August 20

Esther 8:1-10:3, 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13, Psalm 37:1-11, Proverbs 21:23-24 

Pray: We often pray with little conviction. We ask God to bless, heal or intervene but our requests are weak for our faith is weak. What if we believed that God did have our absolute best at heart? What if we believed that God is powerful and could bring about a supernatural work in our life or the persons we are praying for? Why don’t we pray like this now. Be bold, ask God for the miraculous to take place, ask God for His perfect will to be done. 

Read: Today’s text from Esther is about restoration and victory for the Jewish people. The king once again finds favor in Esther and allows Mordecai to send out an order, which the king's previous order cannot be revoked, which states that the Jews have a right to defend themselves against anyone who would kill them and to take any property from would be enemies. People now had to think twice before trying to kill the Jews for they could lose not only their lives, but if they lived all their property and net worth. God gave them victory and turned around a would be tragedy. What does God want to turn around today in your life?

Edify: Paul’s letter to the church of Corinth is famous as it is often read at weddings and other celebratory occasions. Yet, 1 Corinthians 13 is explicitly a letter of discipleship. For if we receive Christ, and ask the Holy Spirit to abide in us, then we have access to a supernatural love which enables us to live differently. We don’t have to live by the flesh, because we have access to love differently.

Practice: Now I want to challenge you for an entire month to practice this one exercise. Take the word Love out and place your name there in its place. So you would pray this pray, “4 Love(name) is patient and kind. Love(name) is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It(name) does not demand its own way. It(name) is not irritable, and it(name) keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It(name) does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love(name) never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”  What would happen if we not only prayed that way but lived that way? Your home would be different, your relationships would be different and your life would be different. Let’s start today.