Thursday Evening
June 1
🌴 Root, ✂️ Prune, 🍇 Fruit
Am I expectant with my prayers—believing and trusting that God will answer them? Why or why not?
1 John 5:14-15: And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.”
That is amazing! The God of the universe hears us! He wants to know what we need. He cares about what we care about. So, when God says He will give us the things we ask for, He actually wants to know what we want. And He delights to hear our prayers:
Proverbs 15:8 (NKJV): The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
But the prayer of the upright is His delight.
God wants to hear your prayers. And God enjoys hearing your prayers. What does it mean to you when you hear that your prayers bring God joy?
Praying Scripture
Your prayers are offered to God like incense.
Revelation 8:3-4:And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.
Incense is described as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
Leviticus 6:15:And one shall take from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering and its oil and all the frankincense that is on the grain offering and burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
What difference does it make to think of your prayers as an offering that is pleasing to God?
Psalms
Psalm 15 (Listen)
Who Shall Dwell on Your Holy Hill?
A Psalm of David.
15:1 O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent?
Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
and speaks truth in his heart;
3 who does not slander with his tongue
and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
but who honors those who fear the LORD;
who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 who does not put out his money at interest
and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.
(ESV)