Daily Bread
To read or listen to today's Bible devotional in Our Daily Bread devotional series click on: www.odb.org
Another excellent, extended, mature Bible devotional is found at: www.beenthinking.org
Thank you for taking time to spend with Jesus today! Before you read God's Word, ask Jesus to speak to you by His Spirit. You will not literally, orally hear Him, but if you seek Him, you will receive personal insights in your mind that only Jesus can give you. You may receive wisdom and/or direction, peace and/or assurance from Him. Many Christians believe it is important to pray out loud because it helps your mind not to become distracted. The main thing is just to talk to Jesus and mean what you say in love for Him.
Jesus said, "You will call Me and go and pray to Me and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find me when you search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:12-13
There are many ways to pray. One way is to talk to Jesus as you would your best friend. Jesus calls us His friends and desires we love Him with all of our heart. Like a best friend, Jesus loves for us to share with Him all that we are thinking and experiencing in life. He can guide us and even change our course of action when we share with Him. He loves you and cares for you more than any friend or person on earth. Jesus has compassion for all we experience; He rejoices when we rejoice and grieves with us when we grieve. He desires to help us, guide us to do what is best, in a way that will benefit us most and He wants to bless our lives every day. The closer we are to Jesus and the more we serve Him by helping others, the more He will reward us in heaven and send His blessings to us on earth.
Another way to pray is to use the Lord's prayer as a guide: (1)begin with praise; (2) ask for Jesus to use you to accomplish His purposes in your life; (3) praise Him for providing your needs and ask Him to continue to provide for you; (4) confess specific sins, ask Him to forgive you and for Him to empower you to overcome the temptation to return to those sins in your future; (5) tell Jesus you have forgiven others and ask Jesus to help those who have sinned against you to draw closer to Him; (6) ask Jesus to deliver you from evil in the world; pray for others who need the help of Jesus and (7) conclude your prayer with praise to Jesus, thanking Him for every good gift He has given you; thank Jesus for His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, praise Him for His power, His glory and praise Him for loving you so much He came in Jesus to pay the penalty for your sins.
An optional way to pray is to pray God's Word by taking a scripture passage like Exodus 34:6-7 and Galatians 5:22-23 and praising Jesus for every Word that describes Him.
To read more about how to pray the scriptures, click on
www.calvarypilotpoint.com/PrayerGuide.dsp
If you do not receive what you ask for in prayer, be patient and maintain faith that Jesus will give you what He knows you need in His timing. He sees the complete picture of the future and He knows what is best for us. Sometimes we must walk through difficulties to learn lessons in life, to develop more of His character and so others can grow in these ways as well. Jesus promises to give us all we need if we love Him most and seek to follow Him (Matthew 6:24-34).
There are also different ways to read God's Word. One way is to read the following list, discover what your greatest need is and read the scriptures that will address your need. You may also copy and paste this list to a hard copy to print and keep in your Bible for easy reference and make copies for friends!
When you are persecuted for Christ Ephesians 6:10-13; 1 Peter 4:7-19; 1 Peter 5:6-11; 2 Corinthians 1:3-12; 2 Corinthians 4:7-18; 2 Corinthians 11:22-31; Matthew 5:11-12; John 15:18-21; John 16:33; Psalm 46; Psalm 51:10,12-13; Psalm 91; Psalm 143; Isaiah 40:28-31.
When overwhelmed with worry Matthew 6:24-34; Philippians 4:6-9; John 14; Psalm 4; Psalm 55:22; Jeremiah 31:25
When evil persons are plotting against you Psalm 37; Matthew 6:24-34; Romans 8:28-39; Romans 12:9-21.
When your burden is too heavy Psalm 51; Matthew 11:28-30.
When you are too busy and have little time for God Psalm 43, Matthew 6:19-34; Matthew 22:35-40.
When you are sick Psalm 41; Matthew 8:5-10; Matthew 21:18-22; James 5:14-16; 1 John 5:14-15.
When you are sad Psalm 34
When you are in danger Psalm 91
When you are discouraged Isaiah 40; Jeremiah 31:25
When you are alone and scared Psalm 23; Luke 15; John 14:16-27.
When you doubt Psalm 103; John 3:16; Romans 8:31-39; Romans 10:13; 1 John 1:8-9; Hebrews 11:1; Matthew 21:22; Galatians 5:22-23; Psalm 86:15.
When your faith is weak Hebrews 11 When you need help overcoming sin 1 Corinthians 10:12-13; 2 Peter 2:9; Matthew 4:1-11.
When you need to be encouraged Joshua 1:1-9; Jeremiah 31:3,25; Galatians 5:22-25.
When your enemy seems to win Psalm 90; Romans 12:9-21.
When you need peace and rest Matthew 11:25-30; John 14:27.
When you need reassurance Romans 8:28-39
When in search of happiness John 15; Colossians 3
When you doubt God's love John 3:16, Matthew 6:24-34, Romans 8:35-39; James 3:14-21.
When you think God is not there Psalm 139; Hebrews 13:5; John 14:16-27.
When planning a journey Psalm 121
When evil persons hurt you 1 Corinthians 13; Romans 8:28-39; Romans 12:9-21.
When you lust after earthly riches Matthew 6:19-21; Mark 10:17-31.
When you need God's gift of salvation Isaiah 55; Mark 1:15; Luke 10:16; John 3:16; John 5:18,23; John 8:24,42,58; John 14:6; John 17:3-5; John 20:28-29; Acts 4:12; Romans 10:9,10,13.
When you need to make an important decision Psalms 119:60; Acts 22:16;Hebrews 3:15;Genesis 6:3; 2 Corinthians 6:2; 1 Kings 18:21; James 4:17
When you need to totally submit to Jesus Matthew 7:13-29; Luke 14:33; 2 Corinthians 8:9; Numbers 33:11,12
When you need to be steadfast in times of trouble Acts 14:22; John 15:18-20; 1 Peter 4:12-16; Luke 6:22,23; Isaiah 41:10,13
The Lord Will Save and Protect You Daily!
Zephaniah 3:17: The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His Love, He will rejoice over you with singing.
Deuteronomy 20:4: for the LORD your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
Psalm 25:5: Lead me in Your truth and teach me,For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.
Psalm 27:1: The LORD is my light and my salvation;Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 34:18: The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
Psalm 40:10: I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth From the great assembly.
Psalm 51:12: Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Psalm 62:6: He only is my rock and my salvation;He is my defense; I shall not be moved.
Psalm 68:19: Blessed be the Lord,Who daily loads us with benefits,The God of our salvation!
Psalm 71:15: My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits.
Psalm 106:8: Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake,That He might make His mighty power known.
Isaiah 35:4: Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “ Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.”
Another way to study the Bible is to begin reading in the book of John and read one chapter a day until you finish Revelation chapter 5, then go back and begin reading again from Matthew chapter 1. If you desire, you may want to read one chapter of New Testament in the morning and one chapter of Old Testament in the evening (Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah or Jeremiah are good places to begin).
The main thing is to enjoy your time with Jesus each day. When you pray to Him, He loves to hear from you. When you read His Word, He loves to speak to you back (by silently speaking to your mind). Share what Jesus says to you, how He is directing you with a Christian friend and that will encourage your friend to spend more quality time with Jesus.
It is a good choice to pray and read the Bible three times a day: first thing in the morning to seek the Lord's power and guidance; during the day, perhaps at noontime; and then just before bedtime. It is better to pray a one minute prayer and read one verse of the Bible than to do nothing at all. It is best if you can set aside about fifteen minutes each time to pray and read.
When at home, encourage your family to join you at "The Family Alter." The father or mother reads the Bible outloud and asks if a child wants to pray outloud. Take turns each time reading and praying outloud...but let it be voluntary. If your family chooses not to take time for family Bible study and prayer, then read and pray silently in the same room where they are as a positive Christian role model.
Throughout the day, use conversational prayer to talk to Jesus. Praise Him and seek His guidance frequently. Jesus desires that you include Him in your day rather than exclude Him like most people do. One idea is to put a note in your car that reads "Praise Jesus!" and then praise Him for something everytime you get in your car. He has great joy when we praise Him. The most exciting benefit of daily prayer is, the more time you spend with Jesus and in the study of His Word, the more He promises to transform your mind to think more like Him and He gives you more of the power of His Spirit to act like Him (Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 2:20).
It is very important to obey Jesus and regularly attend a Bible believing, conservative, evangelical church every Sunday and Wednesday. This helps you to hear Biblical teaching from different perspectives, to grow spiritually mature, to become grounded in the ways and Words of God, to become close to your Christian family and to use your spiritual gift(s) in ministry to others each week. Read Hebrews 10:25 and Romans 12:1-8.
After you become a mature, grounded Christian, you will want to discover your spiritual gift(s) by going to www.calvarypilotpoint.com/SpiritualGiftSurvey/
If you need help learning how to pray, click on www.calvarypilotpoint.com/PrayerGuide.dsp
If you need to accept Jesus as your Lord God, Savior and Friend, click on www.calvarypilotpoint.com/HowToBecomeAChristian/
To discover other ways to grow as a Christian, click on
www.calvarypilotpoint.com/HowToGrow.dsp
Other great websites to visit:
http://iblp.org/iblp/discipleship/dailysuccess/
