Monday, Sept. 5, 2011
Weekend Speaker: Ben Sigman
Theme: Blueprints for a Better Life - A "How To" Guide On Prayer
This eDevotional was written by a volunteer from Timberlake Church.
Read: 1 Peter 5:8; Ephesians 6: 10-18
Think: Pastor Ben’s message as he wrapped up the Blueprints series focused us on prayer. Prayer is something we mean to do, something we want to do, and something we often try to do but struggle with. I’ve always believed that keeping us from prayer is among our enemy’s – Satan’s - highest priorities in ensuring our weakness. Corrie ten Boom (author of The Hiding Place) says “When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the Bible, the devil laughs. When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy.”
The main reason that this tactic of the enemy is so effective is how Pastor Ben defined prayer: Connecting with God. The worship team sang a wonderful Hillsong United worship tune called Forever Reign. The song describes all the things we have access to in connecting with God:
His goodness,
His love,
His light,
His hope,
His peace,
His truth
His joy
His life
His presence
The chorus of the song is a great description of prayer: “I’m running to Your arms!”
Do: Watch Forever Reign on YouTube and visualize the songs “embrace” as your prayer life. Nothing in the world compares to it.
Pray: Father, help me in my weakness when the enemy tries to convince me that everything else is more important than praying. I want to connect to You. I want to run to Your arms, give me wisdom to know how important that is in my life. Amen.