After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am your Shield, your abundant compensation, and your reward shall be exceedingly great.
GENESIS 12:1
In Genesis 12:1, God gave Abram a tall order. In so many words He said, “Pack up and leave everyone you know and everything you are comfortable with and go to a place I will show you.”
If Abram had bowed his knee to doubt and uncertainty, the rest of the story would never have come to pass. He would never have experienced God as his Shield, his great compensation, and he would never have received his exceedingly great reward. In the same way, if Joshua had not overcome his fear and been obedient to God’s command to lead His people into the Promised Land, neither he nor they would ever have enjoyed all that God had planned and prepared for them.
There is power in God’s Word to equip us to stop bowing our knee in fearful uncertainty. We can do what God wants us to do, even if we have to do it with fear.
Activation
I am determined that my life is not going to be ruled by fear but by Your Word.”
Prayers
Lord, strengthen me. So that I cannot be intimidated by an obstacle, by Your help I can overcome the challenges ahead of me. In Jesus Name.
Scriptures
Luke 14:26-33
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple…
Psalm 45:10,11
Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;
Hebrews 11:8
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.
All of these with their minds in full agreement devoted themselves steadfastly to prayer.
ACTS 1:14
Whenever believers are united in prayer, there is great power present. Jesus Himself said, “For wherever two or three are gathered (drawn together as My followers) in (into) My name, there I AM in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).
Throughout the book of Acts, we read that the people of God came together “with one accord” (Acts 2:1, 46; 4:24; 5:12; 15:25 KJV). And it was their united faith, their corporate agreement, and love that made their prayers so effective. They saw God move in mighty ways to confirm the truth of His Word as they gave testimony to their faith.
Living in agreement doesn’t necessarily mean that we feel the exact same way about everything, but it does mean that we are committed to walking in love.
We can respect someone’s opinion even if we don’t share it! Dave and I don’t share the same opinions about many things, but we do live in peace and harmony and it gives us power in prayer.
In Philippians 2:2 we are told by the apostle Paul, “Fill up and complete my joy by living in harmony and being of the same mind and one in purpose.”
Activation
Prayer is a wonderful privilege, and one that we should exercise often. But in order to have good results, we should also strive to remove all disharmony and disunity from our lives.
Prayers
God help me to find good friends that can be of the same heart in prayers and fellowship. May I always encourage the unit of the brethren. Let my life be used for the benefits of others and may I become blessings to others. In Jesus name
Scriptures
Acts 2:42
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Acts 6:4
and will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer.
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
HEBREWS 12:1
If we are going to run our race in life, if we want to fulfill our destiny and do God’s will, it is important that we lay aside every weight and sin and run the race with patience. In the days this verse was written, runners conditioned their bodies for a race just as we do today. But at the time of the race, they stripped off their clothing except for a loincloth, so that when they ran there would be nothing to hinder them. They also oiled their bodies with fine oils.
In our Christian life, we are called to remove anything that hinders us from running the race that God has set before us. It is essential to be well oiled, or anointed, with the Holy Spirit (often symbolized by oil) if we are going to win our race.
The devil has many ways to entangle us and prevent us from living in obedience to God’s Word, developing an intimate relationship with Him.
Activation
There are many distractions and requirements on our time. But with God’s guidance, we can strip away the things that will hinder us.
Prayers
Keep our eyes on your goal and learn to say “no” to things that distract us and keep us from fulfilling
our full potential. Help me to be determined that nothing is going to hinder me from fulfilling Your plan and purpose for my life.
Scriptures
Ephesians 4:22
to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
Ephesians 4:25
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.
Philippians 1:30
since you are encountering the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
For whom the Lord loves He corrects, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.
PROVERBS 3:12
Perhaps you have been struggling with accepting yourself. You see the areas in yourself where change is necessary. You desire to be like Jesus. Yet it is very difficult for you to think or say, “I accept myself.” You feel that to do so would be to accept all that is wrong with you, but that is not the case. We can accept and embrace ourselves as God’s unique creation, and still not like everything we do.
God will change us, but we cannot even begin the process of change until this issue of self-acceptance is settled in our individual lives. When we truly believe that God loves us unconditionally just as we are, then we will have closeness to Him, and we will be willing to receive His correction, which is necessary for true change. Change requires corrections—people who do not know they are loved have a very difficult time receiving correction. Correction is merely God giving us divine direction for our lives. He is guiding us to better things, but if we are insecure we will always feel condemned by correction instead of joyfully embracing it.
God does not approve of all of our actions, but He does love and approve of us as His beloved children.
Activation
Be patient with yourself. Keep pressing on and believe that you are changing every day.
Prayers
God help me to understand when You are correcting me so that I can follow up in order to be obedient to You. Make always rejoice in your correction. In Jesus name.
Scriptures
Hebrews 3:19
So we see that it was because of their unbelief that they were unable to enter.
Hebrews 9:14
how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!
Hebrews 10:31
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
I, Wisdom [from God], make prudence my dwelling, and I find out knowledge and discretion.
PROVERBS 8:12
A word you don’t hear very much teaching about is “prudence.” In the Scriptures “prudence” or “prudent” means being good stewards of the gifts God has given us to use. Those gifts include abilities, time, energy, strength, and health as well as material possessions. They include our bodies as well as our minds and spirits.
God has given each of us different gifts and grace according to how He wants us to use them. One person may be gifted to sing and does so in their local area, while another person’s singing ability is known in most of the world. The Bible tells us to use our gifts according to the grace given to us (Romans 12:6).
Each of us would be wise to know how much we are able to handle, to be able to recognize when we are reaching “full capacity” or “overload.” Instead of pushing ourselves into overload to please others, satisfy our own desires, or reach our personal goals, we can learn to listen to the Lord and obey Him.
Activation
If we follow the Lord’s leading, we will enjoy blessed lives.
Prayers
Lord. we all experience stress and at times we feel the effects of it, but give us wisdom to learn to manage it well. And show me areas in my life that could be changed to help me eliminate excess stress better.
Scriptures
Psalm 104:24
O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
Isaiah 55:8,9
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD…
Romans 11:33
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
