Monday's Blessing
John 15:7

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you."

I've often wondered if a person who prays only is sufficient in keeping close contact to God. How can it be?  How can you know Christ personally if you do not know about his own life and teachings?  How can the simple act of prayer draw you that closeness to God if you have little idea of what's inside the Bible?  

Jesus taught his disciples about the importance of being connected to him.  At this point in time, he was speaking to the disciples trying to comfort them after informing them that one would betray him, and Peter would deny him.  He went on to say, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you." (John 15:4,7)

Jesus used the word remain 11 times in this passage.  Who uses a word 11 times without fear of being redundant?  He further emphasizes to remain in him and his word.  How else can you remain in his word without picking up the Bible?  

And how do I exactly remain in him and get what I ask for?  When you study God's word, your thoughts and desires are becoming more Christ-like.  The study of God's word takes the onus off oneself and focuses it on others.  Hence, your prayer will be answered.

So I know you're thinking, "Gosh, OK, but this is such a big book.  Where to I start?" 
"How can I keep on track?"  If you're going to get really serious, here's some help below to get you in the right direction.

Discipleship Reading Plan
Bible in a Year
Read the Bible in a Year
Through the Bible in a Year PDF

Let God speak to you! Remain in him and your prayers will be answered!  

Monday's Blessing
Matthew 18:19-20


"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

There is no other blessing so invigorating as one bestowed by God in friendship. Friends can brighten a glorious day or bring us down to a lowly darkness that begs for shards of fleeting light.  Whether it be from our own perils or theirs, there is a sense of unison and belonging when life's circumstances are shared and contemplated with a good companion.

Prayer walking can add a whole new dimension to an already existing friendship.  On a quiet walk on the beach or a secluded spot around town, you can share life's joys and disgruntles by adding a bit of prayer to your discussions.  It will take the onus of your own personal perspective and offer new relevance through the eyes of God.  God honors joint prayer efforts.  "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!" (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)  Our prayers are more effective when they're echoed with a friend's agreement.

The New Testament offers the same principal.  Jesus taught his disciples that "if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them" (Matthew 18:19-20).  This promise has three components.  First we have to come together.  Second, the two or more prayers need to agree about the request. Third, the request should be made in Jesus' name.  

Proverbs 27:17 says that as iron sharpens iron, so one friend can sharpen another. Prayer walking partners can help each other grow in prayer together.  So how do you find a prayer walking partner?  First look through your Rolodex in your mind.  Are there any good friends willing to spend a Saturday morning or weekday evening for a leisurely walk?  Are they prayer seekers like yourself?  Do you feel comfortable praying together?  If your list is low try the simple prayer below and God will send you someone out-of-the-blue when you least expect it.

Father,
I see how you sent your son a dozen disciples.
Many have trekked high and low with him bringing 
him comfort.
Please bring me a prayer partner
I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Monday's Blessing
John 17:20-21

"My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, Just as you are in me and I am in you.  May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me."

I am always humbled as I traverse the pathway to the doors of my church.  There, standing faithfully each Sunday, are the "greeters". Here I am always welcomed with a delightful smile that sets my heart spinning in prayer.  I think of these individuals who give up time each Sunday just to touch my life with a warm gesture.  I am then compelled to thinking of others here who give of their time in the community for the sake of the church. 

I then say a silent prayer for all of them- church leaders and other lay persons of the church.  But, it often seems rambunctious, unwoven with little direction.  Am I praying as Christ taught me for these members?  I came upon Jesus' chapter-long prayer in John 17.  In these 26 verses I get a vision of how I can pray for churches and other ministries.

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. - John 17

Notice the prayer has three sections.  First, Christ prayed for himself so that he can glorify the Father.  Next, he prayed for disciples naming their protection and unity.  Last he prayed for future believers, that they would be unified and would have their heavenly Father's love for one and other.  It is surprising that Christ's prayer begins with a request for himself.  I've never offered this type of prayer as my intention.  But we are the church together Christ has often noted.  After all, I am part of his ministry and need direction for my own personal prayers.  From that day forward, I began to include myself first.  

He then prays for his disciples pleading to his "Holy Father," knowing he was about to leave his friends making his prayer desperate.  He prayed, "Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name so that they may be as one as we are one.  I say these things so that they may have the full measure of my joy with them.  Protect them from the evil one.  Sanctify them by truth; your word is truth."

Here I am reminded to pray for all those members of the church so that they may have God's coat of amour to protect them from being led astray either by their own weaknesses or by the Enemy's diversions.  I also add a prayer of unity, joy, and sanctification into holiness. 

The third part of the prayer is for future believers.  Here, I pray for the church's future that other members will stand in places when deemed vacant.  I pray that the love, holiness, and joy I receive each Sunday will expand and be complete each week.

Monday's Blessing
Job 42:8,10

"My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly.....After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before."

There are weeks that nothing seems to click.  An appliance dies in the house and you reach into your savings thanking the good Lord that there is enough there to purchase a new one.  Then the plumbing leaks in the bathroom and you pull out that last credit card that has a bit of an opening for cash and thank the Lord again that you have this money available to fix the latest emergency.  

Then the school calls requiring an emergency meeting for your child who is failing in several subject areas.  After the conference you drive home feeling renewed that there are new plans in place and resort to a prayerful thanksgiving.  That evening your spouse tells you that his facility downsizing and he will be out of work next month.  At this very moment those prayers of thanksgiving go null.  How much more, Lord, you ask, can the weight of this cross bear before it crushes me? 

Many biblical characters also prayed for God's mercy and grace.  Job was God's proving ground with Satan.  God allowed Satan to test Job's faithfulness by sending him a horrible disaster.  Within minutes Job lost ten children, devastation of all his herds, death of his servants, and painful sores all over is body.  But throughout all this Job did not turn away from God.  He complained and questioned him wondering why such a dutiful servant of the Lord could be treated so harshly.  Finally God spoke to Job:

Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?

Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! (Job 38;2,4-5)

Job was looking for grace and mercy.  Lucinda McDowell's book Amazed by Grace, explains "grace is God's giving us what we don't deserve; mercy is God's not giving us what we do deserve."  But, the above verse gives us a bit of understanding of what it may take to move God toward mercy.  Job was correct in assuming he didn't deserve such a fate; after all he was a righteous man.  But his questioning God was not appropriate.  In doing so he offended God.  We never find out if Job learned that his losses were part of a heavenly power struggle- one that sets us free from Satan's grasp.  God's words imparted to Job that he did not need to know all the whys of why he was suffering.  He finally told God, "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted... Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.... My ears have heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." (42:2,3,5)

Sometimes I feel as though I am riding on the wings of God's grace and on the down days his mercy.  His grace keeps me going all day filling the demands of a busy life and family.  And on those days I lash out in confusion or overwhelming frustration, I need God's mercy so that I can make amends and move on the next day.  Oh, how we do need both when those weeks of suffering just don't make sense.

Lord,
I am blessed by your mercy and grace.
At times I do not understand why I am
suffering so.  May my love for you not
question my well-being and instead in 
your hands I commend my soul.