Tag: #cares

What Is Your Greatest Need?

Text:

Psalm 40:16-17 (HCSB)

16  Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let those who love Your salvation continually say, “The LORD is great!”

17  I am afflicted and needy; the Lord thinks of me. You are my helper and my deliverer; my God, do not delay.

Observation:

This morning I turned to one of the Psalms to speak encouragement into my heart, and I pray that it will speak into your heart.

David said, “I am afflicted and needy; the Lord thinks of me”. Isn’t it wonderful to know that the Lord thinks about you. The world will think about you when you are on top, but the Lord thinks of you when you are at your lows.

Psalm 34:18 (HCSB)

18  The LORD is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit.

David realized that the way out of his broken heart and crushed spirit was to humble himself, and to look up to the Lord.

Psalm 51:17 (HCSB)

17  The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.

David always took the time to worship the Lord no matter what he was going through. He knew that God cared, and that God was always available to listen to his plea.

Why not follow the example of David, who the Bible says was a man after God’s own heart.

  • He magnified the Lord.
  • He sung praises to the Lord.
  • He told God his needs.
  • He trusted in God with his whole heart.

Remember, God is for you, and not against you.

Jeremiah 29:11 (HCSB)

11  For I know the plans I have for you”—{this is} the LORD’s declaration—”plans for {your} welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

My soul sings, “My hope is built on nothing less

than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

but wholly lean on Jesus’ name”.

Prayer:

Father, I delight to lift up, and magnify You. Father, you are great, glorious, and gracious to all who humbly seek your face.

Father, I am so grateful for all of the love, forgiveness, grace, and mercy that I have received from You. Father, I am so blessed to be able to say with David, and the Saints of the ages these words.

Psalm 23:1 (HCSB)

1 The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.

Father, help us to remember that the way out of our lows is to look up, and to give You praise and thanks for who you are, and for your mighty works. Let the people of God say, Amen.

—

Isaiah 55:11 (KJV) 
11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Read the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/

Hear the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

https://soundcloud.com/praying-for-you-ministry

What Are Your Plans, Hopes, and Dreams?

 

Text:

Proverbs 16:3 (HCSB)

3  Commit your activities to the LORD, and your plans will be achieved.

Observation:

I started this week with the title of today’s message on my heart, and here it is near the end of the week and it is still with me. I read this verse first thing this morning, and it found a place in my heart.

The first word in the verse, commit, caused me to pause, and meditate upon it. There is an app that I use called Roll-It-Up. It is a neat tool for managing your email inbox.

I listened to a devotional this morning based on our focal verse, and it said that to commit is to roll your plans up to God. I immediately made the connection with what I do each day with my email inbox.

I commit now to rolling my plans, hopes, and dreams up to the Lord because He is much more able to carry these cares on His shoulders.

In conclusion, I go back to the verses I started the week with, and I will commit my activities to the Lord, and rest in knowing that He will give me the desires of my heart as I take delight in the Lord.

Psalm 37:4-5 (HCSB)

4  Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you your heart’s desires.

5  Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act,

Prayer:

Father God, hallowed be Your name. Father, I thank You for being a God who hears and answers the prayers of His people.

Father, thank You for speaking into my heart this morning the need to cast all of my cares upon You. Father, there is no place I would rather have my plans reside then in the hands of my God. Father, I will daily roll them up to You. In the might name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

—

Isaiah 55:11 (KJV) 
11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Read the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/

Hear the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

https://soundcloud.com/praying-for-you-ministry

How to Handle Your Big & Small Problems

 

Text:

Acts 4:18-20 (ESV)

18  So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

19  But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,

20  for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

Observation:

The Apostles Peter and John had a huge problem. After healing a man in the name of Jesus, they were brought before the authorities of the Government, and ordered to cease preaching in the name of Jesus.

Notice what these disciples did when they were facing this opposition from people who had the power to punish them severely. They gather with other Christ followers, and they prayed.

Acts 4:29 (ESV)

29  And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,

When God’s people pray the power of God moves in supernatural power. God hears and answers the prayers of His people, and He shows up in power.

Acts 4:31 (ESV)

31  And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Notice how God’s people prayed. They had been warned not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Who do you think they obeyed? They chose to obey God.

They did this, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness”.

Prayer:

Father, hallowed be Your name. Father, I ask that You would quicken and quiet our hearts before You. Father, I ask that You stir and steer our hearts to take our problems to You in prayer first, and not last.

Father, make the desires of our hearts to be like the desires of Your heart so that when we pray we will know that You will hear, and answer our prayers.

Psalm 37:4 (ESV)

4  Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:16 (ESV)

16  Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked.

Father, create in us the desire to delight in You, to cast all of our cares upon You, and to be grateful, and thankful for what we have. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

—

Isaiah 55:11 (KJV) 
11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Read the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/

Hear the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

https://soundcloud.com/praying-for-you-ministry