[D]o not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

 [D]o not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

I continue pause my study of Zechariah and of the last four books of the OT (complete: Zephaniah, Haggai; to complete: Zechariah, Malachi) - using the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary volume for this book.  Today, my preparation to lead Sunday school at my church, where our class is doing a study on prayer based on the book by A Praying Life, moves along.  I pick up today in chapter 7 - Crying "Abba" Continuously, and 8 - Bending Your Heart To Your Father.  As chapter 8 winds to a close - it emphasizes how anxiety should drive us to prayer as it is "relentless."  As anxiety never rests we should be driven to relentlessly seek Christ in prayer - we are encouraged to read the Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-7) as Jesus shares how "God give[s] justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night[.]" Hannah's (1 Samuel 1) weeping and praying also should encourage us to let anxiety power our prayers. 

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father, I am utterly and completely dependent on You and can do nothing without You.  Help me be in constant awareness of this and how so full of grace You are for me and I seek that this love You have for me should of course animate me to love, worship, and praise You constantly but also love others because this is what pleases You and I seek to please You.  Thank You for the many blessings You pour out for me but I am undeserving.  My sin is great and it continues..daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant[.]

Psalm 86

Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant[.] Psalm 86:16

Because I did not wake early enough to give God my first fruits of undistracted time this morning - I am coming back during my day to commune with my God and to (1) seek my forgiveness, (2) gain strength and daily sustenance. Listening to DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotional, I reflect on John Piper's words and on the words of the psalmist who in Piper's words "give us a beautiful model of daily dependence on future grace for every exigency."  Piper lays out several examples of the psalmists dependence on future grace:

• They cry out for grace when they need help: “Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!” (Psalm 30:10).
• When they are weak: “Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant” (Psalm 86:16)
• When they need healing: “Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord” (Psalm 6:2).
• When they are afflicted by enemies: “Be gracious to me, O Lord! See my affliction from those who hate me” (Psalm 9:13).
• When they are lonely: “Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted” (Psalm 25:16).
• When they are grieving: “Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief” (Psalm 31:9).
• When they have sinned: “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!” (Psalm 41:4).
• When they long for God’s name to be exalted among the nations: “God be gracious to us and bless us . . . that your way may be known on earth” (Psalm 67:1–2).

These are all circumstances I have faced.  I also need my "bread" daily - see Matthew 6:9-13.  I cannot exist without Christ as He provides for all of my needs, saves me and gives life now (abundantly) and for eternity.  

Comment and discuss this post. 

My Prayer: Heavenly Father, You are a great God that pours out blessings to me daily and I desperately need them.  Thank You Jesus for how You provide for all of my needs and for how You save and sanctify.  I am not deserving of such blessings.  My sin is great and daily - including failing to give You my first fruits.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

“Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

Luke 9

“Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” v3-5

Two key takeaways for me with the account of Jesus sending our the twelve (see also Matthew 10, Mark 3): 

1. When Jesus sends out the twelve He wants them to depend solely on Him - otherwise, the Twelve risk seeking fortune and gain for themselves, dependence on self, or dependence on wealthy benefactors.  God wants us to be 100% clear from where our livelihood comes.
2. We are to deliver the message - boldly - and not focus on any outcomes as this will be Jesus' role. 

Our primary job is to love Him and as a result of this to love others - see also Matthew 22:34-40.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who has provided me with everything - life, family, health, etc. - You have also helped me through dark times and never left or forsaken me - thank You Jesus!  I am undeserving of such a God.  I daily miss the mark.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Mark 10

Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. v15-16

Jesus loves children and their curiosity and dependence on their parents for all things - this is humility...that we don't have wisdom apart from God and we don't have anything good apart from God.

Great references:
Childlike, Not Childish
Blessed Are the ‘Man-Boys’

We should all be child-like in our faith.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who has provided me with all things - apart from You I have no good thing.  Thank You for how You so richly bless me.  I am undeserving of such love and blessings. I am selfish and I daily miss the mark.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts—no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep....If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.

Matthew 10

Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts—no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep....If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. v9,14

At the end of Matthew 9, Jesus requests that His disciples "[a]sk the Lord of the harvest...to send out workers into his harvest field".  John Piper implies that the sending of the twelve is a response to prayer for more workers for the harvest.  Piper goes on to implore us to pray, and he provides many words on why and how we should pray - a good starter is here.  With regards to the sending out of the twelve disciples, Jesus wants the disciples to trust in Him as the provider and to focus on the message, not the outcome.  Pray for the outcome but remember that God is in charge of the outcome. 

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an incredible God who has answered many prayers of my own and also those of others who have prayed for me - thank You Jesus!  I am not worthy of Your love and grace.  I daily miss the mark.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. I will make the lame my remnant, those driven away a strong nation.

Micah 4

I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief.  I will make the lame my remnant, those driven away a strong nation. v6-7

Micah's role is to admonish both Israel and Judah for their failure to walk with God, their poor treatment of others, etc.  God exalts those who humble themselves before Him.  If we repent our sins and acknowledge our complete dependence on Him, He will restore us.  We have hope.  This hope is true not just for those who suffer but also those who cause the suffering.  We do not get to be the judge, only God is the judge.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who restores me...even though I have sinned greatly against You and others.  Thank You Jesus but I need Your forgiveness.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.

Psalm 119

At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws. v62 

Daily study and reflection on God's word is His desire for us.  He wants a relationship with us, and He commands us (Matthew 22:37-40) "to love Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind".  For us to honestly love God, we must KNOW Him.  As I posted here, scripture memorization is key and many believe it is the most critical practice we can undertake to know God and His character and all of His attributes.

We must believe that God is our daily sustenance and that we cannot live without Him.

See also verse 57: "You are my portion".

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. Psalm 16:5

We must depend on God - exactly like the Israelites relied on God in Exodus 16 when God provided manna to eat:

Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’” Exodus 16:12

See also Matthew 6:9-15:

 
“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

My Prayer: Lord You are a great God able to provide for ALL of my needs - I know with my head understanding that all good gifts come from above - from You.  Yet with my heart I become distracted by cares of this world.  Thank You that You love me but please forgive me Jesus!  Help me overcome and turn from my sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of her cancer and the side effects from chemo.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach, and Dustin, and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

All my longings lie open before you, Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.

Psalm 38

All my longings lie open before you, Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you. v9

Lord, I know You want Your children to be completely dependent on You.  For many, including myself, this is difficult.  I believe that I can produce results...yet I must recognize that all of it comes from You.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

See also posts here, here from the OT, and here as well.

And God promises fruit when we abide in Him (John 15:1-8).

Once we recognize where all of our provision comes from, and in the context of our own sin, we MUST come to the conclusion that we are not worthy of such blessings and that we are and SHOULD be completely dependent on Him and through this dependence God once again promises blessings (Matthew 5:3).

God also promises that HIS strength will be on display in OUR weakness.

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10.

My Prayer: Lord, what a great God Your are that You produce such fruit not just in me but FOR me, for You desire for me to have life in the full....even though I continue to sin and I am broken.  Thank You Jesus for such blessings and mercy.  Please forgive me for my worry and my harshness with others.  Please do a work in me and help me overcome such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of her cancer and the side effects from chemo and radiation.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. v10-12

1 Thessalonians 4

Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. v10-12

Lord, You call us to lose our own lives so that You may shine through us.  It must be clear that what is in work in us is You.

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  Matthew 16:24

 ...

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5

See also, my other posts here.

Another key theme is that we are to work and not be dependent on the work of others.  Everyone has a role to play.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God full of love and compassion for me...You provide everything that I need.  Yet I often act as if I don't need You.  I neglect to spend time with You in prayer and in the Word.  Yet You bless me and love me all the same...what an awesome God.  Thank You Jesus!  I need You badly as I need Your forgiveness and Your mercy.  Please forgive me and help me turn from my sin and towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of this cancer.  Help me remain humble, work hard for Jesus, and allow others to see Jesus in me.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.