When I take an honest soul check before God, I often notice again that I need cleansing from my sins: Things I’ve done or left undone. Things I’ve said intentionally or unintentionally. Things compared with God’s holiness that appear as glaring failures or as careless neglectfulness. Scripture tells me that my prayers will not be…

How often we realize we need more of God in our lives. God is present, of course. But his powerful reality within us is lacking. We may have allowed sins to dominate. Or neglected aligning ourselves with what God wants. Or allowed our relationship with God to grow cold. On the other hand, God may…

As a new day stands before me, I need God’s guidance. To pray “Lord, lead me” is to seek God’s leadership to direct me. It’s saying to the Lord: “I’ll go where you want me to go. I’ll do what you want me to do. I’ll say what you want me to say. Wherever you…

Recall the circumstances surrounding this book of Acts prayer: “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness” (Acts 4:29). In Acts 1, the church gathered for prayer. In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit came upon the church and Peter addressed the crowd. In Acts 3, Peter and…

One key quality I look for in selecting leaders is a broken spirit or a spirit of humility. Is this person’s life marked by a sense of humility or pride? How have they handled difficult times, difficult people, difficult situations, difficult decisions? When I meet this person, do I see Christ in that person, Christ…

Asking the all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful, all-righteous God to search us and see if he can find anything offensive within us might feel uncomfortable, even frightening. In a way, it is. When you pray “Lord, search me”, you are inviting God to come and do surgery on your soul. Yet David cried out, “Search me, God,…

We learn to pray “Lord, bless me” through the prayer of Jabez. “Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request” (1…

When I’m honestly praying, “Lord, change me,” what am I actually praying? In praying, “LORD, change me,” I’m acknowledging that only God can really change me from the inside out. The prophet Jeremiah stated: “Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing…

Over the next few weeks, I want to talk about short prayers that will change your life. Most people don’t want to change or they struggle to change. Too often we want others to change first. Someone says, “Why is he so stubborn? It’s awful. He needs to change.” Another person says, “How can she…

In the last six devotionals, I been talking about offering every part of ourselves to God. This devotional concludes this series. “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1). “The body is for the Lord” (1 Corinthians 6:13). “Offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of…