Devotional for May 29

God is Our Strength and Shield

2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God.
4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.
6 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.
7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah.
9 Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed.
10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Psalm 84:2-12 (KJV)

The Morning Exhortation

Denying self, picking up your cross, and following Jesus Christ is the only true path to freedom from the conformities of this perishing world. Once we are born again in Christ, then is it high time to work out our salvation by fortifying the mind with the word of faith. Believe the gospel and resist the wiles of the devil. The concept of object permanence, or the understanding that objects continue to exist even when we can’t see them, develops in the human baby according to scientific researchers at about 8 months old. In like manner, growing up in our salvation means to understand that “God is” even though we can’t see Him. And praying to God is the highest privilege of the child of God. Show me who you pray for, and I will show you who you love. Tell me who prays for you, and I will tell you who loves you. How fortunate it is to have people praying for you. It is the evidence of the love of God in the heart that compels a saint so do. Gold and silver are nice, but prayer is of far greater value. Therefore, pray my brothers and sisters, pray.

Question

What do Christians believe about prayer?

Answer

Prayer is to the spirit what breathing is to the body (Psalm 116:1-2). In both cases, life often begins with s slap on the bottom to stimulate breathing and prayer (Psalm 119:67; 2 Peter 3:15; Romans 2:4; Proverbs 17:10). The prayer of faith means to pray believing that God hears (Ezekiel 36:24-29; Jeremiah 29: 11-13), believing that our prayer is pleasing to Him (1 John 1:9; Romans 12:1-2; Psalm 19:14), and believing that He will answer (1 John 5:14-15; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; Philippians 2:13). A believer is a person with trust in God (Proverbs 3:5-8), and the prayer of faith is a rope of three cords that is not easily broken (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; Psalm 27:13-14; Hebrews 13:5-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

The Prayer Appointed for This Week from the Book of Common Prayer

Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness keep me, I pray, from all things that may hurt me, that I, being ready both in mind and body, may accomplish with a free heart those things which belong to your purpose; through Jesus Christ my Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.