“[B]eing confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”
~ Philippians 1:6
Prayer Life Pause: Heavenly Father, my eternal hope and everlasting confidence lies solely in You and Your Beloved Son that You will finish the gracious work of salvation You have begun in me. Thank you for Your tender mercy. In Jesus’ name, amen.
“We are trying not so much to make God listen to us as to make ourselves listen to Him; we are trying not to persuade God to do what we want, but to find out what he wants us to do. It so often happens that in prayer we are really saying, “Thy will be changed,” when we ought to be saying, “Thy will be done.” The first object of prayer is not so much to speak to God as to listen to Him.”
~ William Barclay
Prayer Life Pause: Dear Lord, give me ears to hear and heed Thy will in my life. May my prayers be more about listening to You than they are about You hearing me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now”
~ Philippians 1:3-5
Prayer Life Pause: Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for the readers of this site. Bless and keep each one in Your sovereign loving care that their joy and fellowship with You might be complete. In Jesus’ name, amen.
“And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God!”
~ John 1:36
The Jews had long sought the coming Messiah. And a “lamb” in the Jewish culture had a deep, rich and symbolic meaning that symbolized the one who would come as their Deliverer. The promised Messiah would be likened to one who is “like a lamb that is led to slaughter” (Is. 53:6-7). When John the Baptist declares to the world “Behold the Lamb of God”, those there that day understood that John was saying here’s our Messiah, here’s our Deliverer, here’s the one who has been promised to save and deliver us, Jesus – the Messiah – the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!
Like the blood of the lamb that was used during Passover as a covering on the lintel and doorposts over the homes of the Hebrews in Egypt to protect them from God’s vengeance, so the blood of Christ, our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7), the Lamb of God, is the sinner’s covering from God’s just indignation against our sin. God sees us, not in ourselves, not in our own righteousness, nor according to our good deeds (as if there were any), but rather God looks at the faithful through the sacrificial blood of the Lamb, through Christ our Messiah.
~ apl
Prayer Life Pause: Dear Jesus, thank You for offering Yourself as my Passover. Though I deserve the punishment for my sins, by Your grace I am passed over and enjoy the blessings of knowing You as my Covering. In Jesus’ name, amen.
“I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore”.
~ Psalm 16:8-11
Prayer Life Pause: Heavenly Father, help me to always set You before me that might heart remains glad and I can rest in the hope of enjoying Your presence and pleasures forevermore. In Jesus; name, amen.
Prayer Life Pause: Dear Jesus, show me how to love a greater love by living sacrificially for others. In Jesus’ name, amen.
“For the gospel does not expressly demand works of our own by which we become righteous and are saved; indeed it condemns such works. Rather the gospel demands faith in Christ: that He has overcome for us sin, death, and hell, and thus gives us righteousness, life, and salvation not through our works, but through His own works, death, and suffering, in order that we may avail ourselves of His death and victory as though we has done it ourselves.”
~ Martin Luther
Prayer Life Pause: Heavenly Father, thank you for accepting this sinner on behalf of Your Son. It is by His righteousness alone any lost soul has hope, redemption and forgiveness. Pour out His victory upon us all! In Jesus’ name, amen.
“How many loaves do you have?”
~ Mark 8:5
The Lord Jesus put this question to his disciples on the occasion of feeding the four thousand. Now, Jesus didn’t have to ask the question, and He didn’t actually need any of their loaves of bread in order to miraculously feed the multitude. Yet, in this question, Jesus shows us a valuable lesson: If we are willing to yield all we have to Him, He can do greater things than us with them. The disciples, having seven loaves, gave them all over to Jesus to bless and share in abundance. And out of that giving to Christ, many others were blessed. May we loosely hold on to our possessions in this world . So that if you are asked of God how many or how much you have, you will yield all to Him that He may be glorified through you.
~ apl
Prayer Life Pause: Lord Jesus, take what I have and make it Thine so that everything I am and everything I have can be put to a more glorious and eternal use. In Jesus’ name, amen.
A Prayer Life 