Wednesday, October 18

SCRIPTURE: “Therefore I urge you, imitate me.” – I Corinthians 4:16

OBSERVATION: Paul was urging the church to imitate him as he was their spiritual father. To be a Christian is to strive to be Christlike. Are we living a Christlike life worthy to be an example to others, or are we sending mixed signals and pushing others further away from God with our actions? Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is hosting Fields of Faith tonight at 7 PM at Memorial Stadium. FCA is encouraging students to be the examples that others can follow on their campuses. These students need our prayers, support, and adult examples as they grow in Christ. Please come tonight to hear how God is working on our campuses!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I pray for the courage, wisdom, and strength to live my life each day in a way that I can tell others to imitate me. Let all aspects of my life truly reflect You. Let each breath bring honor and glory to You. I pray for our students, faculties, and campuses today. I pray for a movement towards You on campuses in our area and across the country. Give the student leaders strength that can only come from You as they face daily challenges. We ask your blessings on Fields of Faith and that many will hear Your Word and come to know You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Tuesday, October 17

SCRIPTURE: “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.” -Zephaniah 3:17

OBSERVATION: The supreme aim of the devil is to alienate us permanently from God and God from us and this message is Jehovah’s assurance that, that purpose will be disappointed. This Scripture shows us that it is the love and care of God for even His weak and wayward children, because very little is said in the Bible about our love for God; the burden of the message is God’s love for us. When Paul exclaimed Romans 8:35-39, he was not thinking about our love for God, but of His love for us.

PRAYER: O Father, I thank you that you love me so much that You asked Your one and only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to take away my sin. Thank You for Your abundant grace and mercy and help me to love You even more, because You first loved me. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Monday, October 16

SCRIPTURE: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” -Matthew 7:7-8

OBSERVATION: Our asking, seeking and knocking must be persistent and in accordance with the will God that He might be glorified.

PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, as we boldly approach Your throne seeking grace for help and to obtain mercy in our time of need, we pray that we approach with clean hands, pure hearts, souls that haven’t been lifted up to vanity neither has sworn deceitfully. As we lift our city before You this day, it’s our sincere prayer that the things that we’re requesting are unselfish and that’ll ultimately bring glory to You and that when others think of and visit our city they’ll perceive that we have been with Jesus. Amen

Sunday, October 15

SCRIPTURE: “I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.” -Psalm 9:1, 2 (KJV)

OBSERVATION: King David began this song with praise and worship. Our praise, our happiness, and our joy are found in the Lord. Today, not only start your day off with praise and worship, but continue throughout the day praising and worshiping the Lord. You might be surprised at how much better your day will be.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we thank You, O Lord, for Your righteous and holy Son, Jesus Christ, for it is through Him that we are able to come to You today. You are great and powerful, there is no one else like You. When we are down, You pick us up; when we are weak, You make us strong; and when we were without hope, You gave us the greatest hope found in Jesus Christ. May You receive the honor and the glory from Your children today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Saturday, October 14

SCRIPTURE: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” -Lamentations 3:22-24

OBSERVATION: Background: Again, God’s people had turned away from Him. Because of their ungodliness and their exclusion of Him in their lives, God allowed Jerusalem to be taken over and destroyed by outsiders. The people were lying in the streets murdered, or were captured and taken to Babylon to work as slaves. Jeremiah weeps and laments over Jerusalem’s destruction. Like many today, we make a mess of our lives, through sinful decisions. Many times we know right from wrong but we choose the wrong, but there is hope! God’s love never ends, His mercy always abounds, and everyday God gives us a new opportunity to turn to Him and repent. Each day He allows us to live, is another chance we have to get it right.

PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father and Almighty God, help us to understand your love for us and your promise to “draw near to us if we draw near to you.” Help us learn and follow your Son, Jesus and His teachings because He is our only hope. May we as individuals and a nation lift up our eyes and hearts to your loving Savior, because He is the source of eternal life. As each of us walk life’s pathway, we see the destruction sin causes, we see the rubble left behind from a life that excludes Christ, we see a nation torn and struggling in so many ways because we move further and further away from God. Each day, each hour He continually gives us opportunities to change, may our hope lie in Jesus Christ. We ask these things in His name,
Amen.

Friday, October 13

SCRIPTURE: “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” -Genesis 2:15 (KJV)

OBSERVATION: From the beginning God gave us jobs to do, not just to provide for ourselves and our family, but to give us the gift of dignity which work brings. Lack of opportunity to get a job leads to frustration, and this can lead to violence – the violence of stealing and domestic violence.

PRAYER: Bless, O God, the efforts of all who are looking for work; and bless our community with an abundance of good paying jobs. Help our community end the frustration of unemployment and the violence it can bring. Amen.

Thursday, October 12

SCRIPTURE: “Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” -1Cor. 8:6 (ESV)

OBSERVATION: It is easy for us to see our differences. In truth, we are not. We come from the same Father with our purposes wrapped around His. We have peace with God from the same Lord, Jesus Christ. Our world comes from Him.

PRAYER: Father, help us to unite based on You and Jesus. We each owe everything to You. Defeat us where our personal preferences and pet teachings get in the way. Help us to seek to be yours and act like it. Help us to live from a deep gratitude to you for accepting us and loving us. In Jesus name, Amen.

Wednesday, October 11

SCRIPTURE: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” -Romans 13:1 (KJV)

OBSERVATION: We live in a time when there are so many attacks on our government officials. When Paul wrote this letter, he was encouraging Christians to be obedient to the government leaders because, in return, they would be obedient to God. Please take time today and pray for our President, Congress, Judicial Officials, Governor, State Officials, and County and City Leaders.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we come to you now and thank you for Jesus Who has given us eternal life if we believe in Him. We uplift President Trump to You today and ask that You would protect him from the attacks of the enemy. Encourage him that he might help lead our country in the paths that Your Word would have us to go. We uplift all our Congressmen and Senators to you today that they might rectify certain laws that go against your Holy Word. At the same time O Lord, please help them that they might know that You are God. May the Judges across our great land make just and right decisions that are with Your will. We pray for Governor Hutchinson as he leads our wonderful state, and we pray that he would seek Your face. May all of our state leaders look to You for the things they need to do for our well-being. For our county and city leaders, we ask that Your grace would be known unto them, and that they would be blessed immensely knowing that there are those who are praying for them. May we always abide by Your Word and will. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Tuesday, October 10

SCRIPTURE: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” -Proverbs 3:5-6.

OBSERVATION: When we Trust God, we can know that He will give us direction in our lives!

PRAYER: Our Heavenly Father we desire your constant direction in our lives. Help us to stop and listen as you speak to our hearts and to Trust you with our lives. We pray for your good and perfect will. Thank you and Amen!

Monday, October 9

SCRIPTURE: “So now, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith in his promises, we can have real peace with him because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 For because of our faith, he has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to actually becoming all that God has had in mind for us to be. 3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be patient.” -Romans 5:1-3

OBSERVATION: Several years ago, at a time when I was struggling, a co-worker asked me, “You’re not praying for patience are you? If so, stop it! Ask God for grace and mercy.” You see the point. Praying for patience only begets the trials that cause you to grow in patience. (Rom. 5:1-3) Definitely doesn’t sound like the way to go. On the other hand, patience is promoted as something good in the Bible. It is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), something to be clothed in (Col. 3:12) what love is (1 Cor. 13:4) and something to grasp onto during trials (Rom. 12:12). Patience signifies maturity. Therefore, only those seeking maturity should pray for it. Fortunately, grace and mercy are there while we wait. God is patiently waiting on us even when we can’t find the patience for Him.

PRAYER: Merciful Father, today allow us time to thank you for grace, and for time as we learn the many lessons you provide. Thank you for making it a life-long process and not a one-time event. Give us patience. We ask this because we know you are faithful and we know we will not be given more than we can handle. Bless us today and everyday as we seek You, In Jesus’ name, Amen.