DEVOTIONAL BY BILLY GRAHAM – HOPE FOR EACH DAY

A Sure Supply

My God shall supply all your needs. – PHILIPPIANS 4:19

One lesson that Jesus would teach us is to have confidence that God answers every true petition. Skeptics may question it, humanists may deny it, and intellectuals may ridicule it. Yet here is Christ’s own promise: “If you abide in me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7).

Does this verse mean God gives us a blank check (so to speak) when we pray? Does He promise to give us anything we want, if we just keep asking? No. God loves us too much to answer prayers that are foolish or might harm us. But the closer we get to Him—the more we abide in Him and His word abides in us—the more we will desire what He desires, and the more our prayers will reflect His will.

The Bible promises, “No good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless” (Ps. 84:11, NIV). Trust that promise with all your soul.

DEVOTIONAL BY CHARLES STANLEY – ON HOLY GROUND

Growing Your Faith

Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” – Matthew 17:20

How do you respond when presented with a challenge that calls for a surge of faith in God? Hesitantly? Tentatively? Fearfully? Optimistically?

The key to breaking the faith barrier and anchoring our trust in God is an exalted view of God Himself.

“But I thought to have more faith, I had to work at it more,” you say. You do, but your work is to see God for who He really is, not to struggle to obtain more faith or have a more positive mind-set.

When the disciples thirsted to have more faith, Jesus told them all that was necessary was faith the size of a mustard seed. “Use what you have,” Jesus was saying, “and your faith will grow in the process.”

We use what faith we have, as little as it may seem, by magnifying the heart’s view of God. When Moses was scared to go to Pharaoh, God exploded Moses’ worries with the revelation of Himself: “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Ex. 3:14 NASB).

We grow in faith by seeing God in a new light. Our faith is as big as our God. If your notion of God is grand, your faith will soar. If it is little, your faith will sag. How big is your God? See Him as He is, and the faith barrier will shatter before you.

DEVOTIONAL FROM POSTCARDS FROM HEAVEN – CLAIRE CLONINGER

Cry Out To Me

Dear child,

Cry out to me.  Ask me what you will.  Do not let others discourage you or dissuade you from seeking what you need from me.  Be specific.  Tell me exactly what you want me to do for you.  And ask in the name of Jesus, my Son.  Ask believing.  Don’t put your faith in faith, for faith in and of itself cannot help you.  Instead, pout your faith in me – in my willingness to heal and my power to change things.

Cry out boldly.  Ask specifically.  Use the name of Jesus.  Have faith in me.  And like the blind man of Jericho, you will receive what you need.

Mercifully, God

Mark 1:21-28

Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit

²¹ They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. ²² The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. ²³ Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, ²⁴ “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

²⁵ “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” ²⁶ The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

²⁷ The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.” ²⁸ News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

Psalm 111

¹ Praise the LORD.

I will extol the LORD with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.

² Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delight in them. ³ Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever. ⁴ He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and compassionate. ⁵ He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. ⁶ He has shown his people the power of his works, giving them the lands of other nations. ⁷ The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. ⁸ They are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness. ⁹ He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever— holy and awesome is his name.

¹⁰ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

DEVOTIONAL BY OSWALD CHAMBERS – MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST

Then What’s Next To Do?

Everyone who asks receives . . . —Luke 11:10

Ask if you have not received. There is nothing more difficult than asking. We will have yearnings and desires for certain things, and even suffer as a result of their going unfulfilled, but not until we are at the limit of desperation will we ask. It is the sense of not being spiritually real that causes us to ask. Have you ever asked out of the depths of your total insufficiency and poverty? “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God . . . ” (James 1:5), but be sure that you do lack wisdom before you ask. You cannot bring yourself to the point of spiritual reality anytime you choose. The best thing to do, once you realize you are not spiritually real, is to ask God for the Holy Spirit, basing your request on the promise of Jesus Christ (see Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit is the one who makes everything that Jesus did for you real in your life.

“Everyone who asks receives . . . .” This does not mean that you will not get if you do not ask, but it means that until you come to the point of asking, you will not receive from God (seeMatthew 5:45). To be able to receive means that you have to come into the relationship of a child of God, and then you comprehend and appreciate mentally, morally, and with spiritual understanding, that these things come from God.

“If any of you lacks wisdom . . . .” If you realize that you are lacking, it is because you have come in contact with spiritual reality— do not put the blinders of reason on again. The word ask actually means “beg.” Some people are poor enough to be interested in their poverty, and some of us are poor enough spiritually to show our interest. Yet we will never receive if we ask with a certain result in mind, because we are asking out of our lust, not out of our poverty. A pauper does not ask out of any reason other than the completely hopeless and painful condition of his poverty. He is not ashamed to beg— blessed are the paupers in spirit (see Matthew 5:3).