Thursday... Yes, it does make a difference.

Psalms 17:6 (NLT), "I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray."

Thursday... Yes, it does make a difference.

Have you found that prayer makes a difference? Well, it depends upon who you are praying to. Psalms 17:6 (NLT) says, "I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray."

David goes on and says in verses 7-8 (AMP), "Wondrously show Your [marvelous and amazing] lovingkindness, O Savior of those who take refuge at Your right hand from those who rise up against them. Keep me [in Your affectionate care, protect me] as the apple of Your eyes; hide me in the [protective] shadow of Your wings." The NLT says, "Guard me as you would guard your own eyes."

Do you need to pray a prayer like that today? Are you in the middle of a storm? Again, have you found that prayer makes a difference?

Over in Luke 8 there were these guys who were in a boat and Jesus, God's Son was in the boat with them. Verse 23 says, "As they sailed across, Jesus settled down for a nap. The boat was filling with water, and they were in real danger."

Now Jesus was in the boat. Yes, he was taking a nap but he was in the boat. This is important for us to see. If we have a relationship with God then he is in our boat. I'm sure there were other boats sailing in this storm but there was only one boat that had Jesus in it. These guys were followers of Jesus, they had a relationship with Jesus but he was taking a nap.

Verse 24a says, "The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, 'Master, Master, we're going to drown." In other words they were in the midst of a storm and they emphatically prayed. Prayer is connecting with God. They woke him up, shouting. And maybe you also feel like shouting. You too are in real danger and you too have a relationship with God then he is in your boat so pray. Because he was in the boat they knew he was going to answer but we also need to realize that he is in our boat, our life. And as David said, "I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray."

Verse 24 goes on. "When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm." And verse 25 says, "Then he asked them, 'Where is your faith?' The disciples were terrified and amazed. 'Who is this man?' they asked each other. 'When he gives a command, even the wind and waves obey him!'"

These guys were at the beginning of their relationship with Jesus. They hadn't seen all that Jesus was going to do. In this chapter, Luke tells of his healing a demon-possessed man, a woman who had suffered constant bleeding for twelve years was healed by her deliberately reaching out and touching the fringe of his robe and then Jesus also raised a twelve year old daughter from the dead because of the faith of her parents. Yes, reaching out and connecting with God through faith will make a difference.

God wants to show through pray his marvelous and amazing lovingkindness, and that we are the apple of his eye. We really matter to him and connecting to him by faith really does make a difference. So as David says, "I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray." And he will if you have him in your boat so just ask him to get in. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Friday... We have this hope of expectancy.

Psalm 5:3 (NLT), "Listen to my voice in the morning Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly." Friday... We have this hope of expectancy. Now David found a great way to start his day. He says in Psalm 5:1-3 (NLT), "O LORD, hear me as I pray." And that is a great place to start. It really is. Morning sunrise He goes on, "Listen to my cry for help, my King, my God, for I pray to no one but you." And that is so important. We don't try to pump ourselves up by ourself. No, we pray to no one but you, God, my LORD, my King. Now this relationship with God is so, so very important. And then David says, "Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you" And that is so great. And then he says, "and wait expectantly." Yes, we have this hope of expectancy. We are experienced. That is what a relationship with God and a moment by moment connection does. It makes a difference in our daily wa...

Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true.

Psalm 12:6 (NLT), "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true. Maybe this is what you want to say in this day in which we live. Psalm 12:1-2 (MSG) says, "Quick, I need your helping hand! The last decent person just went down, all the friends I depend on gone. Everyone talks in lie language; lies slide off their oily lips. They doubletalk with forked tongues." Do you ever feel that way?" Have you found that to be true? Well David the writer of this Psalm continues and says in verse 6 something to encourage us, to lift us up, to give us hope. Psalm 12:6 (NLT) says, "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." The Message Paraphrase says verses 6-8 this way, "God's words are pure words, pure silver words refined seven times in the fires of his word-kiln, pure on earth as well as in heaven, God, keep ...

Friday... So what is it that you really fear?

1 Corinthians 15:57 (NLT), "But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." Friday... So what is it that you really fear? Yes, fear holds us back. It seems to take hold of us so that we can't even really enjoy living. Now I have found that one of the best ways to handle fear is to solve the problem of what we fear. Let's say that death is what we really fear. Everyday we wake up afraid to get up because we are afraid to do anything because we are afraid to die. And that is so understandable. Now I have found the solution to fearing death. I have through faith taken care of my fear to die. 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NLT) says, "But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." Verse 22 (CEV) says, "Adam brought death to all of us, and Christ will bring life to all of us." Death was not God's plan. Adam was created for an eternal life but he and his partner, Eve blew it and sin a...

Today's Beginning

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