Video Bible Lesson - A Prayer to Let Go By Steve Arterburn

1/2 Hour of God’s Power with Scott Ralls

7/13/2020

A Prayer to Let Go

By Steve Arterburn

Heavenly Father, help us to put aside our restless uncertainty, and instead learn to trust in you.
When the philosopher and professor of ethics, John Kavanaugh, went to work for three months at the “house of the dying” in Calcutta, he was seeking an answer about how to spend the rest of his life. His first morning there he met Mother Teresa. She asked, “And what can I do for you?” Kavanaugh asked her to pray for him. “What do you want me to pray for?” she inquired.
He voiced his pressing burden: “Pray that I have clarity.” Mother Teresa firmly refused! When the bewildered Kavanaugh asked why, she said, “Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of.”
When Kavanaugh commented that she always seemed to have the clarity he longed for, she laughed and said, “I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God.”
Are things in your life so clear that there’s no room to trust God?
Heavenly Lord, may we trust in you with all our heart from this day until our last day. Amen.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” - Proverbs 3:5

#Jesus, #Christian, #Bible, #Salvation, #Heaven, #God, #HolySpirit

Dare to Believe God 

Streams in the Desert

God... calleth those things which be not as though they were (Romans 4:17).

What does that mean? Why Abraham did this thing: he dared to believe God. It seemed an impossibility at his age that Abraham should become the father of a child; it looked incredible; and yet God called him a "father of many nations" before there was a sign of a child; and so Abraham called himself "father" because God called him so. That is faith; it is to believe and assert what God says. "Faith steps on seeming void, and finds the rock beneath."

Only say you have what God says you have, and He will make good to you all you believe. Only it must be real faith, all there is in you must go over in that act of faith to God.
--Crumbs

Be willing to live by believing and neither think nor desire to live in any other way. Be willing to see every outward light extinguished, to see the eclipse of every star in the blue heavens, leaving nothing but darkness and perils around, if God will only leave in thy soul the inner radiance, the pure bright lamp which faith has kindled.
--Thomas C. Upham

The moment has come when you must get off the perch of distrust, out of the nest of seeming safety, and onto the wings of faith; just such a time as comes to the bird when it must begin to try the air. It may seem as though you must drop to the earth; so it may seem to the fledgling. It, too, may feel very like falling; but it does not fall -- it's pinions give it support, or, if they fail, the parent birds sweeps under and bears it upon its wings.

Even so will God bear you. Only trust Him; "thou shalt be holden up." "Well, but," you say, "am I to cast myself upon nothing?" That is what the bird seems to have to do; but we know the air is there, and the air is not so unsubstantial as it seems. And you know the promises of God are there, and they are not unsubstantial at all. "But it seems an unlikely thing to come about that my poor weak soul should be girded with such strength." Has God said it shall? "That my tempted, yielding nature shall be victor in the strife." Has God said it shall? "That my timorous, trembling heart shall find peace?" Has God said it shall?

For, if He has, you surely do not mean to give Him the lie! Hath he spoken, and shall He not do it? If you have gotten a word -- "a sure word" of promise -- take it implicitly, trust it absolutely. And this sure word you have; nay, you have more -- you have Him who speaks the word confidently.

"Yea, I say unto you," trust Him.
--J. B. Figgis, M. A.

How to Cry Out to God.....How to Cry Out to God

How to Cry Out to God

How to Cry Out to God

Matthew 14:29-30

The phone rings, and you answer. A sullen voice informs you of a tragedy. Your heart is so heavy that you feel as though you could die. What do you do?

Bad news, danger, and pain all cause us to look for help. As believers, we dwell with the almighty God, who is able to aid us. At those moments when we are sideswiped by life’s circumstances, we should cry out to Him.

In the Bible, crying out refers to speaking audibly with great emotion concerning an urgent need. God invites us to use this form of prayer to communicate that we desperately need His mercy.

It takes both faith and humility to share our heart’s concern aloud. Crying out, then, is a way for God’s children to express trust in the Lord’s ability and willingness to help. By calling upon Him with such urgency, wealso lay down our pride and any attitude of self-sufficiency.

The Word of God assures us that our Father hears our cries and responds. In Psalm 3:4, for example, David wrote, “I was crying to the Lord with my voice, and He answered from His holy mountain.” When we call aloud for help in Jesus’ name, we invite His power into the situation. Remember that there is strength in just speaking His name.

When we cry out to God, He may remove the problem immediately, yet we often have to wait for His perfect timing. Harsh circumstances might even be allowed to remain for His good purposes. But we can always count on His comfort and presence, which enable us to live with joy and hope.

Have You Ever Been Crushed by a Kleenex?

Have You Ever Been Crushed by a Kleenex?
SANDELL SNYDER, COMPEL Devotion Challenge Winner

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34 (NIV) 

A rustling coat shifted my gaze away from the woman pouring out her heart to the prayer group. Despite her tears, I was struggling to focus on her words. I had been out of sorts all day and dragged myself to the meeting more out of misplaced obligation than a true desire to pray.

The rustling coat belonged to another woman. She was getting up and setting her belongings down. Taking a few short steps, she handed the hurting woman a Kleenex and returned to her seat without saying a word. It took only a moment, but the act was full of love and compassion, and I found myself convicted by that Kleenex.

The truth is, I had Kleenexes in my purse too.

But my thoughts and heart were so far from that place that I could not see the woman in pain. I was too distracted by my own problems.

I never expected a Kleenex to weigh so much — but the heavy realization it brought in that moment crushed me. I was living in a place of complete self-absorption.

How did I get here?

That painful truth overshadowed me for days. I thought back to a difficult season in my life. Tired and struggling, I remember giving myself permission to take a break from reaching out and simply receive for a bit.

While I do believe we all occasionally need time to rest and receive, I’d slowly allowed restoration to be replaced with single-minded focus on what I “needed.” It expanded until it excluded most everything — and everyone — else. My heart had grown cold as selfishness took root.

Fast forward many years, and a featherlight Kleenex hit me like a ton of bricks.

In my attempts to protect and care for myself, I had lost sight of one of Jesus’ primary commands — “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). Love one another — not just when it’s convenient or when we feel like it, but in the way He loved us: fully, sacrificially, with kindness and compassion.

The decision to detach myself and turn inward had led me away from God and His will. It made me blind to the people around me. It ironically caused me to forget that the comfort and compassion God showed me modeled a way of living that puts the interests of others before my own.

Jesus truly loved people. He saw them, heard them, and knew their hearts and struggles. And when He needed rest, He didn’t retreat into Himself. He sought out the face of His Father and centered on the Father’s will.

As I think more specifically about how Jesus lived, I am challenged to change. I am challenged to return to God and ask His forgiveness. I am challenged to pull out the Kleenexes of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, to set myself aside and fully embrace the people I encounter. I am challenged to love as He loves.

Consider your interactions today. Do they fall in line with the example of Jesus’ love? Perhaps you too have some Kleenexes in your pocket that are meant to be shared.

Heavenly Father, please show me where my love has grown cold. Forgive me for my selfishness. Open my eyes and heart to truly see others, and help me to love them as You do, fully and sacrificially. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” (NIV)

1 John 3:16, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” (NIV)

Who Wants a Free Gift?

Who Wants a Free Gift?
by Ryan Duncan

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. – Hebrews 4:16

“Who wants a free gift?” I don’t know about you, but that’s a statement that often gives me pause. The reason why is because almost every day I’m bombarded with offers to receive a “free gift” that isn’t really free. You probably know what I’m talking about. Credit card companies offer me “free rewards” if I spend more that eighteen thousand dollars with one of their cards. Airlines say they’ll give me “free miles” if I book a trip to China right now, and then there are those pesky infomercials that offer me “free” steak knives if I buy their grease cooker for only $19.99!

As a Christian living in a world where there’s no such thing as a free lunch, it’s sometimes hard to understand the meaning of grace, and even harder to teach it to others. So when my father was asked to teach a group of middle school students about grace, I admit I had no idea how he was going to pull it off. But my father is a pretty shrewd guy (you’re welcome Dad), and as soon as he got the lesson he went out, bought a Hershey bar the size of a laptop computer and covered it in wrapping paper. On Sunday morning he walked to the front of the room, held up the present, a said “Who wants a free gift?” No one moved.

Finally, one brave kid got up and ran forward to take the present from my father’s hand. It’s that simple. Every day God calls to us, offering the free gift of his grace, and all we need to do is accept it. Grace doesn’t require a down payment, it doesn’t ask you to do something first, and it’s never a bonus for something you’ve already accomplished. Grace is a gift, the only thing in this world that is truly free.

Intersecting Faith and Life: Do you want to receive a free gift? Take a moment during your day to reconnect with Christ.

Further Reading

Ephesians 2:8

Praying Powerful Prayers

Praying Powerful PrayersBy: Kia Stephens

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. - Acts 4:31

When it comes to our prayer life, sometimes we start off passionately praying only to end up with route lifeless prayers or nothing at all. I along with many others have experienced this. The reasons we may have dull prayer lives are vast.

Maintaining fervency in prayer is often difficult to do every day, especially during a challenging season. We may feel as though our words are insufficient and stop short of the ceiling: never making it to God’s ears. At times, we might even feel like our prayers are ineffective because life’s situations seem to remain the same.

Although this is sometimes our reality it doesn’t have to stay this way. Fervent prayer doesn’t rest on what we can do alone but it is impacted by the power of God. When our prayer life seems powerless, we can ask God to make them powerful through the intervention of the Holy Spirit.

We see this in Acts chapter 3 and 4. Peter healed a lame beggar and then he and John taught the people and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. This displeased the priest, captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees so they came up and seized Peter and John and put them in jail until the next day. They threatened them but ultimately let them go because of the crowd.

Once they were released the immediate and collective response of the believers was prayer to God. They acknowledged the sovereignty of God, the plots of mankind, and then asked the Lord to enable His servants to speak His word with great boldness. At a time when they could have been fearful of what might happen to them they boldly prayed to God.

They did not shrink back. These believers chose to pray all the more fervently in the midst of a dangerous time. In Acts, 4:30 they said, “Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” The believers moved forward courageously and in Acts 4:31 we see the whole place where they were meeting was shaken.

This illustrates the power of prayer in a physical way. Our prayers have the power to shake the ground of our heart and the circumstances of our lives. Just like the early believers we must trust in God and not doubt.

We must make a conscious decision to pray bold prayers. As we grow closer to God, He, by the power of His Holy Spirit, causes us to pray these types of prayers.

Our prayer life is not meant to solely focus on us and our problems. It is meant to be a global battleground where we lay the foundation for God to work in and through us. If our prayers have grown route and lifeless we can take our cues from the believers in Acts 4.

In doing so we will acknowledge the sovereignty of God, man’s failed plots, and ask the Lord to enable us to speak the word of the living God with great boldness. This will ensure that our faith and our prayer life is anything but dull and boring. Choosing to pray this way might cause us to have the same type of hang-on-by-the-seat-of-your-pants adventures that the early believers experienced.

A Prayer to Look Beyond Life’s Interruptions

A Prayer to Look Beyond Life’s Interruptions
By Boyd Bailey

“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” John 4:29 (NIV)

Early one morning as I sat in my prayer chair at home, my precious 7-year-old grandbaby Lily caught me reading and praying the Psalms.

Instead of being glad she saw her Pop reading the Bible, I was a little annoyed my time with God had been interrupted. As she crawled into my lap, my heavenly Father spoke words that warmed my heart as He reminded me, “My dear son, this is not an interruption, but an illustration of My love, care and affection for you.”

As she sat in my lap I couldn’t help but notice several bruises, scratches, bug bites and a matted band aid on her legs. To which the Holy Spirit whispered, “Boyd, you are bruised and broken — and I Am — your Comforter and Healer.”

Peace, joy, confidence, hope, faith and love all at once erupted in my heart, moving me closer to Christ. My heavenly Father illustrated through an interruption what I was seeking all along: His loving presence.

One day an unnamed Samaritan woman, going about her daily business, was interrupted by a stranger who asked her for a drink of water: “The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water’” (John 4:9-10, NIV).

He asked her for a favor — a drink of water — but what was Jesus' bigger idea for stopping by the well? To give a gift. He offered it to this searching, hardworking woman who needed living water for her thirsty soul. The Messiah she’d heard about was in her presence to offer her

His forgiveness and love.

So she couldn’t help but tell everyone what Jesus had done: “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” (John 4:29)

Our lives are full of interruptions.

Traffic, a sick child, a financial surprise, a long line, a needy neighbor, a complaining customer, a co-worker in crisis, unfaithfulness, divorce, illness and death. These all look, sound and feel like interruptions. However, with eyes of faith we have the ability to look beyond life’s interruptions and instead see illustrations of God’s love.

Interruptions can be appointments for compassion. Life may feel unfair, but in your everyday routine recognize the Lord in the little things and love like Jesus. Interruptions represent people to love and are opportunities for you to be loved!

Loving people is the business of Jesus’ followers. It may be a person in your immediate presence, or it could be an individual in your peripheral vision, such as a restaurant server who needs to be included in your mealtime prayer.

A doctor or nurse who cares for you, a loved one who needs to be encouraged, or a critic who doesn’t have the full story — they too need the gifts of your patience and grace. Look for illustrations of God’s hand at work, home, vacation and especially during the holidays. Let interruptions slow you down, so you can better focus on receiving and giving God's love.

Has your life been interrupted? How can you turn this into an opportunity to love and be loved?

Lean into God and learn of His love for the person who may have interrupted your life, then go share your story. Today, settle into the lap of your Lord, rest secure in His comfort and compassion. He beautifully illustrates His story of love for you, written with grace by His Son and your Savior, Jesus.

Heavenly Father, open my eyes of faith to see Your illustrations of love in the interruptions of my life today. Lord, help me see these moments as opportunities to love and to accept Your love and the love of others. Help me share the good news of Your great love with everyone I know. Slow me down, so that I can receiving and give to others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.