Friday, October 3, 2008
From: dailydevotionals@purposedrivenlife.com
> To: -------@hotmail.com
> Subject: October 1, 2008 - How to Pray Effectively - Daily Devotional
> Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2008 00:19:04 -0700
>
> How to Pray Effectively
> by Rick Warren
>
> Please remember what you told your servant Moses: “If you sin, I
will scatter you among the nations.” Nehemiah 1:8 (NLT)
>
> *** *** *** ***
>
> Here are four secrets to answered prayer from the life of Nehemiah:
>
> 1. Base your request on God’s character. Pray like you know God
will answer you: “I’m expecting you to answer this prayer because of
who you are. You are a faithful God. You are a great God. You are a
loving God. You are a wonderful God. You can handle this problem, God!"
>
> 2. Confess the sins of which you’re aware. After Nehemiah bases his
prayer on who God is, he confesses his sins. He says, “We’ve
sinned.” He says “I confess . . . myself . . . my father’s house . . .
we have acted wickedly . . . we have not obeyed.” It wasn’t
Nehemiah’s fault that Israel went into captivity. He wasn’t even born
when it happened and he was most likely born in captivity. Yet, he’s
including himself in the national sins. He says, “I’ve been a part of
the problem.”
>
> 3. Claim the promises of God. Nehemiah prays to the Lord, saying,
“I want you to remember what you told your servant Moses.” Can you
imagine saying “remember” to God? Nehemiah reminds God of a promise he
made to the nation of Israel. In effect, he prays, “God, you warned
through Moses that if we were unfaithful, we would lose the land of
Israel. But you also promised that if we repent, you’d give it back to
us.”
>
> Does God have to be reminded? No. Does he forget what he’s
promised? No. Then why do we do this? Because it helps us remember what God has
promised.
>
> 4. Be very specific in what you ask for. If you want specific answers
to prayer, then make specific requests. If your prayers consist of
general requests, how will you know if they’re answered?
>
> Nehemiah is not hesitant to pray for success. He’s very bold in his
praying. Have you ever prayed, “Lord, make me successful?” If you
haven’t, why haven’t you? What is the alternative? A failure?
>
> Is it okay to ask God to make you successful? It all depends on your
definition of success! I believe a good definition of success is:
“Fulfilling God’s purpose for my life in faith, love, and the power of
the Holy Spirit, and expecting the results from God.” That is a worthy
life objective that you should be able to pray for with confidence.
>
> Consider this: If you can’t ask God to make you a success at what
you’re doing, you should be doing something else. God doesn’t want
you to waste your life.
>
>
> © 2008 Rick Warren. All rights reserved.
>
> To: -------@hotmail.com
> Subject: October 1, 2008 - How to Pray Effectively - Daily Devotional
> Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2008 00:19:04 -0700
>
> How to Pray Effectively
> by Rick Warren
>
> Please remember what you told your servant Moses: “If you sin, I
will scatter you among the nations.” Nehemiah 1:8 (NLT)
>
> *** *** *** ***
>
> Here are four secrets to answered prayer from the life of Nehemiah:
>
> 1. Base your request on God’s character. Pray like you know God
will answer you: “I’m expecting you to answer this prayer because of
who you are. You are a faithful God. You are a great God. You are a
loving God. You are a wonderful God. You can handle this problem, God!"
>
> 2. Confess the sins of which you’re aware. After Nehemiah bases his
prayer on who God is, he confesses his sins. He says, “We’ve
sinned.” He says “I confess . . . myself . . . my father’s house . . .
we have acted wickedly . . . we have not obeyed.” It wasn’t
Nehemiah’s fault that Israel went into captivity. He wasn’t even born
when it happened and he was most likely born in captivity. Yet, he’s
including himself in the national sins. He says, “I’ve been a part of
the problem.”
>
> 3. Claim the promises of God. Nehemiah prays to the Lord, saying,
“I want you to remember what you told your servant Moses.” Can you
imagine saying “remember” to God? Nehemiah reminds God of a promise he
made to the nation of Israel. In effect, he prays, “God, you warned
through Moses that if we were unfaithful, we would lose the land of
Israel. But you also promised that if we repent, you’d give it back to
us.”
>
> Does God have to be reminded? No. Does he forget what he’s
promised? No. Then why do we do this? Because it helps us remember what God has
promised.
>
> 4. Be very specific in what you ask for. If you want specific answers
to prayer, then make specific requests. If your prayers consist of
general requests, how will you know if they’re answered?
>
> Nehemiah is not hesitant to pray for success. He’s very bold in his
praying. Have you ever prayed, “Lord, make me successful?” If you
haven’t, why haven’t you? What is the alternative? A failure?
>
> Is it okay to ask God to make you successful? It all depends on your
definition of success! I believe a good definition of success is:
“Fulfilling God’s purpose for my life in faith, love, and the power of
the Holy Spirit, and expecting the results from God.” That is a worthy
life objective that you should be able to pray for with confidence.
>
> Consider this: If you can’t ask God to make you a success at what
you’re doing, you should be doing something else. God doesn’t want
you to waste your life.
>
>
> © 2008 Rick Warren. All rights reserved.
>
From: ------------@purposedrivenlife.com
> To: -----@hotmail.com
> Subject: October 2, 2008 - How to Face an Uncertain Future - Daily
Devotional
> Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 00:18:44 -0700
>
> How to Face an Uncertain Future
> by Rick Warren
>
> Do not boast about [what you’re going to do] tomorrow, for you do
not know what a day may bring forth. Proverbs 27:1 (NIV)
>
> *** *** *** ***
>
> The Bible offers three timeless principles for facing an uncertain
future:
>
> 1. Let God set your goals. It’s foolish to make any plans without
first consulting God. He’s the only one who does know the future, and
he’s eager to guide you through it. The Bible says “We may make our
plans, but God has the last word” (Proverbs 16:1 GNT). In other
words, planning without praying is presumption. Start by praying, “God,
what do you want me to do?”
>
> 2. Live one day at a time. While you can plan for tomorrow, you
can’t live tomorrow until it arrives. Most people spend so much time
regretting the past and worrying about the future, they have no time for
today! Commit to making the most of each moment of each day. Jesus said,
“Don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your
tomorrow too. Live one day at a time” (Matthew 6:34 LB).
>
> 3. Don’t procrastinate. Procrastinating is a subtle trap. It wastes
today by postponing things until tomorrow. You promise yourself that
you’ll do it “one of these days,” but then “one of these days”
turns into “none of these days.” The Bible says, “Do not boast
about [what you’re going to do] tomorrow, for you do not know what a
day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1 NIV). What have you planned to do
that you haven’t done yet? When do you intend to start working on it?
> To: -----@hotmail.com
> Subject: October 2, 2008 - How to Face an Uncertain Future - Daily
Devotional
> Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 00:18:44 -0700
>
> How to Face an Uncertain Future
> by Rick Warren
>
> Do not boast about [what you’re going to do] tomorrow, for you do
not know what a day may bring forth. Proverbs 27:1 (NIV)
>
> *** *** *** ***
>
> The Bible offers three timeless principles for facing an uncertain
future:
>
> 1. Let God set your goals. It’s foolish to make any plans without
first consulting God. He’s the only one who does know the future, and
he’s eager to guide you through it. The Bible says “We may make our
plans, but God has the last word” (Proverbs 16:1 GNT). In other
words, planning without praying is presumption. Start by praying, “God,
what do you want me to do?”
>
> 2. Live one day at a time. While you can plan for tomorrow, you
can’t live tomorrow until it arrives. Most people spend so much time
regretting the past and worrying about the future, they have no time for
today! Commit to making the most of each moment of each day. Jesus said,
“Don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your
tomorrow too. Live one day at a time” (Matthew 6:34 LB).
>
> 3. Don’t procrastinate. Procrastinating is a subtle trap. It wastes
today by postponing things until tomorrow. You promise yourself that
you’ll do it “one of these days,” but then “one of these days”
turns into “none of these days.” The Bible says, “Do not boast
about [what you’re going to do] tomorrow, for you do not know what a
day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1 NIV). What have you planned to do
that you haven’t done yet? When do you intend to start working on it?
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