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To enter the sheepfolds of the Middle East, a shepherd’s sheep had to pass under his rod for him to inspect their condition up close. The shepherd would tend to any obvious needs one by one. Then when all the sheep were in the fold, he lay down across the opening with his own body. Through the 23rd Psalm we better understand our Good Shepherd in a personal way. Ask God to show you about himself in this classic psalm, which unfortunately is so familiar that we can recite it without receiving its revelation deep in our spirits. Listen for what God wants you to know about who he is, what he does, and what you have in your Shepherd.
As you cultivate your personal communion with God in prayer, let him lead you to pray this psalm for others.
The Lord is my Shepherd.
Jehovah-Rohi: God my Shepherd Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd who knows my own sheep by name” (John 10:11). The Lord of the universe knows you personally! Thank Him for your relationship with Him.
Pray it for others: Jesus is the great Shepherd of all His sheep. Pray for someone who is discouraged and thinks God has forgotten them. Pray for them to know God as their Shepherd.
I shall lack nothing.
Jehovah-Jireh: the Lord my Provider If God provided so much in Jesus to meet your spiritual needs, will He not also take care of your daily practical needs? Pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” (Matthew 6: 11) and name specific needs you are trusting him for. Thank him he is your provider.
Pray for others: Pray for those who have real financial needs and for those who are discontent with what they have. Pray they will know Jehovah-Jireh.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
Jehovah-Shalom: God my Peace Pray about anything that is disquieting your peace. Affirm that God is your peace. Pray about God’s leading in His work and decisions.
Pray for others: Ask God how to pray for someone in a hard place. Pray for Him to calm all fear, doubt, worry, inadequacy, and anxiety with the Prince of peace in their heart.
He restores my soul.
Jehovah-Rapha: The Lord my Healer Where do you need the healing and restoration of Jesus the Healer?
Pray for others: Pray for God to heal the hurts, bitterness, control, judgments, differences, separation, wrong priorities, apathy, etc., of someone else.
He guides me in paths of righteousness…
Jehovah-Tsidkenu: The Lord my Righteousness Pray for God’s guidance as you dedicate yourself to follow Him as Lord.
Pray for others: Jesus declares us to be righteous, not for what we have done, but because of his perfect righteousness. Pray for salvation for somebody who has not received Jesus as God’s perfect sacrifice for their sin.
For His name’s sake.
Jehovah-M’Kaddesh: God’s name is holy. He says, “I the Lord alone am holy, and I make you holy because you are called by my holy name.” Pray that you will not dishonor his name.
Pray for others: Pray that someone away from God will desire to bring glory and honor to his name.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Jehovah-Shammah: God who is there Jesus promised his disciples, “I have all authority, and I am always there for you.” (Matthew 28:19, 20) Affirm his presence with you that dispels fears and unbelief.
Pray for others: God promised his presence in Exodus 3:12 for leading the children of Israel out of Egypt. In Exodus 33:14 reaffirmed his presence to finish what he began. Ask God to reveal himself to your family and friends in powerful new ways.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You can depend on the rod of His protection and the staff of His correction and rescue. Receive the protection and correction of your Good Shepherd.
Pray for others: His comfort is as warm and tender as that of a mother for her child (Isaiah 66:13, 49:13, 52:9). Who needs you to pray God’s comfort for them?
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
Jehovah-Nissi: The Lord my Banner of victory Praise God that He gives victory over your enemies and sins, as you depend on the authority of your crucified, resurrected, victorious Redeemer.
Pray for others: Pray the same prayer for your family and friends.
You anoint my head with oil.
Oil was used for medicine, sanctification, appointment to office, and as a sign of fellowship. Oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit, who is all these things. Thank God for the power of the Holy Spirit to heal, restore, soothe, cleanse, appoint to His work, and give a sign of your fellowship with the Father and his Son.
Pray for others: Pray that your family and friends will walk in the Spirit.
My cup overflows.
Exercise your attitude of gratitude.
Pray for others: Pray that your family and friends will praise God continually as their Source.
Surely goodness and love with follow me all the days of my life.
Thank God for a specific evidence of His goodness and love He has shown you daily.
Pray for others: Thank God for people who have shown His goodness and love to you. Tell them so at your first opportunity. Pray that they will see God’s goodness to them.
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Ask God to show you how to practice His presence with you continually. |
Friday, 3 May 2013
Praying the 23rd Psalm
Endowed with Splendor
“He has endowed you with splendor.” Isaiah 55:5 (NIV)
Splendor relates to being magnificent, impressive and brilliant. Wouldn’t we all want to be magnificent, brilliant and impressive?
The Lord provides Zion with splendor, but He also desires to clothe each of us with splendor. To me, splendor speaks of the riches and glory of God. When we are dressed (emotionally and spiritually) in splendor, we reflect the image of God and our very being points to heaven.
Splendor does not necessarily speak of material riches. This is illustrated to me so clearly in nature. We love to visit a local bird sanctuary with our children. They love to feed the ducks and be outdoors; I love seeing them get excited about the simplest things. While all the birds are beautiful, the peacock specifically walks around dressed in splendor. Still, there’s nothing the peacock has done to achieve or accomplish splendor. Splendor was a gift. In the same way, we don’t achieve splendor, nor can we buy it. Instead, we are given it from heaven.
Are you clothed in splendor? Walk in His ways and ask God to endow you with splendor today, so that your life may speak of the glory of God and point others to the amazing riches of heaven.
Prayer:
Merciful and gracious God. Thank You that You love me despite my sinfulness. Thank You for extending Your mercy to a sinner like me and graciously giving me so much that I do not deserve. Forgive me for sometimes thinking that I am somehow virtuous when I obey You, or that You will abandon me when I fail You. Please help me to admit my sin and receive limitless mercy and grace. Then please keep reminding me that I am saved to serve. So please show me how I can do that in the way that You want. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Alone with God
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“One day as Jesus was alone, praying….” Luke 9:18
“He went higher into the hills alone.” John 6:15
Human beings need to be alone with God. Our fall consisted in our being brought, through the lust of the flesh and the world, under the power of things visible and temporal. Our restoration through salvation is meant to bring us back to the Father’s love and fellowship.
We need to be alone with God, to yield ourselves to the presence and the power of His Holiness. Christ on earth needed it. He could not live the life of a Son here in the flesh without at times separating Himself entirely from His surroundings and being alone with God. How much more must this be indispensable to us!
Alone with God — that is the secret of true power in prayer. There is no true holiness, no clothing with the Holy Spirit and with power, without being alone daily with God.
When our Lord Jesus gave us the command to pray to our Father in secret, He gave us the promise that the Father would hear such prayers and mightily answer them in our life before others. What a privilege it is to begin every morning with intimate prayer. Let it be the one thing our hearts are set on — seeing, finding, and meeting God alone. The time will come when you will be amazed at the thought that one could suggest five minutes were enough.
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Asking Specifically
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“For God is at work within you, helping you want to obey Him. And then helping you do what He wants” Philippians 2:13
The day I found this promise in the Bible I was very excited. I was beginning to understand that I didn’t have to change myself. God would change me and this verse confirmed it. He would even help me want to change. Being a determined person, I could be a problem if Christ wasn’t in control of my life, but God would work in me to change me. What freedom that spiritual principle brought to my life.
The Holy Spirit was beginning to convict me about being grumpy in the morning. For years I had rationalized that I was just born that way. I had inherited this temperament from my father and grandmother. I wasn’t a morning person. I didn’t want to speak to anyone until after 10:00 am and preferred that no one spoke to me.
The Holy Spirit showed me that His power was not limited to after 10:00 in the morning, and that I was having a negative influence on our four school-aged children and Marvin every morning. So I claimed the promise in Philippians 2:23 and prayed something like this,
“God you are the God of flesh. All things are possible with You. Please change me into a cheerful person in the morning.”
Within three months, my husband Marvin noticed the difference in me. He said,
“I sure appreciate your being cheerful in the morning.”
I realized that praying specifically really works.
I still don’t bounce out of bed in the morning like my husband does. I like to wake up slowly. But when I begin to wake up, before I get out of bed, I focus on the Lord and ask Him to control and direct my life. What a difference praying specifically has made in my life.
Father, thank You for giving us Your Word and the Holy Spirit who opens our mind to understand it and empowers us to change. Help us to remember to ask specifically. Amen.
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Buck Up and Finish
by Marilyn Ehle
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7
“[Like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit].” 1 Corinthians 9:27 (Amplified Bible)
The question was asked recently of a woman in her late 60’s who had just completed a grueling race: “How do you prepare mentally to run a marathon? “ Her response was swift and sure: “You don’t give in to a sore back or tired feet! In other words, you buck up and finish!”
In his book, King’s Cross, author and pastor Tim Keller writes, “Jesus is saying, ‘Knowing me, loving me, resembling me, serving me must become the supreme passion of your life. Everything else comes second’…”
Neither Jesus nor Keller makes a call for fanaticism, but both follow the pattern of the early Christians who recognized that the all-encompassing mandate to Christ followers is a lifelong priority. Yes, we are to be loving wives, husbands and parents, involved in our faith communities, being good and involved citizens, diligent workers. But over all flies the passionate flag of serving Christ.
This service will look as different as are the individuals created by our loving Father. Every task must have as its primary goal “to know Christ and make Him known.” Both knowing Christ and making Him known are lifelong pursuits and in those pursuits we will often be tempted to give in to “sore backs or tired feet.” While it is true that physical weariness will accompany our race, more often we are tempted by unfulfilled dreams, dashed hopes, contrary colleagues, ungrateful children, unfaithful friends and more.
Another statement by Keller applies here, “Jesus Himself does absolutely everything He’s called us to do.” Did our Savior grow weary? Did He experience betrayal? Was He forsaken? This one who calls us to follow after Him, to walk in His paths, to find in Him all we need knows every sore and aching spiritual muscle. What ultimate joy to “buck up and finish!”
A Matter of the Will
 “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself.” John 7:17 (KJV)
At the conclusion of an address I gave at M.I.T., a skeptical young man approached me. He said, “I am a scientist. I can’t believe anything that I can’t see. I must be able to go into the laboratory and test a proposition or a theory. I must prove its authenticity before I will believe and accept“.
“Religion,” he said, “is a matter of faith. It has no substance and, as far as I’m concerned, no validity.”
I turned to John 7: 17 — our Scripture portion for today — and asked him to read it aloud.
“Do you understand what Jesus is saying here?” I asked.
“Well, I’m not sure,” he replied. “What is your point?”
“Your problem is not your intellect, but your will. Are you willing to do what God wants you to do? Are there relationships in your life that you’re not willing to surrender in order to do the will of God? Are there moral problems, problems of integrity that you are not willing to relinquish?”
An odd expression came over his countenance.
“How did you know?” Then he said, “I’d like to talk to you privately.” Later, as we sat together alone, he poured out his heart to me. He said, “I know that what you’re saying is true. I know that there’s a God in heaven, and I know that Jesus Christ is His Son and that He died on the cross for me.”
“But,” he said, “there is sin in my life. I have been living with a young woman without the benefit of marriage for the last couple of years. Today you have exposed me for what I really am — a fraud, a sham, a hypocrite, and I want with God’s help to terminate my present relationship with this young woman and receive Christ into my life.”
I am happy to report that, soon after, he and the young woman both surrendered their lives to Christ and were married. Together they are making their lives count for the glory of God.
Bible Reading: John 7:14-18
TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Today I will confess — and turn from — all known sin that keeps me from knowing and doing the will of God. I will also share this message with others.
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