The Devotional to End All DevotionalsSample

When people study a passage of Scripture without taking into consideration the rest of God’s word, they fool themselves and others into believing things that are false. The Bible always builds on and reinforces itself. It is a unified whole that must be studied that way.

Read the first of today’s passages. At first, it seems to promise that God will do anything we ask. Now, using your journal, look back at the other verses you’ve studied this week. Is the surface interpretation of the passage you just read consistent with what you already know to be true? 

Use the God Follower method to study the first of today’s passages. 

1. What does this passage tell me about God? 
2. What does this passage tell me about being a follower of God?

The phrase “in my name” is more than a good luck charm or catchy phrase Christians tag onto the end of their prayers to make sure God does what they want. “In my name” means “as my representative.” When you pray something “in Jesus’ name,” you’re just saying, “To the best of my knowledge, I believe that what I just prayed is consistent with God’s will.” 

Because we’re not always right, God doesn’t always answer prayers, even those we pray “in Jesus’ name,” with a “yes.” Sometimes, He says “no” and sometimes He says “wait,” but He always answers those who belong to Him. 

When you’re praying about something personal, it can be hard to put aside personal preference for God’s will when the two don’t match up, but you have to if you want to participate in God’s plan. You have to pray with pure motives: the desire to see the Gospel (or good news) of Jesus spread, the desire to understand God more fully, and the desire to see God recognized and praised for His divine perfection. Pure motives such as these tend to change the way we pray and increase our chances of getting a “yes” from God. 

Use the God Follower method to study the rest of today’s passages. 

Thank God for the privilege of participating in His plan through prayer.