Pray While You’re Prey Weekly Devotions for Singles
At some point in my life, I realized that what I deemed to be me just talking to myself was not me talking to myself at all. It was prayer. Prior to this point, I felt that in order to pray, I had to get on my knees, bow my head, and close my eyes. Or, I felt I had to lay prostrate before Him to get His attention. But, as my pastor often says prayer is not about a position. Whether I am driving in my car, sitting in my classroom, on my couch in my living, in the mall, in church, in bed, it does not matter, I can pray all of the time. And, thank God for that! When the Bible says to pray without ceasing, I used to think that it was impossible. Then, I got in touch with my inner dialogue and I discovered that the things I was saying, thinking, and asking were not things for which I had answers. The only One who could calm my innermost fears or answer my deeply thought-out questions was God Himself. So, I realized that prayer is a conversation. It is the constant conversation that I have with Christ. It is the time when I stop to praise Him for the sunshine that pokes through on a rainy day. It is the time when I am taken aback by the fact that He loves me and I did nothing to deserve it. It is the time when my mind wanders into place it has no business going and I ask for forgiveness. It is the times when I have questions and I ask the all-knowing Father. God asks us to pray continually because He wants to be present in every part of our lives; not just the parts where it is convenient to get on our knees or bow our heads. He wants to be there for us in the huge events that drive us to our knees and in the everyday, mundane, blessed boring times of life. God wants to be the center of our focus, so that He can guide us in the direction on the blessings that He has already bestowed upon us. I often say, “Jesus saves…and I don’t mean just salvation; He saves a lot of people from the me that I would be.” Without constant communication between God and I, there is no telling how many more mistakes I would have made in my life. I have already made plenty trying to be a big girl and do things on my own. There were many times when I refused to talk to God about something because I didn’t want to know His answer. It is the same way we pick and choose which friends to go to for advice. It seems more comforting to hear what we want to hear, but in communication with God, He wants us to hear what we need to hear. In the single season, depending on how social a creature one is, there is a lot of time spent alone. That time can be dark and depressing or it can be peaceful and productive. One way to enjoy the “me” time that God has blessed us with is to communicate with Him and to listen to find out what the best use of our time will be. How can we be vessels for God in this season? How can we allow Him alone to be our comfort and our all? God will answer these questions and many others, but we have to talk to Him. We must have a never-ending conversation. Prayer Thank You, God for being a God who will allow me to speak to Him and will answer me when I have questions. Please forgive me for seeking to communicate with others before I seek You. Lord, please help me to listen and never be afraid to come to You with praises, confessions and concerns. In Jesus’ Name, Amen *Scripture quotations are from the New International Version ©1984, unless otherwise indicated.
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Pray While You’re Prey Weekly Devotions for Singles |
Scripture: Galatians 5:17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. | Quote from Pray While You’re Prey: “the Bible says, we will have battles between the Spirit and our flesh constantly.” |
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.
"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
As Christians, we can apply this principle to the spirit and the flesh. The Bible warns us that they will constantly be in conflict. The spirit wants to live in obedience and the joy of salvation; the flesh wants to live in opulence and the justification of sin.
The battle is not always over something huge like whether to pray or to party or whether to shout to the Lord or give a shout out to your favorite booty call. Some battles take place deep within and are more subtle. For example, I often experience the battle for peace of mind. The spirit wants to be content with what I have. The spirit knows that God is in control and that He has a plan for me. The flesh wants to focus on what I do not have, and sometimes, what others have. The flesh wants me to feel that God has abandoned me; that He has left me alone.
When these battles rage on, I often end up in tears. The tears are expressions of pain for the fact that I have allowed so much nonsense to enter into my flesh, through my eyes and my ears, that it sometimes feel like the flesh is just kicking the mess out of my spirit. I get upset because I know that I read enough, and pray enough to know that the devil is a liar and God is on the throne. Still, when it comes to the singleness, the childlessness, the loneliness, I oftentimes let the flesh get the upper hand.
So, what is the solution? The solution is to seek God’s face and rely on the Holy Spirit to give comfort as promised. The solution is to focus on the promises kept by God and the promises to be kept by God rather than focus on the plight of singleness. As the story suggests, the solution is to feed the spirit and to starve the flesh.
Thank You, God for the promise that You alone are God
Please forgive me for feeding my flesh more than my spirit.
Lord, please help me to focus on your faithfulness and
allow my spirit to win the battles and the war.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Pray While You’re Prey Weekly Devotions for Singles
Week Twenty
How do I Know I am Saved?
Scripture: John 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. | Quote from Pray While You’re Prey: “I am not saying that I am never lonely, but I know that the world could be devoid of all human life, except me and God would still be here with me.” |
“Am I really saved?” is not the kind of question that you feel comfortable asking anybody, but God. Of course, I have had many people ask me how I know I am saved. And, for a long time, I was unsure of how to answer the question. But, as I got older and I got into a more intimate relationship with Christ, I realized that there were things that I just could not do or say anymore. I am not referring to what many people say is your conscience. I realized that there were times when the words that came out of my mouth were not my own. It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in me that caused this dramatic change.
It was not an all-of-a-sudden, glitter falls from the sky, and I start glowing kind of change that people could see. As a matter of fact, I am not sure if anyone else noticed. Nonetheless, over time I felt more free to be who God wants me to be regardless of what anyone else thinks about it. That is what it feels like to be saved. That is what the indwelling of the Holy Spirit feels like. And, the Holy Spirit only resides in you if you are saved.
So, why I am talking about this in devotions about being single? Because nothing that I say will ever help you if the first relationship in your life is not intact. Sure, there are plenty of unsaved people in happy relationships. If I wanted to right now, I could go find someone to be happy with, but that is not good enough for me. I want the kind of relationship that God has set aside for His children. And, in order to have that, I must first be fulfilled by a relationship with Christ, so that I am not putting unreasonable expectations on my future mate.
If you can still do the sinful things that you have always done and it never bothers you; you might want to check your salvation. If you can still go to the same places you know you have no business going to and it does not bother you; you should probably check your salvation. If you can hear people talk about God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit disrespectfully and it does not bother you, you might want to check your salvation. We are not perfect. Notice I said, “it does not bother you.” Sometimes, we will make mistakes and fall back into old behaviors, but it should grieve our spirit. If it does not, we may need to have a reality check about whether or not the Holy Spirit really resides there.
Our dedication to our relationship with God, our first love, will determine how well our relationships work with other like-minded saints of God. And, an added bonus of salvation is knowing that no matter what your relationship status is, you can know that you are NEVER alone!
Thank You, God for the comfort and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Please forgive me for all of the times when I do not
listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
Lord, please help me understand that I will not lose my salvation,
but I can lose my joy when I am not obedient to Your leading.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Pray While You’re Prey Weekly Devotions for Singles
Week Nineteen
The Inside Scoop
Scripture: Psalm 25:14 The Lord confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them. | Quote from Pray While You’re Prey: “Fear of God is the key to His secrets. I do not speak of fear in the sense of being scared, but in the sense of reverence and respect.” |
In the beginning, my disdain for the prospect of making bad decisions was paralyzing. I literally was not willing to make any moves because I feared that I might make the wrong move and end up headed in the wrong direction and knocking myself further off-course. However, eventually, I realized that I had someone better to trust than myself: God. My miscues led me to put all of my trust in Him. And, not just in the major things like jobs, relationships, money; in EVERYTHING.
I fear the Lord. I am not scared of God (although, I am glad to be living in the age of grace--have you read the Old Testament?); I reverence God. I respect God. I have learned that God knows what is best for me and that He has a future plan for me and a right now plan for me that will work out for my good if I will listen to Him and obey His voice.
I have been blessed with several gifts to use for ministering to others, but for a very long time, I struggled with how to properly use God’s gifts and talents. Every time, I have tried to do something my way, it has not turned out well. So, then, I just stopped trying, but that was not the correct answer either. Earlier this year, I felt a nudge to record, but I had no idea what the purpose of my recording would be. I agonized over what to do with the music that I had. I was not sure if I needed to do an entire CD, or just a demo. I didn’t know if I should try to sell my work or give it away. Taking a step forward just brought about so many questions. Admittedly, for a little while, I was discouraged because I felt like God was not showing me what to do.
Then, I read a devotion that encouraged me to spend some quiet time with God; not talking, not singing, not making a sound, just listening. This was very difficult at first because my mind is always racing. I know God knows that, but each day, as I endeavored to respect Him by giving Him quiet time, it became easier and easier to quiet my mind. And soon, His voice began to drown out mine. And, after one month of asking what I should do, it became clear. There are still a few details that I am sure God will give me in the right time, but I know the answer to my main question.
I have to believe that as I continue to show reverence for God, whether in quiet time or by simply being obedient to His leading, He will reveal anything that I need to know to me. That is the beauty of the God we serve. Anything that He is not showing us, He is holding back for a good reason. That gives me hope as I wait for my spouse to come into my life. I am not being obedient to get answers or to get what I want. If that were the case, I would have stopped being obedient when I felt God was saying ‘no’ and ‘wait’ too much. I am being obedient because I respectfully fear the Lord and His greatness. I know that He is stronger and wiser than I will ever comprehend. So, I will wait patiently for His secrets to my life to be revealed.
Thank You, God for loving me enough to not give me
any information that I will misuse.
Please forgive me for not being respectful to You in my actions
and in the way I divide up my time.
Lord, please help me to listen, move when necessary and be still when necessary.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Pray While You're Prey Weekly Devotions
I pray that this 52-week devotional honors Him and blesses you. Enjoy!
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