Good Morning Choosing Joy Always, Trusting in God Who Is Always with Us, Co-Laborers! Please Lord! We give our anxiety, hurts, doubts and fears to you. Bring Your promised peace and strength as we choose joy and grow in trust today! Lead us to the joy of bringing your love and hope alive. Thank You for being with us always and working all things together for good! Come! Amen! Contemplate that salutation today as you turn off the noise, refocus on God with thanksgiving, and receive His help and joy. He loves you and has great plans for you that sometimes leads through the hard times and stretching of faith. Redirect your focus to Him with praise and thanksgiving and choose the joy that trust brings! Amen! Keep building those gratitude lists!

Work through the devos below with God and maybe a friend or two. And then check out the summary from Harvest Prayer about what to do when we don't know what to pray or feel like praying. There is also a link to a lengthy but very good article from them about being an effective pray-er. God expects us to pray and has called us to become a House of Prayer for the Nations. The Holy Spirit teaches us and helps us to pray, even when we don't know what to pray. PTL! He has been speaking to us about prayer recently. Commit to learning to stay focused on God in prayer and allowing Him to use your prayers in powerful and effective ways! I'm praying for you and I know that God is with you always and does have some really good plans for you! Rejoice! Choose joy as you focus on Him and grow in trust. He is able and He will bring about His good plans for you and us! HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU! RECEIVE IT AND FOLLOW HIM TODAY. Amen!

Sarah Young

 

Joyce Meyer

 

Chuck Swindoll

 

The Word for You Today

 

The Upper Room: Resting in God's Love

[O God], when I am afraid, I put my trust in you. - Psalm 56:3 (NRSVUE)

As I sat down in the hospital waiting room, I hoped that everything would go well with my father’s surgery. The doctor had said that it was not a serious procedure, but my anxiety began to increase as time wore on. As I waited, I prayed. I found great relief when I entrusted my father’s life to God. Even so, two more hours passed until the doctor came to tell me the surgery had been successful.

During this time I learned to rely fully on God. When fear and anxiety want to grow in our hearts — even when the shadow of death looms near — resting in God’s love will refresh us and bring us strength and comfort.

Let’s not give fear a chance to control us. God is greater than all our fears and anxiety. When we surrender our worries to God, we can find our burdens lifted and rest in the assurance that God is always with us. Through each struggle that life may bring, God’s goodness and protection surround us. Knowing this, we can trust in God’s care through all our days.

Today's Prayer

Dear God, so much in life can make us fearful. Teach us to lay our struggles at your feet, trusting that you will bring the comfort we need to live joyful lives. Amen.

Harvest summary

As a summary, remember these things when you don’t feel like praying:

1. God is still there! Trust Him!
2. Breathe in a fresh awareness of His presence!
3. Turn your thoughts off of your issue and onto Jesus, the One who can deal with your issue. Play worship music and join in! Focusing on Jesus is a good antidote to situations that keep us from wanting to pray, or knowing what to say in prayer.
4. Silence/Listening – sometimes it is best to simply get quiet and listen for the voice of God. There is healing in stillness and wisdom in listening. Remember – even if you don’t sense that you hear anything from God, He is there.
5. Remember that the Holy Spirit is there to give voice to your prayers in alignment with the will of the Father when you are unable.
6. Consider that what might be causing your inability to pray or your lack of desire for prayer might be sinfulness in your life. Use Psalm 51 as your prayer so that God can reveal the hidden things, and so that you can take the time to repent and confess. Your relationship will be fully restored and a prayer of thankfulness will likely be the result.