Monthly Archives: October 2023

One in spirit

“He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”12Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Lord God my Father,

You are perfect in every way, I am flawed. Lord God, allow your Truth to make me clean and bring your protection around me so I no longer follow my sin nature. Allow my will to be restored to yours.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

Nature

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’15:9 Isaiah 29:13

Lord God my Father,

You are the answer to all my desires. You overcome all of my struggles and place me in your protection. Lord, help me to only allow your heart to live in me and keep me from defiling myself with my sin nature. Make me sensitive to your will and create a distance between my sin nature and my lips.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

Represent well

 15Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

Lord God my Father,

Help me to know you and have courage to represent you well in all areas of my life.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

No doubt

“With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money6:37 Greek It would take 200 denarii. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage. to buy food for all these people!” 38 “How much bread do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.”

Lord God my Father,

Give me the kind of faith that never questions how you will do things.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

Peaceful strength

Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” 58And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.

 “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

“But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. 27What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear!

Lord God my Father,

Give me a peaceful strength to live as you desire and allow your transformation of me to speak for itself. Use me as you desire to bring your message to others. Give me courage to stand under your authority and represent you well.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

Simple faith

His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

“Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”

Lord God my Father,

Keep me from questioning you and simply know and obey, I don’t have to understand. Allow a faith beyond understanding to come to me and allow your Peace to be my guide.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

Delightfully strong

The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.

 “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.30Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!”Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Lord God my Father,

Open my ears so I may hear and give me faith so I may obey. Allow me to see the difference between the good and bad, give me desire to speak Truth in Love so more can hear. Help me to release my life to your care where there is no fear.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

Fresh and new

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.35A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.

The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here.

“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.44Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 

“Here are my mother and my brothers!35Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

Lord God my Father,

Help me to yield my heart to your will and protect it from bitterness. Help me to represent you as you like so others may be drawn to you and find your peace. Help me to fill my heart with your way and protect me from allowing Satan to recapture the parts I have overcome in your name.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

Power filled

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.”

Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence,11:12 Or been forcefully advancing and violent people have been raiding it.

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’34The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’35But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”

Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Lord God my Father,

Give me faith without doubt, allow me to see. Allow your courage to carry me past any struggle and proclaim your Truth. Cause me to become friends with the lost and give me a powerful faith that can lead others to you.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

His patience

For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. 23He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. 24And we are among those whom he selected, 

Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law9:32 Greek by works. instead of by trusting in him.

Lord God my Father,

You have made me new yet I struggle with my past. Help me to keep my complete focus on you and bring separation from the past. I wish to be only what you desire of me today. Your spirit in me is the answer to overcome all my struggles and accept myself as a new creation. I am grateful for your patience with me.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen