Pray While You’re Prey Weekly Devotions for Singles
What is the purpose of being in a relationship? God concluded very early on that it was not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2), so He made a helpmeet for Adam. Since then, we have been surrounded by relationships of all kinds: spouses, significant others, children, siblings, friends, and co-workers. Our lives are generally filled with all types of relationships. So, what is our purpose in being in a relationship? When I first looked at Proverbs 18:16, I was thinking about how I could prepare myself to be a great mate for someone. I needed to work on my control issues and my neediness. I wanted to be a gift to someone, and not a burden. This principle can apply to all of the relationships in our lives, including the most important one--the relationship with Christ. When we give the gifts of love and friendship freely, we not only add to the lives of those to whom we are giving, but we add to our own lives as well. There is no greater feeling that giving to meet the needs in someone else’s life. Not giving because of what you will receive in return or because of a sense of obligation, but freely giving your time, talents and treasures to be a blessing to someone else. When I am having a bad day, even if I do not always feel like it, I try to think of something that I can do for someone else. I am not trying to score brownie points with God. But, if I can be a blessing in someone else’s life, it takes my focus off of problems and points me towards praise. Oftentimes, that is how I end up writing. I might be struggling with a situation, but if I can write something to inspire someone else and draw that person nearer to God, I start to feel ushered into the presence of the great. One of our functions in any relationship is to be a gift. Even while we are single, we can be a gift to our families and friends. No one wants to continue a relationship with someone who is constantly bringing them down. I want someone to come into my life that will add to it. When people ask me about how I feel about being single and waiting for the right person, I let them know, “I have the cake; I am waiting for the icing!” As a matter of fact, God has used this season in my life to prune and mature me so much that sometimes I feel like I have the cake and the icing and I am just waiting for my ice cream. Sometimes, we approach relationships with a selfish agenda. It is all about what we can get rather than what we can give. I believe selfishness is at the center of every failed relationship. Right now is the time to ask God to use what He has already blessed you with to help others and to work on those parts of you that may cause someone else to feel burdened. If we focus more on being a gift, rather than receiving gifts, not only will we find our relationships are more fulfilling, we will find our lives to be more fulfilling. Prayer Thank You, God for every resource that You have given me, so that I can be a gift to others. Please forgive me for putting so much emphasis on what others can do for me and not using Your gifts properly. Lord, please help me to see the needs of others that I can fulfill and to live unselfishly in my relationships. In Jesus’ Name, Amen *Scripture quotations are from the New International Version ©1984, unless otherwise indicated.
0 Comments
Pray While You’re Prey Weekly Devotions for Singles
There have been many times that I have thought that my singleness and childlessness is a punishment for everything that I have done wrong in my life, especially concerning relationships. I have felt that there is no possible way that God would ever give me the opportunity to marry again because I was unfaithful during my marriage. I have felt that God would never give me the opportunity to date again because I was unable to keep my vow to remain abstinent in past relationships. I have been tortured by the thought that I will never have children because, in a moment of irresponsibility, I prayed that I would rather never be pregnant than be pregnant at that time. But, as awful as the mistakes are that I have made, God’s forgiveness covers them all. God does not lie. If His Word says, He removes our sins as far as the east is from the west, then that means that He forgives and He forgets. Yes, we still have circumstances in our lives that remind us of our indiscretions, but those circumstances are consequences of disobedience; they are not God’s way of lording our failures over us. If we have sincerely asked God for forgiveness, He is faithful in His forgiveness and forgetfulness. So, why do we dwell on the past and sins that have been erased? For me, I know that the concept is difficult to grasp. It is hard to accept that anyone can love me so much. It is unfathomable that someone cares enough about me to clean up all of the filthy places in my life. I believe we find all of this so incredible because we know that we, in and of ourselves, cannot exhibit this type of love. We struggle to forgive others and to forgive ourselves. Nonetheless, as complex as this kind of love is to understand and display, this is the kind of love that God gives to us and through us, and once we accept that we are forgiven, we can have peace in our lives and move forward. Now, of course, the devil is beside himself with glee every time we doubt God’s forgiveness. Satan wants us to live in the past. Our past is his greatest weapon because he has no idea what our future holds. Our enemy wants us to feel beaten, broken, and blasphemous. If he can keep us feeling like God cannot love us, then we will not love ourselves. When we do not love ourselves, it is impossible to love others properly. Recognize this lie from the pits of hell and know that you are forgiven. You are loved by God. No one can take that love and forgiveness away. The only person that God ever said was, “a man after My own heart,” was an adulterer and a murderer. This does not mean that sin is acceptable; it does mean that God looks in the heart. And, if we, like David, are truly repentant, God forgives us, forgets the sin, and forms a future for us according to His Will. Prayer Thank You, God for Your forgiveness. Please forgive me for the times that I have sinned and for the times I have refused to forgive those who sin against me. Lord, please help me to be confident in the face that I am forgiven and that You have forgotten. In Jesus’ Name, Amen *Scripture quotations are from the New International Version ©1984, unless otherwise indicated.
Pray While You’re Prey Weekly Devotions for Singles
Seven years ago, after re-reading Proverbs 18:22, I had the revelation that God’s intention was not for me to be constantly seeking the attention and affection of a man. He did not want my time to be consumed with husband-hunting. The only thing I should be desperately seeking for on any given day is more of God. This is not just a word that He spoke to me. He wants us all to live in the natural order of His creation, which means that women should not ever be chasing after men. So, after many years of setting traps for men, I hung up my hunting gear. I would sit back and wait for “him,” whoever he is. I would not be calling someone unless I was returning a previous call. I would not be initiating any kind of contact for that matter. I would not seek out attention. I would be obedient and let him do all of the finding. About a year after this declaration, someone found me. I stuck to my guns. He approached me, he called me, and he planned our first date. Everything was going fantastically. Until the day after the first date, when he didn’t call after he said he would. So, I called because I thought maybe he had lost my number. When we officially started dating, I made most of the contact and most of the plans, despite my best efforts to wait on him. I had quickly slipped back into chase mode. And, it should come as no surprise that we broke up. In spite of the good times that we had, the relationship was draining because I was always pursuing and not allowing him the opportunity to pursue me. I was giving a lot of effort and not allowing him the chance to put forth effort. I had disrupted the natural order of relationships. As a result, I am single. In relationships prior to this one, the biblical implications of who should find whom had not really sunk in, but I went into this relationship knowing the right thing to do and still choosing my own way. That is always a recipe for disaster. This is not about being coy or playing hard to get. This is about being obedient to God. And, when you know better, you must do better because God will not bless disobedience. For the brief time that I was letting him find me, it was exhilarating, but exhilarating quickly turned into exhausting when I stopped listening to God. God wants us to be in healthy relationships and to be married if that is our desire. God wants our first allegiance to be to Him; however, He is loving and kind and He understands the innate need that many of us have to be with a companion. God created us in such a way that men enjoy pursuit and women enjoy being pursued. Although it may seem like men enjoy being hunted or women enjoy the role of huntress, the Bible clearly states that the man should do the finding. We must obey God’s Word to enjoy the single life and to have great relationships when it is our time. Prayer Thank You, God for giving me an understanding of Your Word. Please forgive me for not following Your will in my relationships. Lord, please help me to play the role that You intended for me to have while single, dating and once I am married. In Jesus’ Name, Amen *Scripture quotations are from the New International Version ©1984, unless otherwise indicated.
|
Pray While You're Prey Weekly DevotionsI pray that this 52-week devotional honors Him and blesses you. Enjoy! Archives
December 2014
Categories
All
© Toni L. Wortherly and PWYP Weekly Devotions, 2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Toni Wortherly and Ms. EV's Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Pray While You're Prey Weekly Devotions by Toni L. Wortherly is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. |