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PERSONALIZED PRAYER

PERSONALIZED PRAYER

By: Deborah Lovett

John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.”

This may be my favorite verse of all time. I love the way the Master Storyteller weaves a story. In the verse before this, the Samaritan Woman asked Jesus the question: “How can You ask me for a drink?” The woman was talking about physical H2O that came from Jacob’s well. Jesus changed the course of the conversation by his statement, including “if, what, who, how, and ask.” Of course, He was referring to something totally foreign to her, called “Living Water,” spiritual water for her soul. The metaphorical significance is important.

Isn’t it just like Jesus to totally captivate His audience? We should take notes from this Man who called fishermen to become followers, and they immediately dropped their nets when He said, “Come follow me.” No problem, no questions asked! Now, here at verse ten in our drama, Jesus throws out another one-liner to His audience at the well in order to bring her life, freedom, and peace. The irony of this moment is that the woman thought Jesus wanted something from her. Not! He wanted to give her the most precious thing in life—a personal, one-on-one relationship.

Isn’t it just like Jesus to answer the woman’s question with a gift? When we go to the Well to meet Jesus, He’s already waiting to give us the gifts He has stored up for us in heaven. Sometimes He doesn’t answer just the way we want, but yes, He answers. Recently, someone sent me a clipping called “This I know…” (I apologize, the author wasn’t listed.)

I know not by what methods are, but this I know, God answers prayer.
I know that He has given His Word, which tells me prayer is always heard
and will be answered soon or late, and so I pray and calmly wait.
I know not if the blessing sought will come in just the way I thought,
but leave my prayers with Him alone, whose will is wiser than my own,
assured that He will grant my quest and send some answer far more blest.

I’m convinced that most of us aren’t aware of God’s gifts just waiting for us. But if we knew what they were, and Who they were coming from, we would ask more often, for that explains how we receive them! To know Him is to know His gifts and how extravagantly He loves us.

God is saying to you and me, “If you knew all the gifts of your inheritance in Christ Jesus, you would be spending a lot more time in prayer asking for them.” If we aren’t aware the gifts are available, we probably won’t ask for them. In this passage, Jesus is saying, “Even though you don’t know, or even understand, ask anyway!” He has given us the deepest desires of our hearts, and He longs to fulfill those desires.

When was the last time you asked Him a question and ended up with a gift? Jesus Christ is the ultimate gift giver of all time. He gave His life to save us from our sins. He gave His Holy Spirit to counsel us. He gave His stories to help us understand His truth. He gave thousands of people fish and bread for dinner. He gave the disciples a legacy to pass on to others. He gave Mary and Martha their brother back. He gave the blind man sight. He gave and He gave and He gave. Actually, He gave Himself right into the grave. As we seek Him, the gifts of peace, love, and joy naturally flow from Him to us like water in a stream.

On that day in Jesus’ conversation with the Woman at the Well, He was about to give her the gift of Living Water. But I believe what this particular verse offers us is the gift of personalized prayer. He was saying, “Ask for what you think you need, and I’ll give you what I know is best.” Don’t be afraid to ask for anything you desire, but don’t put Him in a box either! We pray, and He personalizes it to fit us perfectly. We can’t meet with Him in human form as the Samaritan Woman did, but we have the examples of His encounter in the Bible, and we have the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts. He’s just waiting for us to ask.

Get drenched in HIS Living Water!

Pray:
Merciful Father, I repent of unfaithfulness in my prayer life. What a gift You have given me! And yet it’s a gift I often neglect or forget. Forgive me today, and fill me instead with the Living Water of Your love. Amen.

SOWING TEARS

SOWING TEARS

By: Deborah Lovett

Matthew 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

I have to be honest with you; this is going to be a different devotional. Usually I write from experience, a story in my life, combined with an inspiration and revelation from God. Not this time. I have come up with the title from a friend’s email, and now I sit staring at a blank page. BTW: Tears are allowed.

I cry at info-mercials. I cry at movies. I cry at church. I cry when I hear sad stories. I cry when I am physically in pain. I cry for others. I cry at the foot of the cross. But…I can have a hard time crying over things that are really, really painful in the deep recesses of my heart. You know the things that you cannot even reach or maybe it’s just that we are afraid to reach them. I am sure that God didn’t want to send His Son to the Cross. But, I am just as sure—that He didn’t ignore the ordeal. It was meant to change hearts. He had an eternal purpose.

You know as well as I do, that whatever is left unnoticed, will eventually act up and get attention somehow, someway. Our hurts will come out. You’ve heard the old saying; hurting people hurt people. Well, hurting people also become bitter not better. Hurting people can become resentful or their faces can present a snarling effect. They can become almost lifeless looking. Pain or even sin left uncared for can come back to haunt us as stress, workaholism, or health problems… the list goes on and on. We go many places to fill our souls with a living water that cannot quench– such as the mall, or the corner bar.

Let’s look at some verses today. My son’s favorite verse in the whole Bible is John 11:35. Why? Because it is the shortest verse in the whole Bible! Easy for him to memorize! “Jesus wept.” If Jesus did it, we should too.

I love Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” The night has been awfully long for some of you, and I for one can now witness to the fact that the rejoicing does come in the morning. God just forgot (or chose not to remember!) to tell us which morning it would come! (So we wait and believe!) I know God is faithfully working behind the scenes as some of you lay broken before Him; for from brokenness comes blessing.

Psalm 126:5-6 is a promise we can hang our hats on today: “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.” God’s power to restore a human soul is beyond our comprehension. Terminal illnesses are healed, people who were once hate filled are suddenly filled with overflowing love, alcoholics are cured, addicts are relieved. We need to remember even grief can turn to joy. That is what God does; brings great good out of severe tragedy. His name is REDEEMER!

This verse reminds us not to ignore the restoration but also not to forget the weeping and crying that may accompany it.

It even suggests that we serve while we weep, but not in place of the weeping. It will do others well to see the vulnerability and the honest authenticity that accompanies the tears that are not only allowed but encouraged. People have seen enough plastic smiles to last them a lifetime. Emotional brokenness must be real, not fake or the kind that renders us unable. Real brokenness brings God’s strength and grace. Christians need to be real so that our authenticity shines God’s glory to a hurting world. No one needs to see another perfect person, but we all need to see the Power of God. When is the last time you were in the middle of a real encounter with God’s Spirit?

In the story of the Woman at the Well, Jesus actually allowed the Samaritan woman to look back at her past, (John 4:18 “The fact is you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.”) a painful realization for sure–before bringing the healing that would allow “many to believe because of her testimony.” I bet there were some tears when she realized to Whom she was communicating with and the fact that He already knew it all. Don’t be so quick to blame others, take responsibility for your healing. Don’t judge others that are not walking in their healing yet, be patient. Stand in the gap of faith FOR THEM through prayer.

Do you know someone in pain today? Maybe you could just listen to them, allowing them to talk about their pain. Maybe you could just hug them if they begin to cry or even cry with them. Many times we think we must “do” something. Actually all you need to do is encourage them in the process.

Don’t be afraid of your own tears today or those of others. I believe if the world cried a little bit more; it would actually be filled with more laughter. Eccl. 3:4 says, “a time to weep and a time to laugh.” Maybe we could laugh more if we took the time to cry more? It’s true: laughter is good medicine but so are the tears.

Tears must be important to God, for Revelation 21:4 proclaims, “He will wipe every tear…” If He thinks it is important to wipe the tears, shouldn’t we? Just remember: God can’t wipe what we don’t cry.

Funny thing, I think maybe this devotional was from my personal experience and God has now given me the revelation that my joy did in fact come after the crying, serving and weeping!

Blessing comes from brokenness. Laughter follows tears. Restoration follows forgiveness. Joy comes from mourning.

Thank you God! May Your Words minister to someone who is hurting today.

Drenched in His Love and Joy,
Deborah

DO NOT BE ALARMED

By: Deborah Lovett

Matthew 24:6 “You will hear of wars an rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.”

“But see to it that you are not alarmed,” is an important message for us today. As we turn on any radio or television station it is becoming increasingly difficult to not be alarmed, isn’t it? Yet, I believe this is when Christians get to “shine” for Jesus.

Today we are prayerful for those who have loved ones fighting for our country. They have made a choice, driven by what they believe. We too must make a choice, driven by what we believe. The choice to make today is to “not be alarmed.” By doing so, we live in direct agreement with God’s Word.

How can we keep ourselves from becoming alarmed? Do you remember in the Old Testament, when there was the plague of death to the first born sons? The Bible says in Exodus 12: 13 “The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” Of course, this is referring to the Passover.

Our answer is in Hebrews 10:19, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.” This verse gives us that promise from God that the Israelites experienced the night of Passover. It is Jesus’ blood that covers the doorframes to our hearts. As heirs to the kingdom, through faith, we are included in that house, because we are His family. We can now stand in assurance of faith and not fear as we draw near to God. So “see to it that you are not alarmed.” It is as a hurting world sees our lives at peace that we can “shine” for Him right where we are.

Come to the well today, draw the living water that saves lives, and share it with your friends that are thirsty. God Bless America!

Deborah Lovett

My Favorite Praise Book

Hello! Just wanted to share a gem of a book with you today! This is absolutely, hands down, thee best book on “Praising God” I have ever had my hands on.
It is a staple in my everyday devotions. One of the gals in a class I was teaching several summers ago, brought them in and gave each of us one on the last day of the study. I wanted to share it with you today!

31 Days of Praise, Enjoying God Anew
by: Ruth Myers and Warren Myers

To order call : 1-719-272-7410 (Castle Bookstore in Colorado Springs)

BATTLING FEAR

BATTLING FEAR

By: Deborah Lovett

“For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of self discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Today we are going to take that spirit of self-discipline God gave us and we are going to battle our fears, since this verse tells us we were not given a spirit of fear from God, but were given the self-discipline to combat it. And believe me, it is a battle. A battle the enemy would love for you and I to lose. But the Lord has assured us of the victory, if only we believe. Romans 8:37 gives truth: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

I know this may not be as easy as it sounds, for many it may be a difficult battle, but be encouraged it can be done! Remember Proverbs 2:1? “He holds victory in store for the upright.” God wants us to live in victory; He sent His Son to set us free. We can live in the feelings of defeat, or we can live in the truth of freedom at the feet of Jesus.

One of my favorite women authors, Susan Hunt, once said, “It is time for women of biblical faith to reclaim our territory. We know the Designer. We have His instruction manual. If we don’t display the Divine design of His female creation, no one will. But if we do, it will be a profound testimony to a watching, needy world.”

In order to reclaim our territories ladies, self-discipline is a must. Self-discipline is the training of our minds to be self-controlled, obedient and efficient. God has given us this spirit of love and self-discipline. It is not genetic; it is a gracious gift from above. If we have not trained our brains to be self-controlled then it has been our choice not to do so. To say otherwise is to call God a liar. But again, it is only at the feet of Jesus, that we can see His power. I am not talking our own willpower but the Spirit’s power! Once we start training our minds to think like God wants us to, His grace steps in and guards us. What a cool thing to experience. And believe me this is coming from the queen of no self-control, so I have witnessed the transition first-hand in my own life, and am currently working with God on a new area of obedience! Let me remind you, before we continue, that to not make any decision at all is to make an intentional decision to fail.

Remember: We will either fear God, or fear something else. 1 John 4:8 says,“Perfect love, drives out fear.” God loves us and gives us the necessary information to help us. Here are five steps that you can take to help you overcome fear and gain trust in the guardianship of God. You will need to choose to use your God-given right of self-discipline in order to carry them out!

1. Gather data. Proverbs 13:16 says, “Every prudent man acts out of knowledge.” To be prudent, is to be cautious and careful when exercising our judgments.
2. Count the cost. “Don’t begin until you count the cost. Who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates” (Luke 14:28). Are you looking to yourself for the answers, or to God?
3. Develop a strategy. “A prudent man gives thoughts to his step” (Proverbs 14:15). Make a plan!
4. State your goals and dreams. I love this part, because I love to dream, to create, to imagine, to just be myself! “What you should say is this, ‘If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that’” (James 4:15). “Where there is no vision the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18).
5. Start doing it! “When I am afraid, I will put my confidence in God. Yes, I will trust the promises of God” (Psalm 56:3). Fear is the opposite of God confidence. God puts us behind the wheel of the car, but we still have to drive it.

Summarized: plan prayerfully, prepare purposely, proceed positively, and pursue persistently. But be on guard! If you don’t prepare, you’ll probably repair. We seem either to jump ahead by over-reacting or lag far behind, so make sure you pray before you plan.

Deborah Lovett www.DeborahLovett.com

Did you miss the radio program last night? Here is the link: http://www.aliveinchristradio.com/alive-in-christ-radio-liner-notes/alive-in-christ-radio-070511.html

Below is the link to the Alive in Christ Radio program for which
I was the guest. After you click the link, look just below the
player for the link that says, “Download this episode.”

http://www.aliveinchristradio.com/alive-in-christ-radio-liner-notes/alive-in-christ-radio-070511.html

God Bless you as you listen!