“In His prayer, Jesus calls us not only to reach out to God for His forgiveness, but also to reach out to others and extend to them our own. That is the only ultimate way to conquer evil. Our willing sacrifice is required. Evil will be healed only through the love of individuals – that is, through you and me.”
david jeremiah, prayer: The Great Adventure, p. 152
Daily Devotionals: As we step into this next season in the life of our church, we are asking the Lord to help us “Make Room in our Hearts” – for the people Jesus loves, and the people Jesus brings. During these 21 Days, our whole church will be reflecting and meditating on these same thoughts and prayers together, with one mind, guided by and depending on one Spirit.
________________________________________
Engage the Word: Making Room In Our Hearts
READ Hebrews 13:3
Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.
Connect the Heart
This verse continues the passage from yesterday that focused on how hospitality (especially strangers) is about reflecting God’s love: calling Jesus-followers to remember the imprisoned and the mistreated. While strangers might seem “scary” sometimes because they are invading ourspace, the imprisoned and mistreated are usually hindered from coming to us, so its our job to go to them. In a literal sense, this means that the incarcerated in El Paso county need the love of Jesus too. Ascent Church had a prison ministry in its history—maybe someone is led to start it back up? But more broadly, many people are imprisoned and mistreated in ways that are less obvious. Many don’t know they are wonderfully made in the image of God. Some have been told they are worthless or a failure or stupid. How can we be more welcoming of everyone – especially those that don’t look or act like we’d like them to?
Reflect on the Truth
- Does my heart have empathy for the “imprisoned and mistreated”? How might I pray for my heart to make room for those suffering in that way?
- Where might I find the “imprisoned and mistreated” of my community? What would going to them look like?
- What does the statement “since you also are in the body” mean for how my heart should think about others?
Depend on the Spirit
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see the deeper longings, desires or motives in your heart that these thoughts are pointing to. (For example: you may write down, “God, going ‘out there’ to show your love seems scary. I want help people gain hope, healing, and freedom; so show me who and how and where I might make a small but eternal difference in the life of someone who right now won’t physically come to church or wouldn’t feel safe to come to church. Please help me be your hands and feet of love.”) The Lord can help us discern the path forward – through His Word, His Spirit, and His people.
__________________________________________
For Prayer
As you conclude your devotional time, please pray for our Ascent Church family to be a people who truly care for the unfortunate, the mistreated and the rejected – the “strangers” in our community.
Fasting
Please read the first blog post entitled “Why Fast?” This explains what fasting is and why we follow Jesus in this spiritual discipline as together we seek the heart of God.
Previous Posts
To read yesterday’s blog post devotional, please click here.
To read our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting Introduction, please click here.
________________________________________
Some parts of our 21 Days devotionals are adapted using various resources on scripture and prayer like The Bible Exposition Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, The New Bible Commentary, Logos Bible Software and other resources.
Recent Comments