Category: Prayer Intention

“My heavenly Father will treat you in exactly the same way unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.” –Matthew 18:35 Jesus not only told Peter to forgive 70×7 times, but also implied that we would need to forgive more (Mt 18:22). Usually we don’t get hurt 70×7 times because we don’t let others have that many shots at us. After a few hurts, we, like turtles, put our heads back in our shells to prevent any additional wounding. When Jesus calls us to forgive 70×7 times, He calls us to expose ourselves to repeated hurts. “When a...

“He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully.” –2 Corinthians 9:6 “In the measure you give you shall receive, and more besides” (Mk 4:24). The Lord promises that we will never out-give Him. If we give bountifully, we will harvest more than we sow and receive more than we give. Then we are to give generously again and receive even more, spiritually and materially. After a few rounds of giving and then receiving more, we have significantly greater spiritual and material resources than before our rounds of giving and receiving. This may not...

“Be not rebellious like this house of rebellion, but open your mouth and eat what I shall give you.” –Ezekiel 2:8 Picture a baby in a highchair. No matter what the parents do, the baby refuses to eat, shutting its mouth. That is the picture of many Christians today. We Christians are spiritually anorexic. We refuse to eat what God gives us because we are stuffed with the things the world has brainwashed us into eating (see Prv 13:19). The food of the “feel-good culture,” materialism and consumerism, is much more appetizing to us than God’s scroll with “lamentation and...

“Above the firmament over their heads something like a throne could be seen, looking like sapphire. Upon it was seated, up above, One Who had the appearance of a man.” –Ezekiel 1:26 Ezekiel saw in a vision a stupendous, moving, multi-colored, fiery, angelic chariot (see Ez 1:15ff). Above this was the firmament, and above the firmament was a throne on which sat God surrounded by a rainbow in glory (Ez 1:28). God is far beyond anything we can imagine (see Is 55:8-9). He is transcendent and awesome. Considering Who God is, we are shocked that God ever created us or...

“By faith Abraham, when put to the test…” —Hebrews 11:17 By preparing our hearts to serve God each day, we will not be caught off-guard when the time of testing comes (Lk 12:36-40). It will be second-nature, in fact, our new nature, to “seek to serve Him constantly” (Ps 105:4). Daily we ask for the grace to “serve the Lord with gladness” (Ps 100:2). Each day, give to God your life, will, health, desires, hopes, and dreams. Then, when the test comes, your daily practice has trained your nature to offer everything up to God. Our Master’s will is “known...