How's Your Prayer Life?

Lent is a season of fasting for many people. Traditionally, it is a time to fast (refrain from consuming) either one or more meals in a week, or certain foods during this period of time. However, fasting doesn’t have to be confined to food. Other options include fasting from Social Media, television, sleep (getting up an hour earlier to spend more time with the Lord), or something else. We encourage you to consider what “gets in the way” of your relationship with the Lord, and fast from that during this season, and then seek to strengthen your love for Him.

• Sunday, March 15th -- Fourth Sunday in Lent: Gracious God, Your eyes move all over the earth looking for those whose hearts are completely Yours. You want to encourage, support, and strengthen Your people day by day. You lift us up and draw us to Your side and remind us through Your Word that we belong completely to You through the blood of Jesus. As Your eyes are upon us, may our eyes be upon You, day by day, and hour by hour, through Christ our Lord, Amen.
• Monday, March 16th: Prayerfully read or listen to Genesis 15:1-5 and 16:1-6. This is a very human story, because Abraham and Sarah try to “help” God answer their prayers. Have you ever done this? Has the Lord seemed slow to answer your prayers, and a seemingly obvious or plausible way to answer your prayer is in front of you, so you followed it? Was that indeed the Lord’s way (perhaps it was), or did it lead to a mess? If so, what did you learn about yourself and the Lord in that situation?
• Tuesday, March 17th: Prayerfully read or listen to Genesis 16:6-12. The Lord came to Hagar in the wilderness after Sarah threw her out. What do you make of the Lord’s words to Hagar (*the phrase “angel of the LORD” is an Old Testament way of referring to Jesus before He came to earth in human form)? If you were Hagar, are these words you would want to hear from Him? What are the “positive” things He told her, and what would you say are the “less than positive” things He said? Does the fact that He spoke a mixture of encouraging and difficult things to Hagar increase your trust in the Word of God, decrease your trust, or make no difference to you? Why?
• Wednesday, March 18th: Prayerfully read or listen to Genesis 21:9-18. What do you learn about the Lord in this passage? What question does He ask Hagar in v. 17, and how is that similar to the questions He asks in 2 Kings 19:9, as well as in Mark 10:51? Did the Lord not know the answer to these questions? Why did He ask them? If the Lord was to ask you two questions about your life right now, what do you think they would be?
• Thursday, March 19th: Prayerfully read or listen to Genesis 21:17-21. How far away was the answer to Hagar’s immediate need? Do you think the Lord “caused it to appear” (a magic trick, so to speak), or do you think it was there all along, and she just didn’t notice it? Is that something that happens more often than we care to admit – that the answers to our prayers might be right in front of us, but we need the Lord to open our eyes to them? How has that happened in your life?
• Friday, March 20th: Prayerfully read or listen to Genesis 16:13 with Psalm 31:7, 33:18-19, 34:15; 2 Chronicles 16:9; Luke 12:6-7; Hebrews 4:13. What do these passages tell us about the Lord and His watchful care over His people, both collectively and individually? How have you experienced this aspect of the Lord’s character?
• Saturday, March 21st: Review each of these Scriptures, questions, and prayers that you have worked through this week. Which one, or which theme, resonated with you? Pray through these things again as the Spirit leads you!
• Sunday, March 22nd -- Fifth Sunday in Lent: Almighty God, we realize that we all face times in the Wilderness. Too often, we are surprised to find ourselves there, as if it was something wholly unintentional and never envisioned by You for us. And yet, just as You led Your Son into the Wilderness, to be tested and strengthened, it is exactly in those places that You often do Your best and deepest work in our lives. Forgive us for resisting Your leading. Help us to remember that You always have our best interests in mind, which is conforming us to the likeness of Christ our Lord, in Whose Name we pray, Amen.
• Monday, March 23rd: Prayerfully read or listen to Matthew 3:13-17. Imagine (as much as possible) this moment for Jesus. This could roughly be compared to Ordination, Inauguration, being “Sworn in for Duty” for a soldier, etc. Do you think Jesus had heard (audibly) His heavenly Father’s voice prior to this moment? Why or why not? How do you think He might have felt being baptized by John, hearing His Father’s affirming voice, seeing the dove, etc.? What sort of day was this for Him?
• Tuesday, March 24th: Prayerfully read or listen to Matthew 4:1—3 with Genesis 3:1-5. What similarities do you notice about the enemy’s tactics in both of these passages? Why does the enemy do this? How soon after Jesus heard His Father’s affirming words did the enemy come to Him? What does this tell you about the devil? How have you seen this same tactic in your own life? Has it been effective? 
• Wednesday, March 25th: Prayerfully read or listen to Matthew 4:4-7. In this section, both the devil and Jesus battle with the use of God’s Word. It is quite clear that our enemy is very familiar with Scripture (probably more so than a lot of Believers!). What is the difference between Jesus’ use of Scripture and the devil’s? What is critically important to know about this, both personally, and in our wider culture? How can you be sure that you are reading, studying, and using the Word of God appropriately (see 2 Tim. 3:16-17)?
• Thursday, March 26th: Prayerfully read or listen to Matt. 3:8-10. This might have been Jesus’ hardest temptation, and we see it played out elsewhere (see Matt. 16:21-23, Lk. 22:39-46). In this temptation, Jesus was being offered everything and do it the easy way. When have you been tempted to cut corners, do things the “easy way,” and think “Who cares? No one will notice. What difference will it make?” What happened?
• Friday, March 27th: Prayerfully read or listen to Matthew 4:11. Jesus made it through the Temptation in the Wilderness not because He was God, but because He relied on God His Father! He trusted His Father, relied on the Word of God, and knew His Father was good. He knew who the real enemy was and battled accordingly. How do these truths help you for either the Wilderness journey you are in, or for the next one you will face?
• Saturday, March 28th: Review each of these Scriptures, questions, and prayers that you have worked through this week. Which one, or which theme, resonated with you? Pray through these things again as the Spirit leads you!