Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube of Red Marlow singing his original song … I Pray … poignantly singing about and explaining how we can take all our cares in thankful prayer to a loving God who pours His grace into our lives.
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Highlight Verse[s]: 1Peter 5:7 [NLT] … 7 Give ALL your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.
… Not SOME of our worries … but ALL of them to a caring God.
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Highlight Passage [context]: 1 Peter 5:6-10 [NLT]… USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Peter, exhorts His children (that’s us!) to humbly bring all our worries to the Lord, knowing - and trusting - that He cares for us.
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Reference Passage : … Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… We must surrender our cares/worries to God, trusting that He will guide us thru the trials of life.
Reference Passage : … Isaiah 26:3 [NLT] … 3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
… Fixing our thoughts on God and trusting in Him is the Lord’s prescription for peace.
Reference Passage : …Philippians 4:6-7 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Paul, give us His prescription for anxiety and worry ... thankful prayer!!
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Jennifer Benson Schuldt, uses a personal story to illustrate how easy it is to get distracted by selfish thoughts during prayer. The ODB author writes … I bow my head, close my eyes, lace my fingers together and begin to pray [see photo]. “Dear Lord, I’m coming to you today as your child. I recognize your power and goodness. . .” Suddenly, my eyes snap open. I remember that my son hasn’t finished his history project, which is due the next day. I recall that he has an after-school basketball game, and I imagine him awake until midnight finishing his schoolwork. This leads me to worry that his fatigue will put him at risk for the flu!
C. S. Lewis wrote about distractions during prayer in his book The Screwtape Letters. He noted that when our minds wander, we tend to use willpower to steer ourselves back to our original prayer. Lewis concluded, though, that it was better to accept “the distraction as [our] present problem and [lay] that before [God] and make it the main theme of [our] prayers.”
I think we’ve all been there as Christians, haven’t we [?], distracted by some selfish thought during prayer, … where we’re seeking God’s favor or direction and we get side-tracked by our own selfish desires or needs. But C.S. Lewis nails the reality of those situations, … telling us that God’s Spirit may be - or is likely - directing our thoughts to cast the care (or worry) of the moment to Him, … especially since He always wants us to trust Him and let Him deal with ALL our worries (see reference passages above).
So, today, let’s just seek our Lord’s peace (see Is. 26:3); and thankfully focus on Him, giving Him our worries and letting go of them ourselves. And know that a peace which is beyond understanding, will guard our hearts with His love and grace [Phil. 4:6-7].
And yes, ... as I am, … you may be thinking of 2Cor. 12:9 at this moment - so, recite it if you know it; or look it up and meditate on those truths!.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for being there to take my cares and give me Your peace.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that You take these worries I hold onto now and drown them in Your sea of forgetfulness. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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