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]]>Can prayer really make a difference? Can my prayers actually change things? Is it possible for the will of God to be thwarted because I don’t pray? These are legitimate questions. The answers you give them reflect the very foundation of your relationship with the Lord. On one hand, if God is Sovereign, He’s going to do everything the way He wants, so why pray? On the other hand, if He is waiting on my prayers to execute His will, then I had better get serious about praying really quick. How does His Sovereignty and my prayers go together?
God uses prayer to make the impossible, possible and the ordinary, extraordinary. Prayers make our efforts effective and help us to define God’s will more clearly. C.H. Spurgeon said, “Whenever God determines to do a great work, He first sets His people to pray.” Faithful praying releases the Holy Spirit to act.
Someone once said, “God does things when we pray that He does not do when we do not pray.” May today’s devotional be an inspiration for you to seek the Lord in prayer.
Prayer Focus: Thank God for hearing all the prayers that have been lifted up on our church’s behalf. Thank Him in advance for answering them. Pray God’s people at Impact will pray more than ever before and that everything we do as a church will be labored over in prayer. And may that start with you! Make sure you have been and continue to connect with Him through prayer. What is He leading you to do now for Him and His ministry?
]]>Abraham had to wait 25 years before His promised son was born. By then he was 100 years old; his wife, Sarah, was 90. Yet God superseded the laws of nature to allow the birth of a child to an elderly, barren couple. They named their son Isaac, meaning “laughter,” for he brought unspeakable joy to them.
After Isaac had grown into a young man, God once again said to Abraham. “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah.” The message continued, “Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about” (Genesis 22:2).
Still believing, Abraham obeyed the voice of God and took his boy on that long, agonizing trip to the bleak slopes of Moriah. Though he did not comprehend God’s purpose, Abraham’s faith was not shaken. He complied with the instructions, placing his dear son on the altar and raising a knife to plunge into his only son’s chest. In the very act of lifting the knife to slay his son, God stopped him, commanded him to kill instead a ram caught in a nearby bush.
Would Abraham have gone through with it? Would the old man have actually killed his own beloved son? We need not wonder. Hebrews 11:19 provides the answer: “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.” Yes, he would have done it, because he was already anticipating God to raise his son from death!
What an extraordinary story, which causes us to wonder, what could we possibly have in common with Abraham? Many things! As God spoke to Abraham, He speaks to you. As God called Abraham to a life of obedience, He calls you. As God tested Abraham, He tests you. As God called Abraham to a life of faith, so God calls you. As Abraham obeyed … so should you.
Prayer Focus: Think about the parallels between yourself and Abraham. If possible, identify some specific ways these are revealed in your life. Seriously! Just because this is a Bible story doesn’t negate the obedience God expects from us! Has God tested your faith? Did you pass? If He tested you again, in the very near future, do you have what it takes to say “yes” – before he even asks the question? Take a moment right now to say “yes” to God. Even before he asks… sincerely say, “Yes.”
]]>Joshua had instructed the people to carry large stones from the bed of the Jordan River and place them on the Canaan side of the river. These stones provided a memorial of God’s power, provision and purpose for the children of Israel. The Israelites would periodically return to this place, Gilgal, to express their gratitude for victories won in this new land. They were commanded to bring their children with them on these occasions.
Carefully read Joshua 4:19-24. When the people of Israel were obedient to God’s instruction regarding these twelve stones, it provided a great opportunity to teach and instruct the next generation. "He said to the Israelites, ‘In the future when your descendents ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’" (Joshua 4:21). A child’s natural curiosity opens the door for a parent to testify of God’s remarkable power. Parents should lead their children back to the place where God has demonstrated His timely provision. It may be a story, a place, or even a picture, but whatever it is, let them see it over and over again until it becomes a defining moment in their lives and a monument to God’s grace.
The X Factor is an excellent opportunity for the entire church body, member by member, to build a "memorial of gratitude." Communicate to your family members and friends that this memorial is not merely a building or a piece of property; it is, more importantly, the experience of trusting God and seeing Him come through. Gilgal was not just a pile of rocks. It was a powerful reminder of our indebtedness to God. The greatest heritage we can leave to the next generation is such a memorial of God’s goodness.
Prayer Focus: Take some time to reflect on some memories of God’s power and goodness in your life. Was it an event? A Baptism? A worship song? Message? Was it a special prayer time? Some special blessing? Remember Him.
]]>The story of the Bethany anointing is one of the few stories of Jesus’ life that is contained in all four of the gospels. So impressive was this event that it was indelibly written upon the disciples’ hearts so they never, ever forgot this act of devotion. Mark uses it as a prelude to the passion events. It contrasts the hatred and rejection Jesus was receiving at the hands of the rulers and the people. This act of worship and devotion stood out as an act of love that the Lord deserved from all, but was only given by a few.
May this deed be received as a call to worship for us today. May this deed make us ask ourselves the question, “How much is too much?” This woman’s act set a standard of sacrifice, which none can better, but all can match. That alabaster bottle was worth a year’s wages. Plus, it was to be saved for the most important occasion of one’s life. What is the most extravagant thing you have done for the Lord? What can we learn from this Scripture?
Prayer Focus: Pray the people connected to our church will love Jesus so much they will be extravagant with their giving of their time, talents, and treasures. Oh Yeah… and pray that the extravagance starts with you. Can you do that? What does that look like for you and/or your family?
]]>Jesus spoke these words after casting demons out of a man from Gadarene. His command was simple: Go and tell others what I have done for you. What a powerful reminder this gives us of the need to express God’s goodness to others—even in public settings.
All believers face the danger of forgetting "how much the Lord has done for us." Our spiritual journey is a great opportunity for us to strengthen and renew our appreciation to a good God. Communicating gratitude is important for at least two reasons:
Prayer Focus: Following David’s example, take the time to identify some examples of God’s goodness in your life and then express your gratitude to God in the presence of a friend or family member today! Don’t delay. Just step up and do it. Go tell your family or a friend how much the Lord has done for you. You’ll grow… and be glad you did!
]]>Did you hear the story of the chicken and the pig who were walking together down the road? They came upon a beggar who was nearly starved to death. He hadn’t eaten in days. The chicken and the pig decided to help him. The chicken said, “I have an idea. Let’s fix him some breakfast - some ham and eggs!” The pig thought about that a moment and then said, “I don’t like that idea very much because it only requires you to make a contribution, but for me it is a complete sacrifice!”
As the Apostle Paul writes, he describes a turning point in his letter to the believers in Rome. He is finally giving an application to the truths he has been telling about in previous chapters. He is stating how we should respond to the knowledge God has procured our salvation and saved us from the wages of sin through Jesus Christ. He’s telling us to lay it all on the altar for God; surrender completely. Don’t simply make a contribution like the chicken, but sacrifice it all like the pig.
Prayer Focus: Pray Impact is a body of believers willing to totally surrender to God. Pray it all starts with you. What does it look like to surrender all? What might you need to sacrifice?
]]>There are two ways people live their lives as they pass through this world – either remembering God or forgetting Him. They either acknowledge His presence and live their lives in dependence on Him, or they pay no attention to His claims on them and live a life on the basis of their own understanding and abilities. The worst tragedy and cruelest deception is the man who says feebly with his lips, “I trust God,” but an examination of his calendar and checkbook shows no difference between him and the man who does not make that claim. The question we must ask ourselves today is, “Do we trust God?”
The very nature of this question produces two possible meanings: First – “Can you ‘trust’ God?” That is, is He trustworthy? Can He handle the decisions and the problems in your life? Secondly – “Can ‘you’ trust God?” That is, do you have the ability to trust Him?
These verses reveal some important things about trusting God:
Prayer Focus: Pray your faith and trust in God will grow. Pray you will allow God to be in control and you will utterly depend on Him and .desire His will be done. Pray the fruits of our deepened trust in Him will result in guidance from Him. Ask God to identify an area of your life where you need to yield to Him. Then give it to Him and look for His provision. Hey – we say we trust God. We want to trust God. And now it’s time to actually take that to the next level
]]>There are two seas in the Holy Land. The northern sea, called the Sea of Galilee, is one of the land’s most beautiful features. Fed by the Jordan River, it waters fertile valleys and helps produce a bounty of fruits and vegetables. Fishermen still search its depths, for food and profit.
This is the sea Jesus loved. He knew its waters, in stillness and in storm. On its banks, He taught many parables, spent many nights, and worked His miracles of love and compassion.
The southern sea, further down the Jordan River, is totally different from Galilee. Its air is filled with the stench of debris and filth. No man or beast will drink from its bitter waters. No children play along its polluted shores, for this is a lifeless sea. Its very name reveals its nature: The Dead Sea.
Both seas are fed by the same river. But why the stark difference? It’s because the Dead Sea has an inlet to receive the fresh waters, but no outlet to send them on. The fresh waters pour in... only to stagnate and decay.
Do you know people like this? People who are greedy and selfish, thinking only of getting more and more for themselves? They are like the man in the parable who sought to build bigger barns to protect his increase, never realizing the true nature of his riches (Read Luke 12:16-21).
Our challenge, and our commitment, is to be “Galilee Christians” — giving out as freely and readily as we take in. For only by living in this way will we be as healthy and joyous as God desires us to be. As Proverbs 11:25 says, “A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”
As we give freely and generously to expand the ministry of our church, we are living out this lesson of Scripture. We are discovering the joy of the Galilee principle—not to mention the clear Biblical directive to be generous givers, let alone tithers.
Prayer Focus: Have you thought of yourself as a Galilee Christian? Or would you describe yourself as more of a “Dead Sea” Christian? What challenge do you sense God is putting on your heart? How will you obey that and express that in the form of a commitment? Is it time to share that burden of what God is placing on your heart?
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