Year Reflection

I just want you to take the time and reflect on what this year has been like for you. Think about the person you were at the beginning of 1017 and the person you are now. How have you changed? How have you grown, in your faith and as a person? What has this year been like for you? The ins and outs the ups and downs . What's new? Now what do you want for this coming year, how do you plan to dive deeper into your relationship with Christ? Just take the time to reflect on your year, whatever that means to you.

Now I just want to take the time to thank everyone who has been consistent throughout the year, everyone who has read the devotional and kept it going. This has been such a humbling experience for me and I have grown so much. I cannot believe it's coming to an end. Thank you so much, it means so much to me. Thank you so much. I love you and go have an amazing 2018! Be the person God made you to be and don't apologize for it! Thank you! I love you so much! Thank you!

Day 356: That's Life: Series (Part 4)

Matthew 6:33
 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Psalms 119:30
I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me.

Today's devo is not going to be long as it requires a lot of self reflection. The year is winding down and it's winding down fast. When we think about our lives we have to ask ourselves a few questions. What kind of life are we leading and does it mirror the life of Jesus, and is it according to the word of God. This week we have been getting  very real about life and the expectations that come with being a part of society. We have talked about leading a life based not the rules of society and gender norms. We have talked about how life is so much more than a struggle, we have to choose to see it in a different way. So I guess what I want to ask or talk about today is the type of life you want to lead. What type of life do you want to lead? I ask myself the same question. 

A huge part of being a Christian is choosing to live with God. It's making that choice everyday to walk with Christ and live according to His word, putting all things that are of the world away from us. We quickly learn that the core of this life is love. As we have talked about love and living this week, I want to ask a more detailed questioned. How will we live that will replicate the life of Jesus and being the person God has called us to be? What will we do with our life that will please Him? Are we going to love more, be more selfless, reach out to people? What are we going to do. to reach out to people? Can we live a life that does not abide by society's rules, man-made rules but by the law put forth by Jesus Christ. 

As we wrap this series up, essentially I want you to ask yourself, what is life? What is life to you, what do you see life as, what does it mean to you. This is a question that only we can answer for ourselves, no one else can give us the answer. Are we living the type of life we know is right and are we struggling to get there? Are we in a spot where we know we need to change our lifestyle, or continue to move and push forward. We must make a decision about the life we are going to lead and go ahead and do it. We cannot be on the fence about it, we have to decide. That's the challenge, to decide if the life we want to live matches the life we are living. If we want to live a life dedicated to Christ does the life we are living match the life Jesus lived? 

So take  the time to go over what we talked about this week. Take the time to access you life and the type of life you are living and the type of life you want to live. Talk to God about it, pray about it and make a decision. If you have never made the decision to follow Christ now is the time to make that decision. God loves us so much and He has a plan for each and everyone of us, we just have to choose to trust Him and His timing, and His plan. 

If you’ve never made the decision to follow Christ and you want to, or if you want to rededicate your life to Him, now is the time to do. Now is the time to make that decision. If you want to be brought into this magnificent promise of eternity, now is the time to make that decision. If that’s you if you want to make that decision, pray this prayer with me,

“Jesus I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour who died for my sins and was raised three days later. I repent of my sins and I give my life to you. I believe in my heart that you are the true living God. I pray that you shine your  light on me and bring me out of the darkness and into your light. I love you Lord. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen.”

If you made the choice to follow Christ, rededicate, or to submit your life to Him fully, Go to Romans 10:9-10

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

I love you so much and I hope you have an amazing day! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 357!

Day 322: Recap!

Day 316: This Beautiful Romance 


Today we talked about having a relationship with God and how it is a special kind of relationship. We talked about how it is similar to a marriage, and how God is committed to us. We also touched a bit on our commitment to God. We focused on Ephesians 5:25-27 and Isaiah 62:5.

" God doesn’t want a casual relationship with us, He wants a marriage, He wants us to be with Him for all eternity."

Day 317: Knowing God for Ourselves

Today we continued the theme of having a relationship with God, but today we talked about getting to know God for ourselves. We talked about when it comes to entering into a relationship with God and giving our lives to Him, that decision is completely on us. We talked about how we cannot depend on anyone to grasp salvation for us, we must receive it for ourselves. We focused on John 14:6.

"We have to come to know God for who He is, we must profess our own faith. We must repent for our own sins. Our parents, our mentors, our pastors, no one can do that for us."

Day 318: Light Up My World

Today we talked about how the word of God lights up our lives, how it livens our spirits and our world. We talked about how the word of God is like a lamp on dark path and it guides and instructs us through life. We focused on 2 Peter 1:18-21

"The word of God has provided us with a way to sustain while here on earth, it has instructed us to live while we are still here but to look forward to what is to come."

Day 319: So Will I

Today was inspired by Hillsong United's song, 'So Will I' we talked about how all creation reveals the glory of God. We focused on Psalms 19:1-4. We talked about how if the earth worships God we will also, and of Jesus gladly chose surrender so will we. 

"Everything reveals a bit more about who God is, it tells us a little more about His love for creation and humanity."

Day 320: When God Blocks

Today we talked about how sometimes God is the one blocking our paths and closing doors. We often blame it on the enemy but sometimes God stands in the way of what we are trying to do because it is not what He wants or has planned for us. We focused on Numbers 22:21-34. 

"Everything is not the devil’s work, God works a million times more than satan."

Day 321: Half Empty or Half Full

Today we talked about perspective we talked about being content with we are and where God has us in our lives. We talked about how sometimes we are so focused on having the glass full that we miss what God is doing right in front of us because we're too busy looking at the glass as half empty. Therefore constantly trying to fill it. We focused on, 1 Timothy 6:6 and Philippians 4:11.

"Sometimes we are so focused on getting to next place and getting more than we already have that we miss God. We are overlooking what God is doing right now because we are so concerned with what He is going to do or what we want to do."

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 323!

Day 310: Proving Your Faithfulness

James 5:12

And since you know that he cares, let your language show it. Don’t add words like “I swear to God” to your own words. Don’t show your impatience by concocting oaths to hurry up God. Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can’t be used against you.

1 Samuel 15:22

And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

Proverbs 21:3

To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Have you ever felt the need to prove yourself to God? Prove your faithfulness. I feel like sometimes we try too hard to prove how faithful we are that we forget to actually be faithful. We have talked about how we are sometimes so concerned with how we look to other people that we forget to live. We are more concerned with looking like a Christian in front of others that we forget that being a christian and living the lifestyle of a christian is far more important. Have you noticed that sometimes we treat God the same way. We do extra stuff, we do more good deed, just to prove that we are good Christians. We spend our time making vows, and timing our prayers so they’re exactly an hour, trying to prove to God that we are good Christians. Now some will say that all this stuff is just a way to be in a relationship with God. But do we do these things because we love God with all our heart, mind, and soul? Or are we doing it because we want to look good in front of God. We can make a million vows to Him, and swear by His name all day but in our heart is not in it, it means nothing. If everything we do is not to bring glory to God, why are we doing it? Let's not be like the Pharisee's who worshipped God with their mouths but their hearts were far from Him. (Mark 7:6).

Why do we waste our time trying to prove ourselves to God, when He already knows us. He knows our heart, He knows who we are. He know what we struggle with, what our strengths are, He knows everything there is to know about us because He created us. Why not spend our time being in a relationship with the living God. Walking through life with Him. Let’s spend our time getting to know Him and diving into our word and loving Him with everything we have. See when we love God with all our heart, mind, body. And soul everything we do will be bred from our love for God, not our need our want to prove our devotion to Him.

I remember when I went to school for theology, a lot of it was to prove to people how good of a Christian I was, and also to show God how faithful I was. At no point in my life did I ever want to stop acting, but in order to prove myself to God I gave up doing the thing that He put me on this earth to do in order to “serve” in His kingdom. I gave up theatre school for bible school, and it made me feel like a great Christian. But that only lasted so long and before I knew it I am back in theatre school,graduating in a semester after dropping out of bible school. Now some might say this is backwards, but I know that I am exactly where God wants me to be. What I had to learn was, God is more concerned with my heart than my sacrifice. He wants me more than He wants my sacrifice, and I had to want my relationship with God more than I wanted the image of christianity plastered on my life. I’m not saying that any of this, going to bible school, was a mistake. What I’m saying is that I was too busy trying to prove my faithfulness to God that I never took the chance to look up and see what He was really doing in my life.

-Dyamond

All this to say, having a relationship with God is so much better than having on a mask of Christianity. Don’t try to prove yourself to God with clever promises vows, instead love Him with everything. Instead dive into Him, and trust in who He is, knowing that He care for you. He loves you. Knowing that God cares more about our hearts than He does about the things we try to do to prove our devotion. If we want to give anything to God to prove our devotion, we should consider giving Him our hearts. Surrendering our lives, and walking like Christ.

Reflection

1. Have you ever found yourself trying to prove your devotion to God?
2. How has that worked out for you?

Prayer Time

Take the time to pray about what we discussed today, ask god for clarity, and allow Him to speak to your heart.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 311!

Day 309: Don't Anticipate, Live

2 Kings 20:1-6

About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: “This is what the Lord says: Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness.” 2 When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember, O Lord, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you.” Then he broke down and wept bitterly. 4 But before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, this message came to him from the Lord: 5 “Go back to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the Lord. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own honor and for the sake of my servant David.’”

When I first read this story I was astounded, by the fact that God truly hears and honors the prayers of His people. I was also taken by Hezekiah's faith in God. But one thing I’d like to point out is that Hezekiah is one of the only people who had an idea of exactly when he was going to die. God told Hezekiah that He will add fifteen years to his life. Meaning that Hezekiah would die in fifteen years. Do you think he sat waiting for that day, he was going to die. Anticipating how he would die or having anxiety about not having more time? I do not think he did, while he loved his life I believe that he was in full knowledge that he would spend eternity with the Lord when his time here on earth was up.

Life is about so much more than living as long as possible it’s about living while we have it. Most of us have no clue of what is going to happen but we stress ourselves out worried about what could happen. Hezekiah knew what was going to happen and yet I’m sure that didn’t stop him from living His life that God had blessed him with. What a waste of time it would have been if Hezekiah sat anticipating what will happen after God has just given Him fifteen more years to live. What I’m getting at here is, we as people spend far too much time anticipating, and worrying, allowing our anxieties to stop us from living the life God has destined for us.  We stand there afraid to take a step because we don’t know what’s going to happen. We want to be in the know of everything before we do anything, but where is our faith. Where is the faith in God who knows everything so we don’t need all the info. God is greater and God is bigger. We cannot allow our fear of not being in control paralyze us. Living our lives this way is a waste of time. The beauty of living for God is that we don’t know what is going to happen we just have faith in whatever God is doing and wherever He is leading us. How many times have we professed our faith in God and asked Him to let His will be done in our lives yet we are afraid to take a step because we are not sure where our foot will land. When we truly have faith in God we will know and understand that He will not lead us anywhere that will harm us. We know that He will guide us to victory. We cannot sit trying to figure out what will happen, because while we’re doing that life is happening and passing us by. We’ve all sat at moments and watched life pass us by because we were afraid of what was going to happen next. If anything I know, the best moments in life are the spontaneous moments. The moments we just do something. God’s plan for us us very spontaneous, many things we never see coming but in the end we will understand why stepping out on faith is so important.

All this to say, live your life having faith in God, Walking every moment with Him, and not waiting until we know what is going to happen before we take a step. God reveals the plan as we go, so that way we cannot pick and choose and anticipate what is to come. Live life like we don't know what is going to happen because we don't and that's the beauty of it. Life is spontaneous, life is great but God is greater.

Reflection

1. How do you relate to what we discussed today?
2. Have you found yourself anticipating life?
3. How has this anticipation strained your relationship with God?

Prayer Time

Allow you answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Have a conversation with God about what we discussed today. Pour your heart out to the Lord.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 310!

Day 305: Trust In the Power of Prayer

James 5:13-18

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18 Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

I think sometimes we underestimate the power of prayer, or we doubt while praying. Why do we turn to prayer as a last resort, and why do we still worry or why do we doubt if we pray. When we pray we are having faith that God will answer us, that He hears us and that He is going to answer our prayer. Sometimes we allow what we see to make us doubt what God can do.

I love that the answer to all the questions in the above scripture is prayer. Whatever is going on in our lives we should pray. If we’re sick, upset, happy, in and out of season we should constantly be in prayer, Sometimes we allow our situation to dictate our prayers lives. I think all of us have been there. When we are in trouble, when things are falling apart we are in constant prayer. But when things are going good for us, when life is treating us right, why is our prayer lives reduced to close to nothing? Our situation changes the way we pray and what we pray for but it should not affect our prayer life at all. The truth is it’s sometimes easier to pray when things in our lives are out of control because we need God to fix them. We need God to deliver us and bring us out of the hard times. But what about the good times. When things are going good, praise God. There’s nothing like taking the time to thank and praise God for what He has done, for who He is and how He has moved in our lives.

Many times we feel ourselves praying to God for the same things over and over again, as if we want to make sure that He hears us, or has heard us. There’s nothing wrong with constantly praying for something, but at what point is that constant prayer bred from doubt. What I mean is, when we pray do we really believe that God can do it. Are we praying just to pray or are we praying in faith? Some things takes a lot of prayer, and sometimes we are doubting God. There is no use of us praying if we are going to doubt and worry anyway. This is something God has taught me, don’t pray and worry, don’t pray and doubt. It defeats the purpose of prayer. We must pray in faith and trust in the power of prayer, and that means trusting that God hears us and He is going to answer us. This does not mean that we will always get the answer we want. It means that we are trusting God and His plans.

When talking about Elijah Peter says before anything, “Elijah was as human as we are…” I think that is meant to encourage us, yes we are human, so was Jesus, and Paul, and John, and Peter, and Timothy, and all the Apostles, but when they prayed God moved. That is because they prayed in faith knowing that it was not by human hands or human power but it was through the divine power of God that these things were done. Yes, we are mere humans but we serve an almighty God who can do anything! The scripture goes on to talk about how Elijah prayed that it would not rain, and it didn’t rain for three and half years, exclamation point! Then when he prayed for rain it rained! This is the power of prayer, something that seems so simple yet so hard for many people is one of our most powerful weapons. Prayer changes things, God moves when His people earnestly pray to Him, having faith that He will answer. Elijah did not talk about how it should stop raining or how it needs to rain again, no He went straight to God in prayer and asked. That’s what we as the body of Christ must learn to do, we must learn to talk less, pray more, and watch what God does.

All this to say, do not doubt the power of prayer and what God can do. Do not pray and worry but trust in Him.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led, and pray. Pray about whatever is on your heart, allow the Holy Spirit to fill you, and just pray.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 306!

Day 300: Faith is Active

James 2:17

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

James:2:20-23

Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.

Yesterday we talked about faith, in the aspect that we must believe. We must believe in order to be saved. Today we are going to take that a step further and start acting on that faith. Faith when it comes to following Christ is an action word, yes we must first believe and confess then we must walk with Christ, all the days of our lives. We must have faith in who He is, and trust Him with our lives. We must put all of our faith in Him, knowing that He will do all that He said He was going to do in our lives. This looks like obeying His word, living by His word, and listening when He tells us to go. One of the prime examples of this is Abraham. We all know the story of Abraham and Sarah who had a child way past childbearing age. They were old, very old. But God promised that they would have a son, and they stood on that promise. We see parts of the story when they decided to do it their way but it didn’t work. See the thing about having faith in God is that we cannot decide to do things our way when we decide God is taking too long. We must stand on His promise even when it looks like it’s not coming through, trust me He will always come through. The only way life will work is God’s way, and the more we pour ourselves into Him the more evident that truth becomes. Abraham had a child but it was not the the promised child, the child God had promised was to come from Abraham and Sarah not Abraham and Hagar.

The turning point in this story is when Abraham and Sarah finally had  Isaac (the promised son), God tells Abraham to offer his son as a sacrifice. Without hesitation Abraham goes to do it. Now many may think, why would Abraham voluntarily kill his son? The simple answer is because God told Him to, as gruesome as it sounds. I think Abraham knew something that we take a while to grasp and understand. He knew that whatever God was doing it was so much greater than what He could ever imagine. Abraham knew that God gave Him Isaac and if God wanted Him back then He would have to send Him. Sometimes God’s plan doesn’t make sense to us, but it is some much greater than what we could ever think. I cannot say that Abraham was happy-go-lucky to do this. It does not say how he felt about this, but I can imagine that he was a bit troubled. The thing is, Abraham had faith in God’s plan whatever it may have been. “But what about the promise, he waited so long to have this child and then he’s just going to give him up that easy.” It poses the question, do we have faith in His promises or faith in Him? Are we putting our faith in the things that God says He’s going to do, are we putting our trust in His promises or are we putting our faith and trust in Him? I believe that Abraham’s faith was in God, not in the promise of a child because even when the promise was fulfilled He was willing to give it up because His faith in God was stronger. Abraham’s faith was more than words it was active, that’s the type of faith God calling us to have.

Reflection/Prayer Time

There’s a two part question we must ask ourselves, one being do we really have faith in God, do we trust Him with everything? The second question being are we trusting in the promise, or are we trusting in a God who makes and fulfills promises? Allow your answers to those questions guide your prayer, talk to God about it. Have a conversation with Him about your faith, ask Him to search your heart and teach you to have faith in Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 301!

Day 291: Waiting for "The One"

Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

In our twenty’s we are coming to the age when we are either in long term relationships, dating, engaged, or married. The topic of relationships comes up a lot. Whether we are talking about the type of person we want to be with, the type of relationship we want, or even thinking about settling down and starting a family. Whatever it may be, I think it is time we have a mature conversation about this subject that seems to be glossed over so much. This is something that has constantly been coming up in my conversations recently. Everyone is looking for that one person we can spend the rest of our lives with, however when we are in Christ we are waiting for that person. We are waiting for whoever it is God has for us, and trust me there’s someone out there that God has chosen specifically for you, and you have been chosen specifically for someone else. God is great, on top of everything He does, He’s also the ultimate matchmaker. It’s great, it’s beautiful. There is so much peace in knowing that we do not have to go out looking for the right person because God already has them picked out, and whoever this person is will be far beyond what we ever expected. However there are a few questions I would like to pose and a few points to make.

Are we seeking a relationship with God more than we are seeking a earthly relationship with someone? We can get so caught up sometimes in wanting to be with someone, liking someone, or just wanting to be in a relationship that we forget about the first relationship we need to be in. In order for us to have a good and stable relationship with anybody else we must have a good and stable relationship with God. Sometimes we are going after people that are no good for us, we are going after people that we are not meant to be with, because we are more focused on them than we are on God. That presents a problem The scripture tells us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to us. There’s a pattern to life and it always involves keeping God first and then watching everything fall into place. So if we want a relationship if we want that person that God has for us, we cannot look outside of Him. We must be so wrapped up in Christ that our significant other has to find Christ to find us. What I’m saying is, Jesus is our first love and will always be our first love. Before we fall in love with anyone else we must fall in love with Him first.  

Genesis 2:18

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

I love the scripture in genesis as it ends with the statement, “I will make him a helper fit for Him.”  Sometimes we settle for people that do not fit us, We settle for people not just because we’re lonely but because they have what we think we want. They have the whole package according to our standards. But what about God’s standards? What about His plan? We must get to a point where we are not willing to sacrifice our faith for pleasure. Where we are so rooted in our faith where we don’t want to be near anything that could jeopardize that. I was recently talking to a friend about what I want from a relationship, and the first thing is they have to love Jesus, I want someone that will love me, but love Jesus so much more, and that’s not something I am willing to sacrifice. No matter how attractive they are, or how many standards they meet, I am not willing to sacrifice my faith for a relationship with someone. I would rather wait and move on God’s timing. He knows the plan, He knows when we are going to meet that person. God knows the exact moment it will happen. But in the meantime, while we wait, let’s work on our relationship with Him. Let’s work on fitting into the will of God before trying to fit someone into our will.

While we wait god is molding and shaping us into the people He has called us to be. He is taking out the things that should be there, and teaching us to walk like Christ. Leading us down this road called life. God has work to do on us before He sends the person He has destined for us to spend the rest of our lives with. He isn’t going to send us into this relationship with baggage, He won’t allow us to ruin what He is putting together.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not conceited, does not act improperly, is not selfish, is not provoked, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

One of my favorite things to talk about is love, Not just romantic love, but love in general, because it is so beautiful. Love is so powerful. I just love, love. I think it is the best thing we have. Because God is the best thing we have and God is love. With that being said, we are talking about love in a romantic way today. God teaches us how to love properly, He teaches us how to love people, and ultimately how to love our significant others. The scripture above is a definition of what love is, before we get into a relationship with anyone we must know what love is, we must know how to love. Love requires patience, kindness, forgiveness, it is not conceited, envious, or boastful. When we read the above scripture we see just how beautiful love is. This is the way God wants us to love our partners. The way He has called us to love any and everyone.

All this to say, God has a special someone out there for all of us. Let’s not let our loneliness or want to be in a relationship blind us from what God is doing. Some of us may have to wait longer, but no matter how long the wait is, it will be so worth it.

Reflection

1. Are you waiting for the person God has for you or are you settling for what you want?
2. What is your perfect person? Describe them, ideally what and who would they be?
3. Are you willing to sacrifice your faith to get that person?
4. Are you seeking a relationship with God more than you are seeking a relationship with someone else?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the aboves questions guide your prayer. Have a conversation with God about what we discussed today. Then pray for your future spouse, whoever it is God has for you, pray for that person, even though you don’t know who they are yet. Trust me someone is out there praying for you too.

When you have the chance listen to the song Dear No One by Tori Kelly. It’s a beautiful song about waiting on who God has for you.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 292!

Day 277: Less Talk More Prayer

Psalms 34:13

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.

1 Thessalonians 5:25

Brethren, pray for us

1 Timothy 2:1-2

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we made lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity

Galatians 6:1

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Let’s talk about gossip. How many of you have ever been talked about or talked about someone? All of us should raise our hands because we have been on both sides of the spectrum, I know I have. We tend to gossip about the things that don’t sit right with us or the things that we don’t agree with. Far too much gossip happens in the church, whether it’s about the way someone is dressed or living. The sin someone has committed and has openly confessed. Gossip is toxic, and it does nothing but spread like a wildfire. But what if we replaced gossip with prayer? What if we decided to pray for people instead of talking about them? Something I noticed is that whenever Paul was writing his letters to the people he always talked about how he was praying to God for them, and asking them for prayer in return. It’s easy to gossip and talk about people but how much better would it be if we talked to God about them. If we prayed for them. We can easily go to a friend and talk about how bad someone is doing and have it change nothing but what about when we talk to God about it. That’s when things begin to change. We have to want better for people, and pray for it. It’s easy to point out someone’s downfall but let’s lift them up and rejoice in their blessings.

I know we have all seen this before, when something bad happens we always see tweets and posts like #PrayFor… but are we really praying? It becomes a trending topic on twitter, instagram, and facebook. One thing I had to start asking myself is, am I really praying or do I just want to be part of the conversation? Am I doing it for the likes or retweets? See while we are exploiting these moments for our own gain there are people out there who really need our prayer. They really need us to being praying for them, but we sometimes treat it as if a like, or retweet or just being part of the conversation is enough. It’s not. Prayer is where things begin to change.

Lastly, have you ever heard someone talke about how badly our world needs prayer? How it is all about to go up in flames and we need to start praying? We talk about how bad the world is and how it needs prayer, but are we praying? Can that sequence of prayer start with us. Let’s pray for our country, pray for our leaders, pray for the people. We talk about issues and go around in circles we’ve seen it from the media. All the news  outlets talk about the same things, and nothing changes. Let’s try a different tactic and start praying.

All this to say is that gossip and talk can do little but prayer changes things. The power of prayer is amazing. Let’s learn to talk less and pray more,

Reflection

1. Do you find yourself talking more about situations as opposed to praying for or about them?
2. Has prayer ever been your last resort?
3. What can be the outcome when you pray about something or for someone as opposed to talking about it or gossiping about someone?

Prayer Time

Allow the answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. As a big theme of today was prayer, just begin to pray and allow God to take you wherever He wants you to go. Just pray!

I love you and I hope have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 278!