But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness. Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. Psalm 69:13-14 ESV

Here is the prayer of a man sore pressed on all sides by enemies without cause. David understood that fellowship with God begins with prayer.  I have all these troubles, but I have absolute faith and reliance on You (“but as for me my prayer is to you”). At a time of your choosing and in your providence (at an acceptable time), I trust in your lovingkindness (steadfast love1) to rescue me from those who hate me and from the deep water. And to deliver me unto salvation (your saving faithfulness).

These are the words of “a man after God’s own heart.” But more importantly, they are the inspired and written down Word of God for His Creation. For us. They are what God wants us to know.  

So what do we learn from them?  First, what a relationship with God (fellowship) looks like.  Secondly, what completely surrendered faith looks like; I trust you for the answer, whenever and whatever it might be.   And third, and possibly most important, the nature of God’s lovingkindness (steadfast love).

Father, thank you for your chesed love which gave us the life of David, the written testimony of The Word to teach and guide us, and most of all thank you for your saving faithfulness in sending your only son Jesus the Christ to give his life for our sin and thus reconcile us to You. Amen.

Written By: Ken Philip

 1 From the Hebrew chesed (also hesed) (Greek agape): lovingkindness, unconditional extravagant love, the compulsion to give and to love without limit those who have no merit. Chesed is one of the attributes of God’s character, maybe the attribute since His love encompasses all His other attributes (God is love). Chesed love cannot be defined or experienced apart from the fullness of God’s character. It is a supernatural, multifaceted love that is only realized, practiced, and experienced through God. Although not the same as human love, it can be experienced by humans (Jonathan and David, 1 Samuel 18:3; Ruth and Boaz, Ruth 3:10). Chesed love is why God never gives up on His children, even though they repeatedly fall into idolatry and sin.  It is the reason He sent His only Son on a rescue mission.

Hannah prayed:

My heart rejoices in the Lord; 

   my horn is lifted up by the Lord.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
    because I rejoice in your salvation.

There is no one holy like the Lord.
There is no one besides you!
And there is no rock like our God.  1 Samuel 2:1-2 CSB

Here we find a powerful prayer of praise that Hannah prayed to God. You see she had just come out of a very difficult season of her life. Hannah had actually been barren and couldn’t give her husband a child. In the chapter prior, 1 Samuel 1, we see she pleaded with God that He would hear her and answer her prayer to give her and her husband a child. In fact, she promised God that if He gave her a child she would dedicate Him solely to whatever God chose for the child. God miraculously gave her a child. This child, Samuel, would be a prophet, the one God would use to speak to His people and even choose future Kings of Israel.

Hannah followed through on her commitment to dedicate Samuel to God, following closely the commands God had given the Israelites. This brought great joy to Hannah. She recognized that God was able to do a miracle and fulfill His purposes through her obedience, worship, and surrender. She chose prayer as her only vehicle to plead with her Heavenly Father, not just for what she wanted, but ultimately for what God wanted. She aimed to align her will to God’s will, and in doing so reaped the joy of an answered prayer. She worshiped and prayed not just because she wanted God to answer her prayer, but because she knew He, and only He, could. And now we see this prayer of praise from a woman who recognized all that God had done for her. Returning His gift with her praise!

What is it that you’re praying for today? Are you worshiping and praying not in a way that places your hope and faith in a prayer, but because you desire to be aligned with the will of God, knowing He can answer your prayer. Will you worship and pray consistently through a difficult season because you believe God is good no matter the answer He gives to your prayer?

Heavenly Father, hear this prayer I offer; I know You are good and that You hear me. I choose to seek You because You are the only One who knows and sees and can bring salvation. I choose to believe your plans are greater than any I have, and I choose to worship and plead at your feet knowing You will answer my prayer in a way that brings You glory. Amen.

Written By: Brian Griggs

Day 8 – January 8

Bend down, O Lord, and hear my prayer;  answer me, for I need your help.
Protect me, for I am devoted to you. Save me, for I serve you and trust you. You are my God. Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am calling on you constantly.
Give me happiness, O Lord,  for I give myself to you.
O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive,  so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help. Listen closely to my prayer, O Lord;  hear my urgent cry.
I will call to you whenever I’m in trouble, and you will answer me.  

But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.  Psalm 86:1-7, 15 NLT

Have you ever prayed a prayer like this?  This is one of those passages that grip my heart and bring me back in time to several moments in my life – where time was of the essence, stakes were high, options were few, my heart was crushed under the weight of it all.  Perhaps you can relate.  Maybe this is exactly what you are facing right now.  If so, take heart!  God is near, He is listening and He Loves you!   

At times God may feel absent, silent or late – but we must trust that while we pray for Him to move – He is NOT inactive!   God’s ways are higher than our ways, and He is working behind the scenes for your good and ultimately for His Kingdom Purpose.  As Christians we must also remember that we are not promised that our lives would be easy and pain/problem free.  In fact God’s word teaches us the opposite (John 16:33).   God however does promise never to leave us or abandon us in times of trouble (Deuteronomy 31:8, Hebrews 13:5).   He is close to us when we are hurting (Psalm 34:18).

Whatever you are facing today – take it to the Lord in prayer.  He stands ready to hear and help!  But perhaps the greatest blessing of all – is knowing that when we pray, we can lay down these burdens at his feet – knowing full well that He is capable of carrying our load! 

What do you need to lay down today in prayer?  

Heavenly Father, hear my prayer;  answer me, for I need your help. Protect me, for I am devoted to you. Save me, for I serve you and trust you. You are my God. Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I am calling on you constantly.  Comfort me, O Lord,  for I give myself to you. Amen. 

Written By: Pastor Steve Wells

Day 7 – January 7

While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.  Hebrews 5:7 NLT  

There are three main concepts presented to us in this short verse.  Let’s look at  the last and work backwards.  Did you notice the attitude that Jesus approached his father with in prayer?  “Deep reverence” means “holy caution, inducing circumspect behavior and is illustrated by a person carrying a priceless Persian vase across the room – which will always be in a “devout” (respectful) fashion.”  

The second concept presented to us is the nature of his prayer.  The word “loud” here in the original language means “strong; mighty, powerful, vehement, sure.” The word “cry” here denotes “clamorous screaming (shrieking) that is extremely boisterous, like a wounded person emitting “unearthly” (non-human) types of sounds.”  It’s pretty intense.  Can you picture Jesus praying in a way that to us would have looked undignified?  Have you ever prayed like that before God?  Do you feel comfortable being that authentic with Him?  Jesus certainly did; which brings us to the most significant concept.

Let’s sit for a moment and take in who was praying.   Jesus wasn’t praying some model prayer just so we would know how to pray.  These prayers were fervent and they were authentic.  Has it ever occurred to you how much Jesus needed prayer?  Sometimes, in our effort to honor Christ’s full divinity, we miss that he was fully human as well.  Jesus demonstrates a complete dependence on his Father (John 12:49) that resulted in profound prayer.  If Jesus needed and relied on prayer, how much do we need it?

Heavenly Father, fill me with a healthy awe of you that results in a deep respect for who you are and what you say. Help me to understand my deep need to be completely dependent on you.  Draw me close to you and show me who you really are.  Increase my trust in you to the point I bring my real and authentic self to you.  Amen. 

Written By: Todd Stephenson

Day 6 – January 6

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.  Philippians 1:9-11 NKJV

I have a big family and big families can be passionately divided when dad asks “Hey, where should we go for lunch?” Neutral ground for my family is usually a Mexican restaurant. Sure, opinions are still sharply divided over whether tacos, enchiladas or quesadillas are superior but a truce is always drawn when the chips and salsa arrive. Those crispy, triangle-shaped peace treaties piled high in little red baskets are simple, salty and satisfying. So satisfying, in fact, that we always leave the restaurant carrying out boxes and boxes of leftovers because everyone fills up on chips before their meal arrives!

In his book ‘Good to Great’, Jim Collins begins with the sentence, “Good is the enemy of great.” Written over 20 years ago, this seminal work can still be found at the top of bestseller lists for “business strategy”. A meticulous, data-driven study of over 1,400 companies identified 11 unique companies that went from “good” to “great” because they were willing to push past initial success and dig deeper to find much stronger positions. The key takeaway was that many of our institutions in this country often settle for mediocre success because low hanging fruit is safer. It’s easier. It’s satisfying.

Paul’s prayer for the church in Philippi highlights the importance of growing closer in relationship to God. Let’s look at the prayer in reverse. Oh, that we may bring glory and praise to God, shining a light for all men to see. Easily spotted by the fruit of righteousness growing abundantly in our lives. That we may be found pure and blameless in this fallen world because we are able to examine and test all things to separate the excellent from the common. We do this as a result of our love for God. Not a blind, generic love but a love that continues to grow and strengthen as we grow closer to Him through knowledge and discernment of who He is. May this type of love know no limits!

Do you sometimes feel like you’re stuck in the lower gears of faith? Paul’s prayer is a great reminder that God doesn’t want us to grow complacent in our relationship with Him. The closer we grow to Him, the closer we grow into our purpose. We aren’t meant to fill up on chips.

​​Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to enter into a loving relationship with you. The more we learn about you, the more our purpose comes into focus. You created us for a purpose. Thank you for that! May we continue to grow closer to you through our daily walk with you, keeping in step with your Spirit. Give us eyes to see the things in this life that are of the greatest importance. That we may resist the temptation to sit idle in the GOOD and instead focus our efforts on reaching out to grab onto the GREAT. May the world around us see abundant fruit growing in us.  Amen.

Written By: Pastor Jason Mecum

Day 5 – January 5

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Romans 12:12 NIV

Imagine having nothing in your savings account and next to nothing in your checking; not even enough to pay your bills for the month.  On top of that, the income you have coming in is not enough to keep you afloat the following month.  Like a hole in your boat that floods faster than you can bale, sinking seems inevitable. 

I’m sure some of you reading this know exactly what this feels like.  This is where our family was in 2012.  The small engineering company I own with Richard Paulin made enough money to live a little better than month-to-month back then, but our main client got sick, his company was going to be stagnant for at least six months.  By “our main client,” I mean approximately 90% (or more) of our business.  I get it, not the best business plan, but we were still relatively new to business ownership.

We literally had enough work to keep our doors open for about three weeks.  As my business was our family’s only source of income, that meant we had only three weeks to figure it out or our lives were going to drastically change.  It was a dark time (financially) for my wife and me, but I wasn’t going to stand idly by.  God gave me a spirit of strength, and I wasn’t going to let this take down our family.  So, I set up several meetings with mentors, other successful business leaders of faith, and close confidants.  I wasn’t asking for a hand-out; I needed advice.

One-by-one this advice came rolling in, and surprisingly, it was all the same: God made you an influential rainmaker, so use your gifts and make it rain!  There was a problem with this advice though.  In our prayer time, it felt as if God was leading both my wife and I in an opposite and much more daunting direction. We both felt led to wait; to do nothing.  Make no marketing calls, send no emails, reach out to zero of the clients I’d worked with in the past, etc.  Day after day I waited, and as the days passed, and the situation grew more dire, something counterintuitive began to take root in my spirit.

The more days that went by, I grew less and less anxious. God brought me to the point where I was content with whatever decision God made for my family’s future.  If God wanted me to change my career, then so be it.  If God wanted to revive my company, then so be it.  I was joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Eventually the phone rang on its own.  An old client had a project I designed years ago while with a previous engineering firm, but he never constructed it.  He was ready to construct and wanted me to observe and certify the site construction of a small residential neighborhood.  It wasn’t a huge job, but it meant keeping our doors open for another couple of weeks.  Through that project, I met other clients who had similar small jobs, and little by little, God breathed life back into our company.

Now, does that mean that every time you go to God in prayer, that things will go your way?  Absolutely not.  God is not a genie in a bottle.  He has answered ‘no’ to far more prayers than I can remember.  It’s not about getting what we want but getting what’s best for us.  They’re rarely the same, but trust in God to guide your life.

Heavenly Father, help us not to fret about what we bring to you in prayer but to be joyful in hope.  Help us not to pace back and forth waiting for you to answer but to be patient in affliction.  And finally, Lord, help us not to push our own agenda but to be faithful in prayer.  We give you our lives in service, and we trust you!  Amen!

Written By: Pastor Josh Bradley

Day 4 – January 4

But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.  Acts 12:5  NLT

The situation is intense!!!  The church is being persecuted and King Herod arrested Peter during the Passover.  This is a feeble attempt by Herod who is trying to impress the Jewish people.  He arrests Peter with the ultimate goal of executing him, but God had other plans.  The church joined Peter in prayer asking God to move in a powerful way.  If you continue to read Acts 12 you will find Peter miraculously escaping from prison the night before he was to be placed on trial.  

What a privilege we have as a church to join God where He is at work in prayer.  We can see over and over again in scripture how powerful prayer can be.  James 5:16 reminds us that “the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”  Join us in praying for God to move in miraculous ways in our church this year.  Pray fervently… Pray continually… and Pray humbly.

“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”  ‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭7‬:‭14‬ ‭NLT ‬‬

Heavenly Father, thank you for the privilege of prayer.  You are gracious and kind to allow us direct access to your throne.  Give me the strength, through Your Spirit, to pray fervently, continually and humbly.  Please hear the cry of your children as we pray for Your Spirit to move in miraculous ways this year in our church.  I love you Father and I pray all this in the name of Your Beloved Son Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

Written By: Pastor Chris White

Day 3 – January 3

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.  James 5:13-16 ESV

Is it time to pray? Yes. But today’s a terrible day! Yes. It’s time to pray. No, I don’t need to, it’s a great day. Yes. It’s time to pray. That’s the thing about prayer. It’s always the right time. Why? Because our Heavenly Father loves us. And He wants to spend time with us at any point in our life, good or bad, happy or sad. He wants time with us. 

Prayer is time with God. It’s as simple as that. And our Father loves to spend time with us. Sometimes it’s a list of requests. Sometimes it’s simply sitting in His presence. There are many ways to do it, but there’s never a wrong time for it. Now, I wouldn’t close your eyes when driving, but that doesn’t mean you can’t belt out praise and worship music between traffic lights. Imagine riding around and talking with God about your day. You can be sure He wants to. 

Prayer has power. It can change lives. It can move heaven and earth. But first and foremost, prayer strengthens our relationship with God. And relationship is what God is all about. So is it time to pray? You bet. It absolutely is. 

Father, thank you that Your heart yearns to spend time with me. And it doesn’t want to wait for my very worst day or to just hear praise on Sunday. You value our relationship so much you want to spend as much time with me as possible. I’m sorry I’ve let too much time pass between my prayers. Please show me the times during my day that we can spend together.  Amen.

Written By: Steve Williams

Day 2 – January 2

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Ephesians 3:14-19 ESV

Paul is praying for the believers in Ephesus.  But he is also praying for you and for me!

The Apostle Paul knew that the Ephesians needed to be strengthened and to have their knowledge bolstered.  It wasn’t easy for the early Christians to live according to their faith in the culture of the day.  Nor is it easy for us to live out our Christian faith in the culture of our day. 

It is tremendously encouraging to read Paul’s words.  Riches of His glory.  Strengthened with power through His Spirit.  The breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ.

Head-knowledge of His love isn’t enough.  We need the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.  We need the strength that comes only from You.

Father God, gracious and steadfast.  Thank You for the blessings in my life.  Especially that You dwell in my heart and are ever present to give me the strength and knowledge I need to live by faith in this world.  Thank You for making Yourself ‘at home’ in me.  In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Written By: Bev Carbert