 12:44-45

Provided by "Jesus Always" by Sarah Young

Pause To Pray...

When we pause to pray....

We step from the doorway of discouragement to the pathway of peace.

We trade worry for worship.

We magnify God and become less intimidated by our problems.

We hold up the banner of victory and lay down the label of victim.

We quicken what's most alive in our spirit and quiet the chaos of living in a sin-soaked world.

Where do you need less of your brain power and more of His prayer power in your life right now?

Take some time to practice trading your worry for worship. Because thinking about, talking about and worrying about something is not the same as praying about it.

- Lysa TerKeurst

Quote: Corrie Ten Boom

Am I Actually Praying About This or Just Worrying About It?

"𝐻𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒: '𝐶𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑?

𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑝𝑖𝑡?'”

Luke 6:39 (NIV)

Recently, I sat down to write some thoughts about relationships:

Relationships are amazing. Relationships are challenging. Relationships can be impossibly hard. Relationships can be incredibly beautiful. And because relationships are so very organic, they move like breath in and out of our lungs, expanding with deep connection one minute and in the next atrophying into complete misunderstanding.

Relationships are wonderful and full of love and frustration and wrought with angst and all the things we bring into every attempted embrace with another person. When those we love draw close to us, they draw close to our issues. And we come face to face with their issues as well.

So which is it? Are relationships full of bliss or disappointment?

This is where I landed that day as I journaled … It’s a fragile blend of both.

As we open up to each other, the deeper we connect, the more vulnerable we become. The more vulnerable we become, the more exposed the tender places inside of us become. This exposure is risky. When we dare to be so very known, we risk being so very hurt. When we dare to be so very hopeful, we risk being so very disappointed. When we dare to be so very giving, we risk being so very taken advantage of. And when we dare to unnaturally change into what someone else needs, we risk losing ourselves in the process.

To love and be loved is to be enveloped in the safest feeling I’ve ever known. To cause hurt and be hurt is to be crushed with the scariest feeling I’ve ever known. You and I both know this. In different ways with different people and to varying degrees, we know the multifaceted complications of love and heartbreak.

Maybe you’re living out this reality in a very raw way right now. Friend, I wish I was having coffee with you today to talk through all of this. Trust me when I say I know the delicate dance of balancing the beautiful with the frustrating, and every nuance in between, with the relationships we treasure.

And while I can’t solve all the problems you may be facing right now, there is one action item I want to encourage you to put into practice today … Determine to pray more words over a difficult relationship in your life than you speak about it.

Scripture: Philippians 4:6-7

Peace doesn’t come from having fewer worries... it comes from bringing them to God.
Philippians 4:6–7 reminds us that when we pray instead of panic, God’s peace doesn’t just calm our thoughts… it guards our hearts.

"Anchored in Peace Devotional" was written for the moments when anxiety feels loud and trust feels hard - offering gentle scripture, mindful practices, and space to breathe again. You don’t have to carry it alone. Let peace anchor you.

Provided by "Mindful Christianity"

Securely Anchored When Life Feels Unsteady

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,
and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has
entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest
forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 6:19-20 (NKJV)

My daughter and I were recently hiking at Yosemite National Park, one of our favorite places to see God’s creation on display. From the valley floor, glorious granite cliffs rose up all around, and we passed some climbers who were scaling one of the epic rock faces. Although the climb looked precarious and we were awed by their courage, we also trusted they were safe because we could see their harnesses.

They were strapped in and tied to an anchor, a secure point of attachment on the rock. Four carabiners (metal fasteners) were clipped into the anchor and connected to ropes securing each person’s harness.

Climbers can trust their anchor to hold them in place. While there is a stretchiness and give to the ropes, allowing climbers to move around, the anchor remains strong and immovable.

The same is true of a ship’s anchor, which is what the author of Hebrews had in mind in the first century when he wrote to encourage believers not to abandon their faith:

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:19-20).

Several keywords are worth paying attention to in this passage, including "strong" and “trustworthy.” These are descriptions of our hope in Jesus. He is steadfast, stable, and secure.

When we are clipped into Him, like those rock climbers connected to their anchor, we can have confidence in His strength. When we spend time with Him, praying and talking to Him regularly, we can see how He is trustworthy.

Are you feeling uncertain about a big decision? Waiting on a diagnosis? Maybe you have had a rough month financially or you are feeling anxiety about this week’s headlines. Jesus is the secure anchor who can hold you in place. Through His sacrifice on the cross, we have direct access to our Father in heaven.

Scripture serves almost like the carabiner keeping us connected to our Anchor. When we read the Bible, we are reminded of truth and cling to hope. We can also stay tied to the community of believers who help us remain tethered to Christ.

Jesus came to earth to be our “High Priest” (Hebrews 6:20), reconnecting us to God our Rock - and He holds us steady even when we are climbing uphill.

Dear God, You are the Rock of Ages, the firm Anchor we can trust. Help us stay close to You. Provide a community of friends to hold us accountable and encourage us to abide in You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

- Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young
Provided by "Proverbs 31 Ministries"

Jesus Wants You To Know...

When you share your struggles with Me, I’ll hold you close and fill you with My sweet Peace. You don’t have to pretend that everything is okay. You can be real with Me - and with yourself. Then you can rest in the safety of My Presence, trusting that I understand you perfectly and that I love you with an everlasting Love.

"People, trust God all the time. Tell him all your problems. God is our protection." - Psalm 62:8 (ICB) - "Jesus Always for Kids" by Sarah Young

How Your Thought Life Affects Your Peace

If we’re being honest with ourselves, most of us aren’t who or what we think we are. Our thinking is marred at best, off-track, and in most cases, needs to be changed.

How do I know this to be true? Aside from my experience pastoring so many through the years, God’s Word calls us to a “renewal” of our minds. That means trading in our old perceptions, opinions, ideas, beliefs, and self-centered attitudes for a new set of perceptions, opinions, ideas, beliefs, and attitudes that God develops in us. These godly responses are nurtured by regular reading of Scripture and meditating on what’s been read in the Bible. Christ’s followers are urged to avoid being “conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

Out of a renewal of our thinking comes a change in our speech patterns and our behaviors. As our speech and behavior become renewed, our relationships with others become renewed. And as our relationships become renewed, our immediate world is renewed as well. It all begins in the mind with what we choose to think and what we choose to dwell upon.

You have the ability to determine what you’ll think. At any time, you can refocus your mind to a new topic, task, or problem to solve instead of negative thinking that will steal your peace and/or cause you to venture into rebellion or sin. You have the ability to say, “I choose to trust God,” in any situation you face or thought you have.

Furthermore, any child of God who takes a willful stand against thought patterns that clearly are harmful is going to be provided a way of escape from that circumstance. God will help you focus your mind on something other than your problem or bad thought pattern if you will make the initial step in His direction. 

When you guard your mind, you guard your peace. When you offer prayers to God with faith and thanksgiving - no matter what trials you face - He assures you inner peace (Philippians 4:6-7). And when you focus your thinking on what’s true, noble, virtuous, lovely, pure, and praiseworthy, you rely upon God with increasing faith and trust. 

You can never fully exhaust your ability to think about the goodness and greatness of God. Choose to respond to life the way Jesus responded. Guard your prayer life. Guard your thought life. Seek the Father and all that’s godly. His Word promises that when you fill your mind with what is virtuous and praiseworthy, “the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9).

- Dr. Charles F. Stanley

(Excerpt from reading plan “Finding Peace" [Day 13])

Quote: Oswald Chambers

Relax In Every Circumstance

Peace I leave with you,
My peace I give to you;
not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27

As an operating room nurse, I worked alongside a team that ensured that sterile surgical procedures took place. Before each procedure began, we searched for, identified and eliminated even the smallest impurities that could contaminate the sterile field.

This care and intention minimizes the risk of infection for the patient, protects the surgical staff from exposure to potential illness, and reduces complications so that patients can heal and recover quickly. But these techniques also make me wonder what it would look like if we applied the same attention to detail to keeping stress and worry from contaminating our lives.

Could we scrub away our stress more effectively if we immediately called out to God (Psalm 118:5)?

What if we allowed ourselves to be vulnerable, sharing our pains and heartaches with the “team” of people in our lives so we could carry each other’s burdens instead of suffering alone (Galatians 6:2)?

What would happen if we searched for, identified and eliminated the chaotic, negative and untrue thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:5) that could contaminate our days before we even rise from our beds each morning?

How much faster would we heal and recover from our worries and fears if we cast all our anxieties on Him (1 Peter 5:7)?

In John 14:27, Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” God’s Word reminds us that no matter what we are facing, we can relax in Him in every circumstance.

God is fully aware of your stresses and challenges, and He has gifted you perfect peace — a sense of spiritual serenity that isn’t fleeting or dependent upon external factors and that cannot be taken away by worldly circumstances.

When stress, anxiety, burdens and fear attempt to contaminate your life, you can cry out to God, cast every care upon Him, and then relax, knowing He cares for you. Your hope and reassurance in Christ go beyond what this world can offer.

Today, fix your mind on Jesus, regularly communicating with God through prayer and meditation, surrendering to Him and relying on His power to navigate you through every situation. With His help, you can cultivate and experience perfect peace and enjoy God’s loving presence in your life.

Father God, thank You for Your divine, perfect peace and for welcoming me, even when I feel stressed and burdened, with open arms. No matter what I’m facing, I know I can relax and trust You with it all. Thank You for the gift of Your love and presence in my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

- Tracie Braylock

Provided by "Proverbs 31 Ministries"

Meme: Never Get To Busy...

Jesus Is Praying For You

“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him,
because he always lives to intercede for them.”

Hebrews 7:25 (NIV)

I can’t pray anymore.

I tried, but it felt like my prayers were hitting the proverbial ceiling.

Does God even hear me? Does He still care?

Perhaps you’ve gone through seasons like that, too, where you’re discouraged by your inability to pray or you feel like you don’t know what to say. Maybe you’ve tried to make a new habit of praying this year, but you keep getting distracted as your thoughts Ping-Pong from prayer to your grocery list to that unpaid bill - and it’s so discouraging that you just give up.

Many things keep us from praying. But here’s one good reason to pray anyway: Jesus is praying for and with us.

A few years ago I stumbled on this quote from Robert Murray M’Cheyne: “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.”

The first time I encountered that idea, I felt shocked. Really? Praying for us? That’s a lovely idea, but that’s not in the Bible … is it?

So I searched the Scriptures and was surprised by what I discovered. Hebrews 7:24-25 says: “Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them”.

And again in Romans 8:34, the Bible affirms: “Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us”. It seems clear that Jesus is praying for His people every moment of every day.

I don’t know what Jesus is praying, but we glimpse His tender heart in His high priestly prayer in John 17. The Bible also says even in our sorrow, heartache and darkness, and even when we don’t feel Him, Jesus strengthens us and protects us (2 Thessalonians 3:3).

Even when we don’t know what to say, Jesus is praying for us.
Even when we don’t feel like praying, Jesus is praying for us.
Even when we think our prayers don’t make a difference, Jesus is praying for us.

This one conviction has brought such comfort to my heart on hard days: believing Jesus understands what it’s like to be human and He knows exactly what to pray - even when we don’t.

So let us confidently approach the throne of grace, knowing Jesus Himself is waiting and praying for you, for me and for us.

Precious Jesus, thank You for loving us so much that You care about the details and You pray for us, even now. We join You in our prayers and surrender to You all the hard and heavy burdens in our lives. You are able, and we trust You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

- Asheritah Ciuciu
Provided by "Proverbs 31 Ministries"

Meme: Praying For Friends

 

Quote: Oswald Chambers

 

Quote: Billy Graham

 

What Do I Do When My Attitude Stinks?

Let my prayer be set before You as incense,

The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Psalm 141:2 (NKJV)

Yesterday morning, I needed a slight attitude adjustment. Thinking some fresh air, sunshine and exercise would help me out, I went on a brisk walk.

As I made my way down the street, so did a neighborhood garbage truck. It was rather uncanny; my pace and the truck’s duties seemed to line up perfectly. The large truck would stop to collect garbage while I moved ahead, but then it would invariably catch up with me, and we’d be side by side again. I turned right, and to my disgruntlement, so did the garbage truck. I couldn’t seem to escape its route or its awful smell.

While breathing in the not-so-fresh air, my mind made a connection: What if our thoughts and emotions had smells attached to them? What if the age-old phrase “your attitude stinks” was actually true in the heavenly realm? What odor would worry put off? Or bitterness? Or unforgiveness?

Second Timothy 2:16-17 refers to empty chatter spreading like gangrene — now that’s stinky for sure!

How do we rid ourselves of the “stink”? Soon after my walk, the Lord directed me to these verses: “O LORD, I call upon You; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to You! May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering” (Psalm 141:1-2, NASB1995).

Can it be that our prayers “smell” good to God?

I looked further into incense offerings and found Exodus 30:7-8: “And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on [the altar]. Every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it, and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the LORD throughout your generations” (ESV).

My Bible’s commentary explains that incense represented the prayers and praises of God’s people. Also, incense helped extinguish the smell of dead animals that had been sacrificed in the temple.

Maybe when we lay down our worry, pride, bitterness or you-name-it stinky sin — lifting up prayers instead — then these new words become the fragrance that rises to heaven.

Today, let’s rid ourselves of garbage truck odors and replace them with a lovely aroma of prayer. For me, I will lay down …

• Worrying about my children. Instead, I'll pray for each one of them by name.
• Resentment toward my co-worker. Instead, I'll ask God to bless him.
• Negativity. Instead, I'll lift up praises to the One who gives me breath.

It’s humbling to think that our words can be “counted as incense” (Psalm 141:2) before the Lord. Let’s trust that He not only enjoys the sound of our voices but delights in the sweet fragrance of our uplifted prayers.

Dear Lord, remind me to give all my anxious thoughts and errant emotions to You through prayer. As I choose to pour out my heart before You in faith, help me also to remember that You delight in hearing my voice. Thank You for listening, my Father and my Friend. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

- Chris Baxter
Provided by "Proverbs 31 Ministries"

Meme: Get Serious About Prayer

Jesus Wants You To Know...

"How do you know which voice is Mine? Spend time with Me - quiet time in prayer and praise. Just as good friends know each other’s voices, you will come to know Mine. And I will tell you the right way to go."

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” - Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)

- "Jesus Calling for Kids" by Sarah Young

Quote: Billy Graham

 

Wisdom Through Meditation

Psalm 119:145-152

I cry out with my whole heart;

Hear me, O Lord!

I will keep Your statutes.

I cry out to You;

Save me, and I will keep Your testimonies.

I rise before the dawning of the morning,

And cry for help;

I hope in Your word.

My eyes are awake through the night watches,

That I may meditate on Your word.

Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness;

O Lord, revive me according to Your justice.

They draw near who follow after wickedness;

They are far from Your law.

You are near, O Lord,

And all Your commandments are truth.

Concerning Your testimonies,

I have known of old that You have founded them forever.

---

Our receiving God's wisdom begins with prayer, but it does not end there. He has a method in His transformation process, and it requires our full cooperation. We are not passive recipients of His mind; we are active in our pursuit. He offers it, but we must want it. And there is more to wanting than just asking.

We can learn the Word of God through study. But it does not become a part of us until we meditate on it. Lacking that step, we become knowledgeable without becoming wise. There is a profound difference between knowing about God's will and His ways and actually knowing God's will and His ways. One leads to an illusion that we're spiritual when we're not. The other leads to life.

Churches are full of people who hear the Word of God preached on Sunday and then have forgotten it on Monday. There are many tools to incorporate God's truths into our lives, but the first, after prayer, is to meditate on it. What does that mean? It means to chew on it, think of what God does with it and why it came from His mouth, how we've failed it in our past, and how it might be applied in our everyday lives. The Word of God is not given simply to be admired; it is given to be learned. It is not spoken to make us smart; it is spoken to change us and conform us to the bright image of the living God.

At all costs, do not passively let the Word of God go in one ear and out the other. Do not read it so casually that it is forgotten the next day or the next hour. There's power in it! It is a gift that will craft us into the person God wants us to be, the person we were designed to be from the very beginning. That molding process is the greatest earthly fulfillment we can ever experience. And God first begins to answer our prayers for that when we meditate on His truth. Let it soak in, completely and deeply. Let it do its powerful work.

“Meditation is…allowing the Holy Spirit to take the written word and apply it as the living word to the inner being.”  - Campbell McAlpine

[An excerpt from "The One Year Walk with God Devotional" by Chris Tiegreen]