Daily Devotion April 13

April 13: 1 John 5:14-17

KJV Key Verse: 1 John 5:14
14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

Devotion:
Just who do you pray for in your time of prayer? Do you pray just for the people you know and love? Do you just pray for yourself? Do you offer up and all-encompassing ‘to whom it may concern’ in the hopes of catching everyone? We can learn a lot from the letters written by the apostles because they learned about prayer through example – the example Jesus showed them during His ministry on earth.

Our prayers should be specific in that we should know what we are asking for and about whom we should be praying for; just asking God to bless everybody is like trying to water a field of crops with a watering can. We will be making a difference but it is going to take a long time for us to identify whether the prayer is being answered. If we are persistent and direct in our prayers we will be able to see much better how God honours our prayers and answers them. That in turn will allow us to be encouraged more and to glorify God more.

Is it then a lost hope to pray for some people? If we know what they are up to we can pray that they will be turned away from what they are doing. What if we know they are up to evil deeds and know they are not sorry for what they are doing? Should we expect God to forgive them? Jesus prayed that the people would turn away from their deeds, that they would understand what they are doing wrong, that they would understand who God is. Targeting our prayer is important!

I thank God that there was someone who was willing to pray for me to gain understanding and to accept Christ into my own life. I thank Him because I know it was happening and I know God answered those prayers. So let us start to make our own prayer life a bit more meaningful by praying for individuals and for certain events and circumstances. God is still the God of miracles. Trust and ask.

Points to Ponder:
Will you pray for someone now?

Will you trust God to answer that prayer now?