Not our will but Yours. Thank you, Father, for the forgiveness bought for us by our precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Place Your desires in our hearts so we may be a part of Your beautiful plan for our lives. Thank you for caring for us so deeply that even in a time of utter darkness, You bring the light of Your love.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen
Day 3
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
—Philippians 4:6 (NKJV)
Anxiety is something that creeps up on you. It has the ability to take over your life if you let it. Its very definition speaks of unease, fear, and distress. But the Word teaches us that God is not the God of chaos but the God of peace. God wants to pour His peace straight into your innermost being. Be anxious for nothing feels like an extreme order, especially in the world we live in today. But God’s grace, the supernatural extension of his supplication and mercy, backs up that seemingly impossible demand with, “but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God.” Just to be clear, if you’re on medication and that’s where He has you, by all means continue. God uses medicine to heal every day. I firmly believe that. This particular anxiousness is something the world presses on you, and He is asking you to shove it all His way.
Our heavenly Father is well aware of the trials and tribulations that life can bring, and even those we bring upon ourselves. He is stating clearly in His Word that He is interested in caring for you and all the anxieties that plague you. He asks kindly that you surrender those burdens to Him—for you to thank Him for His goodness, the goodness He is more than willing to lavish you with. And amazingly, He asks you to lay forth your requests.
The maker of the universe, the one whose very breath lives in us all, has asked you to boldly and plainly tell Him what you need. So I ask you, what do you need? Pour your heart before the Lord with thanksgiving and praise and lay it all out before Him. Give Him every crisis in your life while you’re at it. Lay your burdens down and tell Him that they now belong to Him because He asked you to do so. Shoulder up to Jesus. He is the peace within the storm, the only beacon of light that can see you through the dark, dark night. No matter what your request is, He is ready to listen.
Father, we come before You with all our anxieties and we lay them at Your feet. Our request first and foremost is that Your perfect will is achieved in our lives. Bring us on board with Your plan because we know it is the better one. We thank you for being so loving and kind, for Your precious Son Jesus, whose blood You shed so we may have everlasting life. We make our requests known to You, and we trust that all things we ask for in accordance to Your will are yes in Christ Jesus as Your Word states. Thank you for hearing the cry of our hearts. Thank you for Your unstoppable mercy. Praise You, Lord.
In Jesus’ powerful name,
Amen
Day 4
Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.”
—Hebrews 13:5 (NASB)
When you find yourself in an emotional dark pit, it’s easy to believe that the Lord has forgotten you, or perhaps is punishing you. The enemy would love for you to believe exactly that and drive an immovable wedge between you and your loving creator. But God assures us in His Word that He has done no such thing. In fact, He draws near to those that love Him and are in peril (Psalm 38:19).
God promises never to desert us, never to forsake us through this scripture. We must believe what He says. Yes, He is aware that you are in a dark place, He is aware that you need Him more than ever, and He will reach out to you in supernatural ways, but you must cling to His Word, to His Son Jesus tighter than ever. When I fell hard and fast into a vacuum of pain and grief to which there seemed no end, it seemed my only thought was to plead with God to remove the trial. I prayed, I begged, I trembled, I cried out to Him. As time went on, I saw my character changing for the better, and my ego flew out the door (good thing!). I was going out of my way to help others, and I liked it. It was addicting—it made me feel wonderful to help those who need it. I found myself digging into the Word, conversing with Jesus nonstop throughout my day. He had become my new best friend, and I wondered how I ever grew too busy, how I managed to drift away when I wasn’t looking. That realization was the most painful lesson of them all.
While I chased the world by the tail, I had somehow lost sight of the only thing that mattered: centering myself in Christ. Each day I’d pray that He would keep me in His perfect will, and once the lights went out in my world, ironically, I found
