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A Chicken Sandwich Prayer

March 8, 2011
Filed In Daily Devotionals

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8

There are many positive things about living in the south including: the warm weather, the beaches and Walt Disney World, but by far my absolute favorite thing about living in the south is Chick-fil-a. If you’ve never had an original Chick-fil-a chicken sandwich, you have no idea what you’re missing. Not only are the sandwiches amazing, but so are the waffle fries.

When I first started frequenting the local Chick-fil-a, I was so impressed that I began reading a book about leadership by the founder of Chick-fil-a, Truett Cathy.. Throughout the book he talked about the foundational principles that make up the values and goals of the company. What makes Chick-fil-a different is that they have stayed true to who they were when the company was formed and their desire to please the customer. Whenever the customer says “thank you” the Chick-fil-a employee always responds with “my pleasure.”

My mom and dad taught me to say “thank you” and so I say it all the time, but I genuinely mean it when I say it. Chick-fil-a employees say “my pleasure” time after time and there is never a hint in their voice that they don’t mean it. Shouldn’t our prayer life be the same?

Time after time I receive information of a situation needing prayer and I do nothing. I commit to someone to pray for them, but I often forget. I don’t want to sound like I think Chick-fil-a is perfect and incapable of making a mistake, because they have. They’ve messed up my order once or twice, but their average is extremely high. Shouldn’t we shoot for a high average in our prayer life?

We need to strive to be the type of people that when we say we’re going to pray for someone or a situation, that we really do. That the words that we use to promise a prayer mean more than “what’s up.” When we pray we bring the needs of our friends, family and co-workers before the Creator of the universe and it is not something we should take lightly.

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How To Worship God

January 25, 2011
Filed In Daily Devotionals

My 4 year-old granddaughter Kinsey graduated to “big church” from the pre-school department. Now she gets to stay with us until the welcoming time and then she goes to children’s church with the older kids. Today she was swaying to the combined choirs and singing along. She was so happy to be part of the worship time like her older sister. This introduction into corporate worship is exciting for her.

Sometimes people get all caught up in mechanics, methodology and emotions when worshipping. Some folks think they have to feel a certain way, to act a certain way, to respond a certain way. Some are told their worship is invalid because they do not raise their hands; their hearts are cold because they do not offer continual “Amen and Praise the Lord” in response to music and preaching. As Kinsey begins to learn the meaning of worshipping God, she will watch what others do. She will mimic at times. She will have many questions. But the sweetest thing today was that she wanted to participate. As I watched Kinsey’s expressions, her enthusiasm made me think of what Jesus said about worship:

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24

Our spirit combines with God’s Spirit the moment we believe the Truth. God breaks through our surrendered will and ingrafts His Life with our soul. Once we are regenerated by His grace, we are never without the ability to worship our Creator. Unlike Kinsey, we may have times we feel dead. We may be in crisis and incapable of feeling–but our worship is as genuine as the day we were saved because our spirit bears witness with His eternally. Our faith in Christ and our gratitude for Him is our true worship. And when we cannot muster our broken hearts to praise, the Holy Spirit holds it up to the Father and offers prayer in our behalf.

Do we become complacent in our joy to worship our Lord? Do we care more about how worship affects us and pleases others? Or is our priority in having a prepared heart, and an open mind to hear His voice and how much praise and adoration He deserves for who He is?

PRAYER: Thank you for making it possible to worship in spirit and in truth through Your Son’s sacrifice. Lord, keep us ever mindful of the glory of Your grace and mercy. Let our hearts be open to receive You and surrender our will to Yours and love You for all You are.

© Hariette Petersen, SelahV Today, 2011

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A House of Prayer

March 10, 2010
Filed In Daily Devotionals

…“It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”
Luke 19:46

Donkeys braying, birds chirping, people rushing about, voices crying, “Best deals here! Change your money at my booth! Finest animals for sacrifice!” Activity everywhere, all focused on commerce, on making a buck. Perhaps there was a contest among the moneychangers that day – who can squeeze the most money from the pilgrims today? Who’s the best swindler? They were a den of robbers.

Our Lord’s words were not soft, nor was his response gentle. With a whip he drove them out. He cried against them, “This is a house of prayer! You have made it a place of desecration, a den of robbers!”

What about today’s house of prayer, what is its condition? People sometimes are too quick to make the leap from temple to church, calling the church a house of prayer. But consider what the New Testament has told us in passages like 1 Corinthians 3:16, Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? From the day of Pentecost onward, the temple is found in the people of God. You and I are the house of prayer.

What are you doing to drive the robbers out of the house of prayer? How are you keeping it pure and holy and focused on its true business, leading people in the worship and exaltation of God? We know that God is at work to purify his people. What will Jesus be driving out of your life to make you a holy house of prayer? Is your life so filled with noise – traffic, television, work, school, games – that you bear little resemblance to a house of prayer?

Follow the Psalmist in Psalm 139:23-24 in praying for God to reveal to you your faults. Ask him to show you what needs to be driven out. Then pray along with Psalm 51:10-12:

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

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When I am weary, Jesus gives me rest

December 13, 2009
Filed In Daily Devotionals

I’ve had a busy week. Some things I had planned; other things interrupted my plans and redirected my efforts and energies. In the course of the week, I encountered so many folks with overwhelming problems. Some were mourning the loss of loved ones. Some struggled with physical ailments; others dealt with job losses. One faces surgery to remove his larynx due to cancer. Another has terminal cancer and been told to get all his financial matters in order. I thought how small my difficulties are in comparison. I felt so helpless. My little interruptions paled in comparison to those around me. How do I pray for them?

Ever been so weary and burdened you wanted to just give up? Ever wonder which way to turn? When we face these situations day after day, hour after hour, our strength grows weak. It is nothing to be ashamed of; there’s no need for guilt or despair. Our bodies are telling us to rest. Our spirit is telling us it needs refreshment. Our minds need to rest from racing and chasing solutions.

“Come unto Me all ye who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

The problems we have create mountain after mountain that seem impossible to climb. We need Jesus. We need His comfort and strengthening power. Ask for it. Give Him your worn spirit, your tired body, your broken heart. Let Him take it from you; surrender it all and let Him restore the joy of His salvation. Fear not, for He is with you, even to the end of the age.

© Hariette Petersen, SelahV Today, 2009

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Is Prayer Just Another Buzzword?

November 17, 2009
Filed In Daily Devotionals

“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers…”1 Thess. 1:2

A buzzword is defined as a word or phrase, often sounding technical, that is a vogue term in a particular profession, field of study, popular culture. Has prayer become a buzzword to you? Is it something that sounds “spiritual”, but you find it difficult to practice? This came to mind last week when looking at the prayer reminders that we receive at our church’s midweek service. I was reminded that there are a lot of needs both within our congregation and outside of our congregation. We often will say to people, “I am praying for you” or “I will pray for you.” Do we really pray for them? Sad to say, sometimes I forget and I know that you do as well. We are humans and we do make mistakes.

I have found the best thing to do is once I tell someone I will pray for them, is to pray right on the spot either with them or praying for them immediately after parting company. Another good thing to do is to keep some paper or an index card handy (I use a moleskine notebook) and write down the request so it is not forgotten.

I have often wondered if some of the trite things that we say to people with regard to praying for them have become as common as some secular expressions that we may hear others use, such as “Good luck”. It is a simple phrase that one may use when they do not know what to say, but feel that they must say something. Let us not be trite in what we say to others especially in the matter of prayer. The book of Galatians reminds us “Bear one another’s burden and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Gal. 6:2, NKJV)

Terry Lange blogs at From The Unknown

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Approaching God With Spiritual Persistence

November 9, 2009
Filed In Daily Devotionals

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
(Matthew 7:7-8)

When Jesus tells us in Luke 11 and in Matthew 7 to ask, seek and to knock there is an element of persistency contained within these words. We can read them with the understanding that Jesus is expressing a sense of urgency that should not be let up on lightly. All who believe in Him should keep on asking, keep on seeking and keep on knocking. Not to persuade God to come to our side over His will or win His favor by our persistency and dedication but to continually come before His presence until our souls are satisfied with His glorious response.

We ask with persistency to be heard and receive the desire of our petition. We seek with persistency to find Him who which is not far from us and desires those who seek Him. We knock with persistency to see the door that He has prepared for us to walk through. The door that He has opened to share the gospel with our co-worker who has had all doors closed on her. The door of ministry to the hurting and broken in our city.

When we persistently come to God with the same request sometimes the Holy Spirit will show us that our request is for our desires and not for His glory and He begins to change our request by changing our vision and changing our heart. James 4:3 says, You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. When we persistently come to God where our passions need to be changed he changes. Where our vision needs to be changed, he changes. Where our ears need to be attentive he tunes.

Soul satisfaction comes to the man, to the woman who persistently asks, seeks and knocks the Lord.

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The Progression of Prayer

November 8, 2009
Filed In Daily Devotionals

Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you! Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress! Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call!
Psalm 102:1-2

Many of the Psalms contain heart-wrenching cries from the Psalmist. In this Psalm the writer is facing such terrible affliction he says his days are like smoke (v3). Despite his trouble, he remembers to turn to God in prayer.

His prayer starts with a cry of suffering. He shouts out to God from the depths of his misery, telling God the measure of his suffering. But the Psalmist does not remain wallowing in the agony of his suffering. In his prayer he moves on to remember the one he is praying to: But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; you are remembered throughout all generations (v12). How unlike us! We are often content to linger in our sorrow and never move to remember the one who hears our prayers.

From this point on, the Psalmists’s prayer changes. From deep sorrow he begins to display a growing hope. By the end of the prayer he remains in his troubled circumstances but he remembers that God is eternal, sovereign, creator, unchanging, and faithful. God has promised to do good for his children. God can be trusted to keep his promises.

When you pray do not stay in your sorrow. From sorrow move on to remembrance. Reflect on what God has done in Christ. Reflect on what God has done in your life. From remembrance move on to praise and glorifying the name of God in the earth. From praise move on to confident prayer, knowing that God will work out his perfect will.

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What is Prayer Really About?

November 5, 2009
Filed In Daily Devotionals

In thinking about prayer and in examining scriptures on prayer, there is one conclusion that we must come back to again and again. Prayer is about God.

Prayer is God changing His children. Prayer is experiencing His presence. Prayer is God intervening in our lives. Prayer is God hearing and providing for our needs. Prayer is about God.

Luke records the words of Jesus that we are to ask, seek and knock at the door of heaven, waiting for God to respond. God is portrayed as a generous, loving father who delights in responding to His children by giving them what they need. He is not evil, looking for ways to deceive them. When we ask for an egg we are not given a scorpion instead nor are we given a stone when pleading to be nourished with bread. The Lord is concerned with our provision not in poisoning his children.

Therein lays the command and the reward. Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. God does not respond due to any magical formula of prayer or any work performed to earn a response from Him. He responds because He is God. He responds because of His nature. He is good. He is compassionate. He is generous. He is the protector and provider. He knows what each of His children need and He will not provide that which will harm them. He will only give that which satisfies.

Prayer presents us with the very nature of God. We pray because of who He is. We come to Him because we have faith that He will intervene. We have faith that He will provide. We have faith that He will give us the best, even when the best is silence.

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