Prayer Devotionals | Inspire & Ignite

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America, Seek The Lord

America, Seek the Lord!
Oh, return to the God of your fathers!
Hold high the standards of righteousness and love!
America, Seek the Lord.

May peace be your portion, America,
As you live in the land of the free;
And may you forever give thanks unto the Lord
For the blessings of life and liberty.

America, Seek the Lord!
Oh, return to the God of your fathers!
Hold high the standards of righteousness and love!
America, Seek the Lord.

There is strength and guidance from His hand,
There is wisdom for the leaders of our land,
There is love that our world needs to share,
There is peace for all men everywhere.

America, Seek the Lord!
Oh, return to the God of your fathers!
Hold high the standards of righteousness and love!
America, Seek the Lord.

Pray….to Who???

Prayer Devotionals

Who do you pray to for help? Can you trust the God of creation who hears your prayers to be powerful enough to deal with any problem you may face?

Throughout the centuries, men have prayed, seeking relief from the issues which plagued them…but to no avail…why?

The problem, most humans throughout all of history have asked for “God’s” help, but have been asking the wrong “God” for miraculous intervention.

“For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…” (Romans 1:25)

When you pray, where do you expect your answers to come from…science…technology…the culture…the government? If so, listen up… God’s word says:

“(Mankind) exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God, for an image in the form of a corruptible man…” (Romans 1:23)

Why turn to man for answers only God can provide? Again, Paul writes,

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made…” (Romans 1:20)

There is a story that helps us understand the authority and power of our God. It is said that one of the first Christians among the Sioux nation was a young woman named Mercy Poorman. She had a musical gift and decided she would use it to translate hymns of her newfound faith in her native tongue. It proved to be difficult because the Sioux language was much less expressive than English.

One of her earliest attempts was with the hymn, “How Great Thou Art.” Translating the key phrase in the song proved difficult…attempting to retain the rhythm and the clear meaning of the phrase.

I know you remember the words…which so capture the glory of God as seen in His creation:

HOW GREAT THOU ART
“Oh, Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder,
consider all the things thy hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee…
YOU ARE THE BOSS…YOU ARE THE BOSS…”

So, as a child of God, pray confidently because the God of all creation has invited you to His throne room, He listens to your concerns, and there is no issue beyond His power to resolve.
Yes, He is the Boss…He is the boss!

The First Prayer that Gets God’s Attention

Prayer Devotionals

Can just anyone…anyone anywhere pray and expect God to respond? Some only resort to prayer in desperation…from the “foxholes” of life…others see God as the “big vending machine in the sky”…Just drop another quarter in and press whatever button you choose. Yet others see prayer as a religious obligation mostly reserved for seminary trained “professionals”. What is the first prayer we utter that gets God’s attention?

—> To unleash the power of heaven, we must first lay aside our pride and acknowledge our need for Christ. We must accept we cannot fix our “sin problem” ourselves and allow Christ to reign in our lives. Only then can we claim all the promises of the Bible that God will hear our prayers and will involve Himself in our daily lives as Savior and Lord.

God Himself has said that He will “…resist the proud but give grace to the humble” (James 4:6)

It is our pride that keeps us from becoming a Child of God. It is humbling to admit we need help…to acknowledge our neediness and accept our failures…but Scripture says that is the first step towards eternity in heaven and opens the floodgate to all the blessing our heavenly Father has awaiting us.

Our prayer asking Christ to be both our Savior and the King of our lives is the first prayer that gets God’s attention and unlocks the supernatural power of heaven.

This same principle holds true for believers who have forgotten the key to true joy is to “…abide with me” and surrender afresh to the lordship of the great “I AM”.
Would you like God to partner with you helping you deal with all the potholes along the roadway of life? Then, lay down your pride and ask for help. Humble yourself and pray the prayer that gets God’s attention and begin the adventure of following Christ and experiencing the power of heaven in your life!

Why Pray?

Prayer Devotionals

There is a story that has circulated about John F. Kennedy. It is told that after being elected president and moving his family into the White House, he discovered that for all the help and all the conveniences, there still weren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish the work and meet the expectations of his staff, his Cabinet and the public.

His days were crammed full of the overwhelming demands of the job. One of the most powerful (yet little known) forces within his administration was his secretary. Not only was she responsible for keeping the Presidential office professional and keeping the President on schedule but she also served as his “Gate Keeper” anytime he was working in his office. It was impossible to get into the Oval Office without first getting her permission. The President delegated that authority to her and she took it seriously.

There was only one exception to the authority of the “Gate Keeper” in the Kennedy White House:
Little John John, John F. Kennedy’s young son could walk into the Oval Office to see the President any time he wanted without an appointment.

Nice story, so what?
Do you realize you’ve been given direct access to the throne of the Creator of the universe? The Messiah is the only “Gate Keeper”and it is His sacrifice at Calvary on the cross. Your acceptance of His gift of forgiveness gave you the right to go straight to your heavenly father any time, day or night.

In the Old Testament, personal prayer is not emphasized…Priests and Kings prayed, but the regular folks (that’s you and me) are not often recorded praying. In the New Testament, personal prayer is emphasized over and over.

It is the crucifixion of Christ and the simultaneous rending of the curtain in the Temple separating the “regular folks” from the Holy of Holies that gave you and me direct and unfettered access to the throne of heaven.

That access is the privilege of taking our concerns directly to God Almighty and the price of that privilege should make prayer so precious and so amazing that if we take it for granted or fail to pray regularly, we are diminishing Calvary itself

Why Pray?
Because it is the unique gift of the Son, giving us direct access to the source of all power and might in the universe.

Pray…pray without ceasing…pray as if you believed God can resolve any issue you face…pray because it is a gift only His children have been given.

God is Listening; Speak Up

Prayer Devotionals

It is a sad truth that many (most?) believers consider prayer the last option in a crisis or life issue. All too often, we turn first to the other readily available sources; friends, TV, pop psychology, the latest trends in culture…all usually offering worldly, secular answers on finances; relationships; parenting; dependency issues…the list is endless. Somehow we’ve lost sight of the many promises in Scripture which advise us to make God our first and only option for solving life’s complex and troubling issues. Here is just a taste of what God has promised (all from the NLT):

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God everything (tell Him what’s on your mind). Tell God what you need and thank Him for all he’s done. If you do you will experience God’s peace…” (Philippians 4:6-7a)”

“The godly will rejoice in the Lord and find shelter in Him…” (Psalms 64:10a)

“The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayers of the righteous (His children)” (Proverbs 15:29)

“If any of you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask Him and He will gladly tell you. He will not resent you asking. But when you ask Him, be sure you really expect Him an answer…” (James 1:5-6a)

But, He expects to be your final authority.

God hears the petitions (prayers) of His children…He desires only our best, whether its for ourselves, our families or our communities. He is better than any helpline you can call, cares more than any counselor you can find…and He is never too busy.

GOD IS LISTENING…SPEAK UP!

The Force Multiplier

Prayer Devotionals

In military circles, the term “Force Multiplier” is understood to refer to a system or weapon that has the potential to increase the effectiveness of a fighting unit simply by its addition to the unit. For example, the introduction of the Winchester repeating rifle was a force multiplier or the introduction of effective night vision goggles gave its users a significant advantage over an opponent.

Likewise, as a child of God, when the veil was torn ceiling to floor at the death of Christ, children of God were provided with the most significant force multiplier in the universe. Believers were given direct personal access to the King of heaven. Prayer is the greatest force multiplier ever introduced in the Spiritual Warfare that the children of God have ever had available. As a Christ follower, you have at your disposal the ability to call heaven down upon the enemy. Satan himself fears you more when you are on your knees than when you stubbornly try to resist his fiery darts on your own.

It is difficult to explain why so many of us who believe leave pray to the last weapon we employ instead of the first weapon we take with us into a spiritual battle.

Inspire and ignite has been introduced to both teach and equip us with the understanding and use of prayer in the spiritual battle before us today. To rescue our family and friends from Satan’s clutches and to return our country to her founding principles, we must be united in lifting up our prayers to the throne in heaven.

Without our Savior’s direct involvement in the battle that rages in America today, our lost family and friends and America herself will be destroyed by the forces of evil at work across our land today.

Inspire & Ignite is here to raise the challenge; join us:
PRAY…PRAY HARD…PRAY EVERYDAY…PRAY AS IF YOUR CHILDREN’S FUTURES WERE AT STAKE!