Day 4 - Thursday, October 15th
LIFE Journal
This Week's Memory Verse
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23
Devotional
The very first group of followers understood something that we often miss. Prayer was never meant to be a sporadic exercise only done before a meal or as one turns off the lights before bedtime. Prayer was meant to be a way of life. The early church faced persecution when they made the decision to follow Christ and instead of that pushing them away from leading a prayer filled life, it pushed them into it: "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Acts 2:42 NIV
To devote ourselves to something means to, “give all or a large part of one’s time or resources to an activity...” True devotion isn’t an infrequent occurrence, but rather a cultivated lifestyle. King David was described as a man after God’s own heart and he described his prayer life by saying, “Evening, morning and noon I cry out...” (Psalm 55:17 NIV) That was his way of telling us that prayer is something to do constantly. So often we don’t pray with constancy because we think we just don’t have that kind of time to devote to such a thing.
Martin Luther said this, “I have so much to do that I shall have to spend the first three hours in prayer.” Like the believers in the book of Acts, Luther understood that prayer wasn't a road block in the way of his to do list, but rather, it was essential if he was going to get anything worth doing, done. We can claim busyness as why we don’t pray as often as we should, but truth be told, busyness is more reason to pray as we juggle the never-ending demands of our lives. It may take time and commitment on our part, but the reward of living a prayer soaked existence is endless.
Think On These Verses:
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2 NIV
Pray continually... 1 Thessalonians 5:17 NIV
Ask and Answer:
Would you characterize your life as a prayerful one? What is your number one reason for not praying? Is it being “too busy”, distractions like social media and Netflix, or something else? Why is prayer so important in our busy, non-stop lives? What keeps you from devoting yourself to prayer and praying continually?
To devote ourselves to something means to, “give all or a large part of one’s time or resources to an activity...” True devotion isn’t an infrequent occurrence, but rather a cultivated lifestyle. King David was described as a man after God’s own heart and he described his prayer life by saying, “Evening, morning and noon I cry out...” (Psalm 55:17 NIV) That was his way of telling us that prayer is something to do constantly. So often we don’t pray with constancy because we think we just don’t have that kind of time to devote to such a thing.
Martin Luther said this, “I have so much to do that I shall have to spend the first three hours in prayer.” Like the believers in the book of Acts, Luther understood that prayer wasn't a road block in the way of his to do list, but rather, it was essential if he was going to get anything worth doing, done. We can claim busyness as why we don’t pray as often as we should, but truth be told, busyness is more reason to pray as we juggle the never-ending demands of our lives. It may take time and commitment on our part, but the reward of living a prayer soaked existence is endless.
Think On These Verses:
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2 NIV
Pray continually... 1 Thessalonians 5:17 NIV
Ask and Answer:
Would you characterize your life as a prayerful one? What is your number one reason for not praying? Is it being “too busy”, distractions like social media and Netflix, or something else? Why is prayer so important in our busy, non-stop lives? What keeps you from devoting yourself to prayer and praying continually?
Prayer
Lord, help me to cultivate a prayerful life. Teach me how to devote myself to prayer, especially in seasons when I feel as if I don’t have the time to do so. Help turn my daily thoughts into prayers of praise, gratitude, confession and petition. Amen.