“I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8

OBSERVATION: We are thankful that God watches over us, but we are also aware that He has set in place governing bodies to carry out His will in the person of police officers, firemen and other first responders.

PRAYER: Father, we are thankful that we can go to sleep at night knowing you are watching over us. We are also thankful for the watchful eyes of the men and women who care enough to watch over our streets and neighborhoods in order to keep them safe for us. We ask you to keep them safe as they do their jobs. Amen

“Our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”

-II Chronicles 20:12 (NLT)

OBSERVATION: Just as Jehoshaphat, king of Israel, realized his nation was powerless against a vast army, so we need leaders who will turn to God for help in these stressful times as well.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help our leaders to realize they are helpless without you. There are many times in our troubled world when they simply do not know what to do. In times like that may our leaders turn to you and seek Your help to guide them. Amen

“For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light::” -Colossians 1:9-12

OBSERVATION: In the Apostle’s prayer for the saints at Colosse we find some principles for our progress. We discover some disciplines that will develop us into devoted disciples. We come in contact with some clues to construct us into committed Christians. We are given some guidelines for our growth and a blueprint for Biblical living.

PRAYER: Our Father we pray that you help us to be filled with your Word so we can be faithful in our walk to have a focused on your will to be fruitful in your work to furthered our witness, and be fortified for warfare, and be festive in our worship. We ask all of this in Jesus’ name, Amen

“[If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”

– 2 Chronicles 7:14

OBSERVATION: For many years, we who follow Christ have prayed to God to heal our land. But our demands are that God do something with the people who are the cause of the problem of evil, the ones who reject Jesus. Those who reject Jesus and do not follow God are doing what comes natural to them. Scripture is very clear that man is a sinner. But those who have received Jesus and do strive to follow God are the one God commands to humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from their evil ways. Why do we demand of those who reject Jesus to do what they cannot do? They cannot follow God without God in their life. And why do we ignore the command of God on us who have received Jesus to turn from our evil ways? If we want our land to be healed, we who follow Jesus must return to God.

PRAYER: Oh, Lord. Forgive us for our arrogance. We have believed far too long that the problem is someone else. Our own sin and rejection of your will has left our land devastated. Hear us again, forgive us, and, oh please, heal our land.

“If anyone obeys His Word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.”

I John 2:5, 6

OBSERVATION: To walk in the way of love, how can we do this? As believers we can’t walk in the way of love, until we are filled with the Love of God. Charles Wesley wrote, “Where is the sure, the certain seal that ascertains the Kingdom mine? The powerful stamp I long to feel, the signature of Love Divine; O shed it in my heart abroad, fullness of love, of heaven, of God!” Can you not feel Wesley’s burden, to be filled with this love, O shed it in my heart abroad, this is a command, not an opinion or a question. God commands that we walk in the way of love.

PRAYER: Father, help me to think about the love You have for me. Help me to be a better Christian, give me more of Christ in my heart, that He will shine in my face, and make Himself heard in my voice. And if I come into contact with anyone that they will feel that they are in Your presence. And that the Beauty of Jesus be seen in me. Amen.

“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.”  -I John 3:21-22

OBSERVATION: If you have been frustrated because you don’t see answers to your prayers, ask God if it is because of disobedience. Say, “Lord, is there any area of my life where
I am not obeying You?” Don’t keep telling God what you want without asking Him what He wants.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, Help me obey you in every way so that I will not stumble and fall. If there are steps of obedience I need to take, open my eyes to see the truth and help me to take those steps. Please help me live in obedience to your ways.  Amen

 

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened…” -Ephesians 1: 17-18a (NIV)

OBSERVATION: We note that our knowledge of God can increase; Paul wanted the believers in Ephesus to continually get to know God better and better. He recognized that this closeness comes as a gift from the Father so Paul prayed God would send moments when their knowledge would deepen and enable their vision to be full of understanding.

PRAYER: Abba, Father, thank you for wanting us to see every person, every incident, every opposition, every good thing, every bad thing with the eyes of our hearts. Give us the desire to be filled with your fresh understanding. Help us acknowledge times when we are not increasing in knowing you better. Enable us to be more and more understanding of ourselves and others each year that we live. Protect us from hard hearts.

“That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man” -Eph. 3:16

OBSERVATION: Paul recognizes that followers of Christ need strength in the “inner man”. We focus a lot today on strength training and proper diet for our physical bodies but we learn from this verse and those that immediately follow that spiritual health has even greater benefits. All of our physical bodies eventually fail but Christ promises he is able to provide through the “inner man” “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think”. That type of might far out performs our personal best.

PRAYER: Lord God who created both our inner and outer man grant us the wisdom to know the difference. Let us not doubt in which one to trust. May our nation as well as the individuals in it learn this lesson.