Good Morning Confident Doers! Hmmm...is that you? Pronounce it out loud over you and our church! Say it with me, "I am a confident doer in Christ! Amen!" Now believe it and receive it and be it! I'm praying for you and us!
As I meditated on our devotionals and pondered and prayed for what God wanted me to share , the prayer for the Holy Spirit to "help my unbelief" kept coming to mind and showing up. We believe but often lack the faith or expectation to see God move or to use us. "I believe. Help my unbelief" is a prayer I often lift. I think about how often Jesus said, O you of little faith." Ouch! Right? But I do believe Lord! Help me to pray and watch expectantly for You to move, lead, heal, deliver, save and all sorts of things I am praying expectantly to happen. Grant me a deeper confidence AND TRUST THAT ALLOWS YOU TO WORK IN POWER AND ANSWER MY/OUR PRAYERS. THANK YOU. AMEN. Check out the Connection Blog and Prayer Starters and bein there . Ask for the faith to do the same things and even greater than Jesus and for the expectation and trust that he will answer because He will according to His will and timing. AMEN!
I'm also praying you discover and learn how God wants to use your spiritual gifts according tp the faith He has given you for such a time as this. he does have great plans for you, hear and respond to your prayers, and continues to mold you towards your fuller potential in Christ. yes praise, rejoice, believe and follow well doer! Remember God may ask you to be the answer to your prayers as He sends you to be His hands and feet and to live and love like Jesus! Yes Lord Come! Send me! Use me well for Your glory! Grow my faith and trust. Show me how to do the greater things with faith and confidence in You and Your abilities in and through me. Thanks!! Amen!
Connections:
- Anyone Who Has Faith
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).
If you are one of the anyone-who-has-faith-in-me persons of whom Jesus spoke, then you need to be on the lookout for places where Christ wants and needs to work. Is there a child who needs to be spiritually formed, a friend who needs encouragement, or a neighbor who needs Christ? If you pray, Christ will work! Are there spiritual leaders who need to be uplifted, fellow believers who need empowerment, or a church that needs to be revived? If you pray, Christ will work! Do you know of an anxious person who needs peace, a lonely person who needs befriending, a stranger who needs to be invited in, or a hungry person who needs to be fed? If you intercede, Christ will work; He will work in you and through you. You will be doing the kinds of things that Christ did. You will be doing them in His power. You will be co-laboring with God. With this promise Christ is placing the powers of heaven at your disposal. What a huge and important responsibility! What an awesome privilege!
Gracious Holy Spirit, I repent of my selfishness that keeps me from exercising the gifts You have given to me for the sake of others. There are those who could use encouragement and uplifting…and others who are struggling and need to be helped through a difficult time. Yet, I keep a safe distance – at arm’s length, because I might get sucked in to more than I think I can handle. Some people and much of life are messy and complicated, yet Jesus would step into the midst of the mess and reach out His hand to heal. May the heart of Christ be evident in me as I listen for Your kingdom instructions. Help me to lean into the mess, unafraid to be the hands and feet of the One who extended His hand to me!
Praise God for his teaching on the tongue (Jas. 3:9).
Give thanks that he promises protection from the lash of the tongue (Job 5:21) and healing from the tongue of the wise (Prov. 12:18).
Confess those times your lips have spoken lies and your tongue muttered wicked things (Isa. 59:3).
Commit yourself to God, who gives you the words that will sustain the weary (Isa. 50:4).
Ask God to help you love not just with words or tongue but with actions and in truth (1 Jn. 3:18).
Pray that the testimony of your lips overflowing in praise and your tongue singing God’s Word will be evident to non-Christians and point them to Christ (Ps. 119:171-172).
Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayerleader.com. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
Lisa and Freddie McMillan own a unique restaurant in Brewton, Alabama. They offer a full hot meal to all who stand in line—at no charge. This couple has invested from their own savings to make a difference for senior citizens who often go without meals and rarely enjoy a restaurant experience. A donation box receives contributions. Lisa says, “Sometimes we find nothing there. Sometimes a thank-you note. Sometimes $1,000. Always, we have everything we need. Our goal is to feed the need, restore dignity, and develop community.”
Caring for the needy can seem a daunting task—unless we depend on God! The Gospels include records of Jesus feeding thousands by inviting His disciples to participate: “You give them something to eat” (Matthew 14:16). In the book of Acts, we learn that in the early church, believers “shared everything they had” and “there were no needy persons among them” (4:32, 34). Many of them sold property and gave the proceeds to the apostles, who “distributed to anyone who had need” (vv. 34-35). Understanding that their possessions ultimately belonged to God, they voluntarily invested in the lives of others from what they owned.
God provides. Sometimes by His own hand and sometimes through the hands of His people. He feeds our need so that we can feed the need of others.
By Elisa Morgan
REFLECT & PRAY
How has God provided for you? How can you join God in providing for those around you?
Dear God, I’m so grateful for Your abundant provision in my life! Please help me to give to others from what You’ve given to me.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Twice Luke mentions the willingness of believers in Jesus to sell property and share possessions (Acts 2:41–47; 4:32–35). The Holy Spirit had come to Jerusalem as the city swelled with visitors for the Jewish feast of Pentecost. Overwhelmed by the apostles’ assurance that God was willing to forgive them, those who stepped forward to believe in Christ saw one another’s needs and felt one another’s pain. It was then, after again mentioning their mutual care, that Luke describes a husband and wife who tried to leave a false impression of generosity. Ananias and Sapphira were caught lying about the details of their gift, and suddenly both died (5:1–10). The generosity Luke emphasized was the result of those whose hearts had been changed by the Spirit of Jesus.
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