Fight for It: A 21-Day DevotionalSample

Today’s Devotional:

Keep it simple. These are great words to live by when it comes to communication. Albert Einstein has been quoted as saying, “If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.” Today’s verses simply state that seemingly infinite power through prayer appears to be accessed through one prerequisite: faith. Is it true that faith equals an answered prayer? Can I “believe it and receive it” or “name it and claim it?” Well…who among us have ever prayed for something and not seen it come to pass? You prayed and prayed. You got others to pray with you. But prayer didn’t “work.” Was the problem a lack of faith?

John 14:14 adds, “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” Another very simple statement on prayer. Perhaps it’s all in the formula of how we pray! Is the incantation of invoking Jesus’ name the key to prayer? You may be tempted to pray about the Powerball jackpot and simply add, “…in the name of Jesus,” to seal the deal! Of course, that’s not how prayer works. (That’s probably a good thing!) As it turns out, Jesus’ simple teaching on prayer proves to be quite difficult in application.

Today’s verses point to prayer having something to do with faith and something to do with the power that comes in the name of Jesus. The final piece of the puzzle is WHAT we pray. The peculiar story of the withered fig tree in Matthew 21 points us to the content of prayer. This tree is not cursed because Jesus was hangry. It was an object lesson on the tree bearing the fruit in which it was created to produce. It had a job—a purpose to fulfill. The disciples, like the fig tree, are being given a specific purpose to carry out. Prayer is most effective when we are praying for the right things. Pete Greig, in The Prayer Course, teaches, “To pray in the name of Jesus means to pray in line with His character and His purpose.” What are we praying about, and why are we praying about it? If we, like the disciples, have faith that we can accomplish the tasks God has called us to do, then nothing is impossible in God’s power!

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Today’s devotional was written by Pastor Daniel Roach

Questions:

• Do your prayers require faith and/or action on your part?
• Are you praying for things that align with His character and purpose?

A Prayer to ‘Look Out’: God, help me to pray for the right things. Give me the faith I need to accomplish all that you have called me to do and may I do it all through your power.