“Nothing takes the place of prayer and eye contact with your Bible.”

 

⁹Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.  ¹⁰With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. –Psalm 119:9-10

 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. –Psalm 119:105

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. – Psalm 5:3

We have so much information available to us today! You can watch, listen to and read about the Word of God. But the thing about relationship is spending time with the author of the book. The best way to do that is to read your Bible for yourself and spend time in prayer communicating with God and letting Him communicate with you. There is a reason it is called a PERSONAL relationship. Books, discussions with other believers, and listening to others teach and preach are all beneficial to spiritual growth.  However, the depth of your personal relationship with God depends on the time you spend regularly with Him in prayer and in His Word.

Victory Action

I will set aside time every day to spend time in the Bible and prayer to grow my personal relationship with God.

“Don’t expect your companion (or anyone else) to be what only God can be to you.”

 

 ²¹Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.  ²²Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

Isaiah 45:21-22

 

Victory Action

There is a certain quality of relationship that I can experience only with God, so I will expect Him, and not others, to meet the kind of need that only He can fulfill.

“God wants us to enjoy, not endure our marriages and lives.”

1 Peter 3:7-12 (J.B. Phillips New Testament)

⁷ Similarly, you husbands should try to understand the wives you live with, honouring them as physically weaker yet equally heirs with you of the grace of eternal life. If you don’t do this, you will find it impossible to pray properly.

Be good to each other—and to all men

^8-12 To sum up, you should all be of one mind living like brothers with true love and sympathy for each other, generous and courteous at all times. Never pay back a bad turn with a bad turn or an insult with another insult, but on the contrary pay back with good. For this is your calling—to do good and one day to inherit all the goodness of God. For: ‘He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking guile: let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil’.

While endurance is an important characteristic when it refers to longevity, other times it has a negative connotation. We tend to just “endure” life’s tougher challenges because we have lost our power to resist and persevere. We just try to “get through” that long line at the DMV, or that holiday dinner with our loud uncle whoever. We cannot find joy in the situation. But that was never God’s plan for us! He is a good Father. He has good, enjoyable things for us. The scripture quoted above gives us some keys for enjoying, not just enduring. But here is the thing, The Word of God tells us to be generous and courteous AT ALL TIMES! What? How will that help the situation? It may not change the circumstances, but you will find that it will change you. Because when we obey God, we have His full backing in the situation. God will use the opportunity to change us from the inside out. Just think about it, the scripture says that if we do good, it will give us access to ALL of God’s goodness. Sounds like a good trade to me! Peter points out earlier in the passage that by not doing good when we can, we will not even be able to pray correctly. Wow! I guess this stuff is pretty important so maybe we should try it!

Victory Action

Effective relationships are foundational to an enjoyable life.  As I respect and walk in love toward others, I love life as I see good days.

“Intercession is the most unselfish thing a believer can do.”

⁹I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.  ¹⁰And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.  ¹¹And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.  ¹²While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.  ¹³And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.  ¹⁴I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  ¹⁵I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.  ¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  ¹⁷Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.  ¹⁸As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.  ¹⁹And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

John 17:9-19

²⁶Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  ²⁷And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 8:26-27

Victory Decision

I choose to pray for the needs of others, not just my own.

“Little is much when God is in it.”

 

⁴¹And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.  ⁴²And they did all eat, and were filled.  ⁴³And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.  ⁴⁴And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

Mark 6:41-44

 

 

Victory Action

I will give my “little bit” to Jesus so that He can multiply it to abundantly meet needs.

“The greatest gift you can give to God is all of you.”

²⁹And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:  ³⁰And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

Mark 12:29-30

 Victory Prayer

Lord, I want to give myself completely to you.  Reveal to me anything that is coming between us and I will change.