• Devotion

    A Prayer for Greater Intimacy, Peace and Freedom 

    by
    Scotty Smith
    Published on Thursday, March 31st, 2011 10:44 PM  Number of Views: 432 
    Categories:
    1. Devotion
    2. Freedom

    Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. Daniel 6:10-11
    Heavenly Father, I’m so drawn to the heart which beat in Daniel’s breast—a heart filled with praise for you, not paranoia about his life. His love for you was magnetic, even contagious.

    He just learned about the decree that anybody praying to any other god or man but King Darius would become lions’ lunch. So what did he do? The same thing he’d been doing for decades in Babylon. The windows were open. His knees were bent. His gaze was set, and even before he asked you for help, he offered you thanks. He was neither paranoid nor presumptuous, but he was most definitely at peace.

    What freedom and intimacy this your aging son and servant enjoyed with you. But why am I surprised? Haven’t you promised, “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.” (Psalm 92:12-14).

    You never demanded Daniel to get on his knees three times a day. You didn’t have to, for it was his delight. No government decree could keep your son from seeking your face and enjoying your grace, for he was much more committed to your eternal glory than to his personal survival.

    Father, may the same peace and freedom that defined Daniel’s life shape ours as well, no matter what Satan throws at us. For even as “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour,” (1 Peter 5:8), he’s a defeated foe. We live in the victorious day Daniel anticipated from afar. Indeed, Jesus, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed” (Revelation 5:5). Jesus is the main Lion with whom we want to be thoroughly preoccupied.

    As we get older, gracious Father, please keep us fresh and fruitful through the gospel. Deeper our intimacy with you. May your grace always be amazing to us. Continue to pour your transforming love into our hearts, and use us however you choose the rest of our days in this world. So very Amen, we pray, in Jesus’ magnificent and merciful name.


    Scotty Smith
    Pastor for Preaching
    Christ Community Church
    1215 Hillsboro Rd.
    Franklin, TN 37069
    615-468-2230

    It’s good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

    A Prayer About Not Being Idle About Idols 

    by
    Scotty Smith
    Published on Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 07:00 AM  Number of Views: 298 
    Categories:
    1. Devotion
    2. Bible

    Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. 1 John 5:21

    Gracious Father, this final admonition in John’s first epistle lands on my heart with power. Idolatry is everywhere because there’s no such thing as a non-worshipper. Worship is the most defining category in the whole of life. Whoever or whatever reigns in our heart determines the whole course of our lives.

    In Rome I touched statues of gods which filled the temples and lifestyle of that great ancient city. In London, I walked from station to station in a huge Hindu temple, as worshippers offered prayers and gifts to deities that looked so strange to me. In Israel, I studied decaying remains of idols which competed for the worship of the people of God. But for me to obey John’s command to keep myself from idols requires so much more than simply staying away from ancient sites, pagan temples and man-made idols. ...
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    An Exciting Way To Read The Bible 

    by
    Steve Simms
    Published on Friday, August 27th, 2010 02:10 PM
    Categories:
    1. Devotion
    2. Bible

    I challenge you to try this:
    Read the New Testament every single day for at least 5 minutes for 21 days and see what effect it has on your life.
    What do you have to lose? 5 minutes X 21 days = 1 hour & 45 minutes.

    Can you spare 1 hour and 45 minutes to greatly improve your life?

    A few basic principles:
    1. Begin with the New Testament -- the last third of the Bible.
    2. Read it like a love letter or like a novel; in a devotional way -- Not like a text book; in an intellectual way.
    3. Use a modern translation. I like the New International Version and the New King James Version. You pick a version that is easy for you to read.
    4. Read it daily -- at least 5 minutes every single day.
    5. If you don't understand something, just keep on reading. Don't get stuck trying to figure it out. (I've been reading the Bible 36 years and still don't understand many things about it.)
    6. Act on and put into practice the things that you do understand.
    7. Stick with it every day for 21 days before you evaluate your results.
    So how about you? Will you take my challenge? Will you invest 1 hour and 45 minutes in an experiment that may revolutionize your life?

    The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem - Sunday October 3rd 

    by
    gdavid7
    Published on Sunday, August 8th, 2010 06:11 PM  Number of Views: 531 
    Categories:
    1. Devotion
    2. Opposition
    3. Missions

    The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem is on the FIRST SUNDAY OF EVERY OCTOBER.
    DPPJ Fact Sheet | DPPJ Website



    The Law of Day and Night Prayer 

    by
    James Goll
    Published on Saturday, July 24th, 2010 11:23 PM
    Categories:
    1. Devotion
    2. Revival

    Key Scriptures taken from Luke 18:7-8
    Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night...? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly... (NASB)

    Shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him...? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily... (NKJV)
    Why Should Prayer and Worship Arise 24/7 Today?
    • 24/7 Worship and Prayer is Done in Heaven – Let it be Done on Earth!
    • 24/7 Worship and Prayer Releases God’s Justice on the Earth!
    • 24/7 Worship and Prayer Fuels the Great Commission
    • 24/7 Worship and Prayer Hinders the Plans of the Devil
    • 24/7 Worship and Prayer Releases Revival Breakthrough
    • 24/7 Worship and Prayer Prepares the Way for Christ’s Second Coming
    To view the entire article, please click here. Republished from PrayerStorm.

    The Role of Prayer in Student Revivals 

    by
    James Goll
    Published on Friday, July 2nd, 2010 07:57 PM
    Categories:
    1. Devotion
    2. Evangelism
    3. Revival

    In order to understand revival, we must understand the role of prayer in campus revival history. J. Edwin Orr, the famous revival historian said, “Young people in student led prayer cells have been at the forefront in almost every awakening.” The Moravian 24/7 prayer and missionary movement, for example, was started in 1727 by Ludwig Von Zinzendorf. At the age of 16, Zinzendorf graduated from Halle School after having started no fewer than 7 different prayer groups, and he continued his prayer disciplines while he was a student at the University of Wittenberg from 1716 to 1719.

    The First Great Awakening that swept hundreds of thousands into the Kingdom in Europe and North America were ignited by a Yale University graduate named Jonathan Edwards, and by Oxford students John Wesley and George Whitefield at Oxford University in 1729. The Second Great Awakening was sparked by Timothy Dwight, the grandson of Jonathan Edwards, at Yale University in his 1797 message to Yale students. Nearly half of Yale’s student body came to Christ in a few short months.

    The Student Volunteer Missionary movement, which sent more than 20,000 college students overseas on foreign missions during the span of a few decades, was started by Samuel Mills and the Haystack 5 at Williams College, Massachusetts, in 1806. It was five students, praying under a haystack on a rainy day for revival and world missions, saying, “If we will, we can!” The rest is history and the list of student revivalists goes on.

    Will you be the next one to change campus revival history? If so, the key is extraordinary revival prayer. Let us give ourselves to hourly prayer that the greatest youth awakening the world has ever seen will come forth in our day. Let the PrayerStorm come forth!

    To view the entire article, please click here. Republished from PrayerStorm.
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