“How then can I dispute with him? How can I find words to argue with him?”—Job 9:14 (NIV)
Have you ever tried to argue with God only to realize the error of your thinking? God is never wrong. Yet, by openly disagreeing with Him, you often open a dialogue that will help you better understand His ways. Approach Him with honest prayer. Your most important action is to turn to Him.
Heavenly Father, I may not be happy with what is happening, but who am I to argue with You?
He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.—John 15:2 (NIV)
Do you feel tired and overwhelmed by all you want to do in a day? Ask God to help you prioritize your goals. Focus on the peace of His presence. Turn to Him for guidance on what is important right now and what can wait for another day.
Dear Lord, there is so much I want to do. Help me focus first on You so that all my efforts bear fruit.
How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.—Hebrews 9:14 (ESV)
Is your conscience troubling you over a deed, thought or action that causes you shame? Pray and open up to God. Instead of burying your wrongdoing, confess it and be free. Thank Him for His forgiveness and unending mercy.
Holy Lord, purify my conscience. Help me release my guilt over my transgressions.
You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.—1 Peter 2:5 (ESV)
God is the Master Builder, and you are a living stone that is a piece of His foundation. Your role, according to Peter, is to declare the praises of His work and glorify Him in all that you do. Take that to heart: You are a living rock in God’s spiritual house.
Dear Lord, I am honored to be part of Your wondrous structure and I praise You for Your glorious work.
But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.—John 15:26 (ESV)
When you need a boost of energy or an answer to a problem, draw from the power of God, the omnipotent, all-knowing and all-powerful Helper who is always with you. Because of His help, there is no reason to be weary. Pray and ask Him to fill you with His Spirit.
Heavenly Father, may I experience Your power and love today.
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”—Isaiah 40:8 (NIV)
Select a verse and hold it in your mind when you do the dishes, take a walk or drive to the store. Repeat it throughout the day. Reflect on His Word as you take it into your heart. Ask God to fill you with His wisdom and understanding.
All-knowing God, teach me Your ways.
David said to God, “Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I, the shepherd have sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Lord my God, let your hand fall on me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people.”—1 Chronicles 21:17 (NIV)
Wrongdoings often have a domino effect. David was forgiven by God, but there were consequences to his actions that had already caused damage. When you are at a crossroads and considering what to do, check in with God first. Ask for His guidance.
Dear Lord, when I am tempted to make poor choices, show me the way. Keep me upright.
Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.—2 Kings 19:14 (NIV)
Hezekiah immediately shared his bad news with God. Do you follow Hezekiah’s example and turn to Him first, bearing your troubles fully and passionately? Welcome God into your urgent situations and ask for His guidance. Be honest and real.
Lord, what should I do?
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.—Ecclesiastes 2:11 (NIV)
In Ecclesiastes, Solomon shares that our efforts that are apart from God are pointless and meaningless. Take that truth to heart. When you leave God out of your life and exclude Him from your purpose, nothing will satisfy you.
Merciful God, You fill me with purpose. You are the reason.
Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly…—1 CORINTHIANS 9:26 (NIV)
Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.—PROVERBS 12:25 (NIV
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God— this is your true and proper worship.—Romans 12:1 (NIV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.—Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.—1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV)
And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.”—Habakkuk 2:2 (ESV)
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.—Philippians 3:13 (NIV)
So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.—Genesis 1:21 (NIV)
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.—Romans 12:2 (NIV)prayer
Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.—Genesis 5:24 (NIV)
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.—Genesis 50:20 (NIV) Bib
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.—Luke 6:38 (NIV)
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”—John 15:13 (NIV)
I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws. I hold fast to your statutes, Lord; do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have broadened my understanding.—Psalm 119:30–32 (NIV)
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.—Psalm 1:3 (KJV)
But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.—Jeremiah 10:12 (NIV)
As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.—1 Samuel 18:1 (ESV)
For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”—Galatians 5:14 (NIV)
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.—John 15:12 (ESV)
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.—2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NIV)
