If you had a chance to choose a word, song, and bible verse for the year, I hope you are off to a great start of finding strength within your song and bible verse!
Where I live, we’ve had about 24 inches of snow in a 72-hour period (I don’t know the official total, but I believe it’s close to that). Although I started the year off strong with my desire to stay in the moment, I’m not going to lie, I don’t necessarily love all this snow. Like with anything, I’m finding gratitude in the situation and have been grateful for the bonus snow days spent at home with my kids.
A bible verse on my heart today was: “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him” (Psalm 28:7 NIV). It’s important that we look to God for our strength in everything, because without him, we are weak. This includes looking to God for strength on the days our surroundings are less than ideal as well as the days filled with joy.
I was reminded of my physical weakness this week and it made me think about how, when we don’t put God at the center of everything, we are lacking spiritual strength.
The other day, after 12 inches of snow accumulated, it was announced another snowstorm was on the way with several more inches of snow and the potential for 50 mph winds. I realized I should probably move the outdoor furniture from my back deck into my garage for the winter. I somehow managed to move all the furniture, which includes a 2-person and a 3-person sofa along with chairs and a few storage benches, from my back deck into my garage, by myself. I am still unsure how I did it, but with Philippians 4:13 (NIV) “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” on my mind, I got it done.
You might be wondering; how does this story relate to God? Well, it has now been a few days since I moved the furniture, and I still cannot lift my arms much. When we don’t regularly use our physical muscles, they become weak and when we do finally decide to use them, it takes time to strengthen them again. The same goes for our spiritual muscles. When we don’t regularly talk to God or involve him in everything we do, it becomes more difficult to get back into the habit of exercising our spiritual muscles.
So, what are some ways we can work on strengthening our spiritual muscles? Matthew 6:33 (NIV) reminds us “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”. With that verse in mind, we can start each day with God. We can seek him first. We can praise him for our blessings and ask him for protection and guidance for the day. We can talk to him throughout the day, just like we do with the people in our lives.
I’ve heard an acronym for P.R.A.Y.
- Praise
- Repent
- Ask
- Yield
I have read this acronym a few times within my devotionals on the You Version Bible App, but am unsure of the original source, so I cannot credit it. When we pray, we should first Praise God for our blessings. There are so many things to be thankful for every day. After praising God, we can then Repent our sins. Just like having things to be thankful for each day, we also have sins to repent each day.
Once we have done those two things, we can Ask God to answer our prayers. We can tell him about the things weighing heavily on our hearts and then boldly ask him to answer those prayers, because “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” John 14:14 (NIV). Remember, our prayers should be focused on others as well, and not just prayers for ourselves. Finally, we are to Yield and wait for his answer (and stay firm in our faith when we have to wait awhile for an answer, and even more so when the answer is “no” because God has something better).
Starting our day with God and keeping him at the forefront of all we do each day are great ways to keep our spiritual muscles strong. Matthew 7:7 (NIV) says to “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened”. Although God will not always answer our prayers in the way we hope, we can be confident he has gone before us and knows what is best for us. By maintaining regular communication with him, we can keep those spiritual muscles strong!
To close in prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that as we begin each day we remember to reach out to you with praise, repentance, and to ask for guidance in all we do. I pray we strive to keep our spiritual muscles strong and keep our eyes fixed on you in all that we do. I pray for those reading this that you hear their prayers and show up in unexpected ways in their life. In Jesus name, Amen.
Scriptures marked (NIV) taken from the Holy Bible, New International
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