Rick Henderson – The Everyday Prayer

Plant the Seed

Re:Verse passage – Mark 4:26-32 (day seven)

he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. vs 27

We often try to do too much, take too much credit, and take on way too much work. We think that we have to do big things for God to get His purpose accomplished. Yet, scripture is very clear, if we plant the seed, God will take care of the growth. That is not an excuse for us to be lazy, “Well God’s purpose will be accomplished anyway.” Rather, it is a calling for us to take our job seriously: Plant the seed!

I tell our youth workers that you might not get to see the growth in our students or reap the harvest, but it is your job to plant the seed now. Sometimes the growth will come in a few months, often its a few years, but God will take care of the growth. Whether it is planting a seed in someone else or taking a step in obedience, the Lord is calling us all to be planters today. Be faithful to plant the seed and trust God to take care of the growth.

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. – Isaiah 55:11

Squeezed

Re:Verse passage – Mark 4:21-25, 33-34 (day seven)

Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. vs 24

You have probably used the phrase “Garbage in. Garbage out.” What you put in is what will come out. You may not even realize it, but the true self is revealed when it is under pressure. A west Texas evangelist named John Randles used to say, “When you get squeezed, what’s really inside of you will come out. Who are you when you get squeezed?”

We will all be squeezed. How you prepare now will determine what is going to come out. It’s not just with the type of media or music we consume, it includes the depth of the doctrine we take in as well as the intention of the listener. Charles Spurgeon said, “The hearer of the gospel will get measure for measure, and the measure shall be his own measure.” If you put in the attention and intention to grow in your walk, what you get in return will be the gift of the Spirit, and He will be what comes out whenever you are squeezed.

Frozen Palms

Re:Verse passage – Mark 4:1-20 (day seven)

and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary. v 17

This week we had our first freeze in San Antonio. Did you do anything to your plants? I pulled in our potted plants and covered some of my small tropical plants outside. It reminded me of the Snowmageddon of 2021. Can you remember all the plants that were destroyed by that freeze? The most fascinating to me were the palms. These trees can withstand hurricanes, but they were not made to endure a week of sub freezing temperatures. They all began to lose their palms. Every palm tree in the region was bare, but what happened? Some started to grow back. Within a few months on top of these 20 ft trees were some itty bitty palm leaves. Now, they are full again and you would never know they had endured trauma!

How do you respond to spiritual trauma? We all have it. Some show it differently than others, but it is still there. The answer to this question is found in the result. Are you able to continue to produce fruit when the world has taken everything from you? It may look like you have been defeated, but if the roots are deep, the fruit will still come!

Righteousness

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 72:1-14 (day seven)

May he judge Your people with righteousness. v. 2

Righteousness is a cornerstone characteristic of the personhood of God. Repeated four times in seven verses in Psalm 72, it is also a cornerstone characteristic of a good king. The king is to rule as God would, with mercy, love, and justice. Then the psalmist points out that The Good King will rule as God Himself. In doing so, His righteousness will become attainable to us so we can rule with Him.

Matthew 5 tells us that “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Even though His righteousness is attainable, it is not guaranteed. Righteousness must be sought. When we seek and pursue righteousness, we will find that God has equipped and prepared us to have dominion here as we live and serve Him with mercy, love, and justice.

You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

New Year New Song

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 96 (day seven)

Sing to the Lord a new song. vs 1

As 2024 draws to a close this week, it gives us a chance to reflect on the year that has passed. There have likely been moments of surreal joy, but there have likely been moments of pain and sorrow. Each year it seems to be the same old routine of enduring this roller coaster of emotions. It becomes natural to feel stuck, but a new year brings hope. We begin to set our mind on goals we want to achieve and things we want to do. We believe that the next year will be even better than the last.

This is true in our spiritual life as well. It can become too natural to feel stuck in your walk with the Lord. Though we are promised that God is constant and will always be the same, we have an equal promise that His mercies are new everyday (Lamentations 3:23). The manifestation of His grace is fresh in our lives through the work of the Holy Spirit. The truth is the same, but the revelation is new. When we realize this, our heart cannot help but sing.

Whether you feel stuck in a rut or are in a season of growth, God has something new for you each day. How will you look for the movement of His Spirit in 2025?

Anxiousness

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 89 (day seven)

Christmas through the eyes of a child is a beautiful thing to behold. As I have navigated this season with two toddlers, I have been able to capture much of the magic that beholds this season. In that, I have recognized that all of the glamour and sparkle that elicits a feeling of magicality inside of us is lined with Biblical representation that points us to the Christ.

Yet, I have also felt the stress and anxiousness that comes with keeping up this facade of grandeur. It has caused me to pause and realize that not everyone sees this season through a lens of magic. Some days just aren’t magical. This is why I appreciate the psalmist here so much.

He essentially spent 37 verses talking about how great the unfailing the love of God is. Then he turns around in verse 38 and begins to ask the question “If God is so loving, then why has He turned His back on the psalmist?”

I think we can all resonate with that. We have had those days, we have had those moments. Some days just aren’t magical, but we all come to realize that the love of God is not confined to the feelings of a day or a season. Often, God is working in those stressful and anxious times to show us something bigger is at work around us. It is not our job to question, rather, we are to trust that He is loving and good which will lead us to say:

Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.

Merry Christmas!

Holy Right Arm

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 98 (day seven)

His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
The Lord has made known His salvation. vs 1b-2a

In high school, this verse became one of my favorites. My mother would write me a prayer before every game, and she would often use Psalm 98 to pray over me. What a fitting verse for a Quarterback!!! God gained victory with His Holy Right Arm (For my non-sport-ball fans out there, I was the one who threw the football with my right arm).

What this is saying though is that God has done the work to claim victory. He has rolled up His sleeves and personally put in the work to guide His people to salvation. The joy in this for us is that God chooses me and you to be His vessels for this message to be proclaimed. Have you ever gotten to be a part of that process? The joy in seeing someone go from death to life right in front of your eyes is unexplainable. There is nothing you can claim except Christ working through you.

If you have not been a part of that process, God is calling you to join Him in this work. Who is in your life right now that God is calling you to witness to? In this season of Advent we are asking you to Go and Tell it on the Mountain. Let’s all feel the joy of seeing God’s Holy Arm at work through us this week.

Not Today Satan

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 85:1-3, 8-13 (day seven)

You forgave the iniquity of Your people;
You covered all their sin. vs 2-3

What must occur to have peace amongst others? All parties involved must mutually agree that fighting is not beneficial to their cause. However, peace doesn’t mean that there won’t be tension.

In advent, we recognize that the coming of Jesus brings peace to the world, but until His second coming, we are left in tension. An enemy prowls on our doorstep waiting to devour us, waiting for us to give him an inch of room so he can get his foot in the door to disrupt the peace that has been guaranteed to us. Yet, this enemy has already been defeated; his fight is futile. The fight for your eternity was won on Easter, and Advent is the opportunity for us to tell the enemy, “Not today Satan. We get peace.” And the enemy has to obey because the One who defeated him lives in us.

Restoration and Revival

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 (day seven)

O God, restore us

O God of hosts, restore us

O Lord God of hosts, restore us

Restore us. Is this not our prayer? The beauty of the intensifying refrain echoes in our heart. As our prayer deepens, so does our cry for restoration. Our heart craves and longs for the restoration with our creator, and the more we pray for it, the more we realize we need it. When that desire for restoration meets the goodness of God’s face shining upon us, that is where we will find revival.

The hope of revival isn’t in the restoration of our fortunes, nor is it in a restoration of the days of old. The hope of revival is that the Lord will shine His face upon us, restoring us with a fresh new perspective and fresh vision. It all begins with personal restoration. So on this first week of Advent we pray: restore me, restore my heart, restore my hope.

Prayer Upon Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 6:17-20 (day seven)

With all prayer and petition pray at all times.

In English, it feels a little clunky, but Paul tells us to pray in three different ways. It almost reads like “Prayer with prayer upon prayer.” The message is loud and clear: we need to prioritize prayer!

This is a very Pauline way to tell us that there is no wrong way to pray and that we should actually pray in lots of ways. We should pray in small groups, individually, corporately, with our family, on the go, in the work place etc. We should always be looking for new ways to pray. In doing so, we will find the Armor of God much easier to put on, and in turn, we will be able to fend off the attacks of the enemy more effectively.

So today, find ways to pray. Pray as you always do, but use your Bible study and church community to explore new ways to go before the Lord. If each of us will put prayer with prayer upon prayer, our strength will rise together.