Tag Archives: Proverbs

“God Is Not a Slot Machine”

“God Is Not a Slot Machine”

Bible Passage

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Proverbs 4:6

Devotion

“While it’s true the Bible says you get the desires of your heart through prayer and supplication, that does not mean you get what you want. If you read the entire chapter, Proverbs 4, it says you first have to align your heart with God. Once we do that, it changes the desires of your heart. When you’re aligned with God, your heart desires what God desires for you. God teaches us that He will “While it’s true the Bible says you get the desires of your heart through prayer and supplication, that does not mean you get what you want. If you read the entire passage (Proverbs 4), it says you first have to align your heart with God. Once we do that, it changes the desires of your heart. When you’re aligned with God, your heart desires what God desires for you. God’s Word tells you that He will ” supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Proverbs 4:19)

This is a hard concept to understand. You may have heard God referred to as a Sculptor. He forms you from clay, just as He formed Adam. When you pray for God to direct your path, you are inviting Him to teach you the things He wants you to know, and to do the things He wants you to do. It’s an invitation for God to change your heart. What you want becomes less important. At the same time, what God wants for you becomes all-important.

Yes, sometimes it hurts. There will be times when you fall to the ground in despair. There will also be times when you are so happy you openly weep tears of overflowing joy. As you grow and mature spiritually, the times of deep despair lessen. It’s not because your challenges vanish. It’s because you are more confident that God is with you and will see you through whatever it is.

Prayer Focus

Those struggling in their faith.

Prayer

Dearest Father, Maker of all things, Sculptor of my life, thank you for always being there with me in all things life throws at me. Strengthen me. Mold me. Help me to be more like Your Son, Jesus. Give me what I need to be what You made me to be, so I may bring You glory. Make me into a loving child who makes You happy. In the name of Jesus Christ, my God and Savior. Amen.

Final Thoughts

If I ask, God will bring my heart into alignment with Him.

Help Wanted Near You

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Bible Passages

Carry each other’s burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2 (CEB)

Those who are gracious to the poor lend to the Lord, and the Lord will fully repay them.

Proverbs 19:17 (CEB)

Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kinds of sacrifices.

Hebrews 13:16 (CEB)

Devotion

This ministry needs your help. I need your help. At this point, I am a one-person army. As much fun as it is, I can’t reach everyone who needs help. This is a worldwide ministry, after all. But, there are even needs in my own neighborhood I am having trouble fulfilling. Here are some of the people I visit in my small 55+ community. Of course, these are not their real names.

Mable lives alone. She is very frail. She has a lung condition that requires she give herself oxygen treatments every few hours. Like all of us, she has things she needs done around her house, including yardwork and mowing. I watched her walk from her kitchen to her living room, not very far at all, the other day. It took her more than a couple of minutes. There is no way she can do much for herself. Her son helps some, but he is not young and lives too far away to run over every time she needs help.

One neighbor, Sarah, moved in with another neighbor, Beverly, to take care of her as best she can. Beverly is also on oxygen, and I have never seen her without hoses in her nose. Sarah can’t drive anymore, so Beverly does the driving when they go shopping, run errands, or go to doctor appointments. Both ladies know this is not a very safe situation. Their primary need is for a driver, and help with grocery shopping and errands.

Violet is a shut-in, and needs someone to talk to, and to check in on her. She doesn’t leave her house. The only other person she sees is her caregiver, who came in on a Monday and found Violet had fallen on Saturday and badly injured herself. Worse, she was still where and how she fell, with nothing to eat or drink all weekend.

Theresa has scoliosis. Her house has some basic handyman needs. There is a soft spot in her floor at the entryway. She has a wiring problem she seems to think is minor, but needs to be fixed. There is an inside door that sticks, and when it does she has to walk all through the house to go the twenty feet from her kitchen to her living room.

I’m sure your neighborhood has a Beverly, a Mable, a Violet, a Sarah, or a Theresa. Look around. Do you have neighbors you have never seen, who are perhaps shut-ins? Would it hurt to just knock on the door occasionally to see if they are okay? Is there something you can do to help make their isolation a little less depressing and solitary? Even if they greet you gruffly and with suspicion, keep going by. One day, they will realize you are trying to be a friend. After all, it took time for them to build those barriers between them and their neighbors. It will take time to break them down.

Keep trying and keep praying. The rewards are well worth the effort! Join me, and we will conquer the world with love, one neighbor at at time.

Prayer Focus

Neighbors in need

Prayer

Lord, lead me to someone who needs my help. Show me how to reach out to them and connect with them. Let me be a blessing to them. Amen.

Final Thought

Join us!

Listen!

Man listening. Photo by larry-george-ii on unsplash.
Photo by larry-george-ii on unsplash.

Bible Passages

For God speaks again and again,though people do not recognize it.

Job 33:14-18

Be still and know that I am God.

Psalms 46:10

If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name,” says the Lord of hosts, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.

Malachi 2:2

But whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster

Proverbs 1:33

Devotion

How often in a day do you find yourself bored? In the “old days,” you might have counted ceiling tiles, looked for dirty clothes under the bed, examined the shoes of the lady ahead of you in line, or pulled lint out of your navel. Today, you play games or watch videos on your phone.

News flash! That down time is on purpose, a gift from God. It’s a time to reflect. Count your blessings. Pray for guidance. Recite Bible verses. Sing songs of praise and worship. Spend time with God. Listen.

If you listen with your heart, God speaks to you non-stop. Put down your phone and listen. Turn off the television and listen. While your babies are sleeping, listen. It’s very important to learn to listen to God’s voice. It’s so important to God that “the word ‘listen’ appears 278 times throughout the books of the Bible.”[ConnectUS] Practice listening. You might not hear His voice the first few times you try, so keep at it. The world is shouting at you. Ignore it. Find the whisper. It’s a gentle, quiet voice filled with love and hope and peace. That’s the one you should hear. Focus on it. Listen.

Notice I said, “Listen.” It means you don’t just hear something. You strain for meaning. You lean into it. You take action. Hearing is passive, requiring nothing of you. Listening is participating.

When you ask God for help or guidance, you have to give Him time to respond. Don’t just say a prayer, jump up, and run back to your day. Hang out with God. Spend some time listening for His voice. Before long, you’ll find it’s easier and easier to hear what He is saying. Doing what He commands will bring you more and greater joy and peace and happiness. Therefore, just listen.

Prayer Focus

Listen to the Master

Prayer

Lord, help me open up my ears so that I may hear Your sweet, gentle voice. Amen.

Final Thought

Hey! God is talking to you.