Daily Share-a-Prayer w/e 22/09/2024
Derek Mill
Worship Leader, All Saints Church, Belton
Saturday 22nd September
Heavenly Father, I prayed yesterday that life is made up of moments and that I don't want to miss a moment with You
Lord Jesus, You said: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own". Life is made up of moments. There is only one moment for us to live: the present moment. Your Word tells us: "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future"
Thank You for each moment of today. Thank You for being with me each step of the way. Help me to live each moment to Your glory. Help me to remember that I am made in Your image and for Your glory. "God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them"
No other creature is made in Your image. No other creature thinks like we do. No other creature creates as we do. No other creature has words like we do. They may express themselves in sounds or actions but no other creature looks at a sunset and sees the wonder of it and expresses delight like we do. No other creature plans a holiday. No other creature writes like we do. No other creature speaks like we do. Why? Because only we are made in Your image; able to do what You do
Help me, Lord, to glorify You today in all I say and do. Help me to be more like Jesus. Thank You for making me in Your image
Amen
Songs for today:
I know who holds tomorrow
The Master's calling
In Jesus' Name
Saturday 21st September
Heavenly Father, help me to remain faithful to You. May there never be a day when I don't come to You, to Jesus, to pray
I know how easy it is to 'fall off the wagon’! When a person gives up drinking, especially an alcoholic, he or she may say they are "on the wagon". The phrase comes from a time when a person who promised to drink only water and no alcohol, would climb onto a water-wagon, which travelled the streets which used to be dampened as they were so dusty. If they started drinking again they were said to have 'fallen off the wagon’
A single drink is so dangerous for an alcoholic; one drink becomes two, two becomes three, then ten, then unstoppable. This is why I don't want to miss a day meeting with You. One day missed can easily become two or three, then two weeks or a month, or a year!
But there is more to it than some sort of fear! I love meeting with You! However, Your Word does tell us: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding"
Respect, reverence, knowledge of who You are, being aware of Your power... is the beginning of wisdom. Believing in You, loving You, trusting You, is the beginning of wisdom. And wisdom has its own rewards. Your Word continues: "For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you, if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer"
Lord Jesus, life is made up of moments, and I don't want to miss a moment with You. So, keep me on the wagon
Amen
Songs for today:
No-one but You Lord (Only You)
Bless God
Only You
So will I
Friday 20th September
Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us life! Life is to be lived and enjoyed. You tell us to "choose life"
Lord Jesus You came that we may have life "and have it to the full". You came to live life and defeat death; and You did both. In doing this You opened the Way for us to do the same, live life and defeat death. Will I die? Yes of course I will, we all will. But in dying we defeat death because You have given us eternal life, and in this You give us life to the full!
But we must choose life. It is essential that we choose life, and the only Way is through choosing You, Jesus, as You are the only Way to life in all fullness. Your bold claim: "I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me" would mean nothing if You had not defeated death. Resurrection is the proof that death has been defeated and that You are the Way to Life
No one else has defeated death and no one defeats death without You. Your Word tells us: "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory'. 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law
But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." You said, "I AM the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?" My answer today, again: "Yes Lord, I believe". And so death is defeated
Amen
Songs for today:
For this purpose Christ was revealed
All my days (Beautiful Saviour)
To be in Your presence
Thursday 19th September
Heavenly Father, there are so many people who don't know Jesus, who don't believe in You, who don't believe You even exist. Their eyes and ears are closed to the Truth. Some have a belief of sorts, that there is 'something out there' but don't know it is You, God
I jotted down a few words a couple of days ago, 'real eyes' and 'realise'. When we come to understand something we realise it; we accept it and take it on board. Sometimes we are 'blown away' by a realization, perhaps saying, "Well, I never knew that!" I heard this the other day: "We see it when we want to see it. We hear it when we want to hear it". Somehow, people, a bit like the disciple Thomas, will only believe it when they see it with their own, 'real eyes'
Your Word tells us: "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him". It may be that 'seeing is believing' like it was for Thomas, but it is also true that 'believing is seeing'
Lord Jesus, when Thomas saw You resurrected, he said, "My Lord and my God!" And You said, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed". I believe, yet have not seen, so I am blessed. My heart's desire is that others may be blessed too
Help me Lord, to keep planting seeds in people’s hearts and minds that they may come to know You too. When they want to hear they will hear, and they will see when they want to see. Thank You
Amen
Songs for today:
I believe it (The Life of Jesus)
I believe in Jesus
I believe, I believe, I believe in the Son of God
Wednesday 18th September
Heavenly Father, a thought occurred to me; one that resonated. "What do I learn from practicing my guitar?" I made a list of things that sprang to mind very quickly:
There are no short cuts. I must listen very carefully, making sure the guitar, and I, are in tune
Play short sections from the whole piece
Repeat the process
Think ahead a little; not too far, 1 bar at a time
Repeat a finger change
Practice separate hands. Each hand is doing something different
Focus
Practice eyes open and closed. Get the feel
Practice slowly
Practice the chord shape, strum and separate fingers
Improvise
Change the rhythms
Change the time signature
Leave it for a while, think things through, visualise, come back to it
Take what I learnt from one piece into the next
What I learn applies to every piece
Practice may not make perfect but will bring about improvement
There may be days when everything goes well, others where I feel like I am useless! How do these things apply to prayer? Or to apply to life? There are no short cuts:
I must listen carefully
Think about what is said
Don't look too far ahead
Repeat what I read or hear so it sticks
Look at a whole passage of scripture, but also break it down
Pray eyes closed and eyes open
Think about how to express ideas in different ways, apply to different situations
Leave ideas for a while then come back to them
There may be days when everything goes well and others where I feel like I am useless! Take what I learn and apply it to life. Help me to learn in everything I do and persevere. Thank You
Amen
Songs for today:
Soul's desire
Lost and found
Lion of Judah
Tuesday 17th September
Heavenly Father, it occurred to me that every relationship starts with a "Hello" of some sort. When we are introduced to someone we might say "Hi" or "How do you do?" or "Nice to meet you". A conversation might then follow about family, work, interests etc
It would be interesting to introduce people to Jesus and see how that relationship develops. I was chatting to someone yesterday who is going through a very tough time with a loved one suffering from a life threatening illness. I spoke about our situation and how we have known Jesus' love, strength, and comfort over the last ten years. I explained how knowing You and Jesus makes such a difference
We can come to You knowing that we can give You all our cares and worries and that You take our anxieties and give us peace. Of course it is hard, impossible, to understand the peace that transcends understanding, until you have it!
I suppose it does sound a bit crazy; like the James Stewart film with the giant, invisible rabbit, 'Harvey'. "I'd like to introduce you to my invisible friend, Jesus. He's God". This is the Truth. You are the Truth. In a Way, this is what I am doing; what we all need to do. Knowing me, knowing any of us, Your children, offers an open invitation to meet with You and to experience Your love and Your power
There is no greater thing, no greater love, than Your life laid down. "Lord Jesus, please say, 'Hello' to my friends. Only You can help them". That's what I want to say. Thank You. I know You love them too
Amen
Songs for today:
Knowing You Jesus
Voice of the Lord
All is well
Only You Jesus
Monday 16th September
Heavenly Father, I have the great privilege of coming into Your presence every day to pray, to meet with You and write to You. It is also a privilege to send my prayer out to a number of people every day; some I know well and others I don't know at all; and I also send to Network Yarmouth, who faithfully publish every day
There will be some who read every day, some who read occasionally, and some who read rarely, if at all. But the important thing is, I know YOU hear or read every word
Amongst the people, some may be happy and others may be sad. Some will be carefree, some will be burdened. Some will be faithful, some will be wanderers. Some will be married and others single, separated, divorced, or widowed. Some will have children and be close, others may be estranged. Some will be honest, some may be dishonest. Some will speak kindly, others will have a barbed tongue. Some will have met me face-to-face, others will never have met me. Some may have murdered! And some would never hurt a fly. I may not know them, but You know them all. You know all about every one of them. And despite everything, You love and forgive every one of us
Lord Jesus, You gave Your life for us, every one of us. My prayer today is that every one of us is encouraged; every one of us knows You better; every one of us is filled with Your Spirit and emboldened to speak of Your great love and sacrifice to those who don't yet know, believe, and trust in, You. You said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners." Lord, thank You for Your call
Amen
Songs for today:
Shadow of Your wings
Middle of my story
How great Your love
all songs (usually with lyrics) and talks courtesy of YouTube
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