The Everyday Prayer

Re: Verse reading—1 Samuel 9 & 10 (day seven)

1 Samuel 10:19 is ominous: But you have today rejected your God, who delivers you from all your calamities and your distresses; yet you have said, ‘No, but set a king over us!’ Now therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.”

Israel’s rejection of God allowed a move toward their own plans.  They desired a human king in God’s stead.  God delivered them from Egypt, but now they wanted distance between themselves and their creator.  On the surface it seems outlandish, but our tendency is to assume that we can handle life on our own when things are smooth.

A calm day gives us an illusion of personal strength we believe deep into the coming chaos.  Our only way out of self-inflicted free fall is Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the true king.   Jesus is God’s chosen one to give us the leadership we need to thrive in this life. Unlike Israel, Christians reject their own plans, and submit fully to the King of the Kingdom of God.

Re: Verse reading—1 Samuel 9 & 10 (day five)

10:26 “Saul also went to his house at Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him.”

Don’t overlook the miracle. God touched their human hearts. God touches human hearts. Remember the testimony of the disciples on the Emmaus road? “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us?” It was not a holy persuasion. It was the Living Savior touching their hearts. He was that close.

Through His Holy Spirit, the Lord desires to touch us in that most personal, intimate and secret place- the core of our being, the location where values, priorities, and passions are formed- past all the layers to the center of our soul. He promises to be that close. We don’t need a just word or a glimpse. We need a touch! What if He did touch your heart? What would be the result? Will you pray, “God touch human hearts, beginning with mine”.

Re:Verse reading–1 Samuel 9 & 10 (day four)

10:26 – “Saul also went to his house at Gibeah, and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him.”

Saul had been called by God to serve…but he was not alone.  God touched the hearts of some valiant men.  They followed Saul to serve him and to serve God.  There was work to be done in Israel and God began to gather those who would work alongside Saul.  It is the same today.  God often calls a leader to a task, but He likewise calls those with open hearts to serve beside that leader.

This model is most often seen when God calls a new pastor to a church.  Valiant men and women…whose hearts God has touched…join the church and help shoulder the task of reaching a city and the world.  They may already be members of the church, but they renew their commitment to reach people and serve.  Sound familiar to anyone?  Are you ready to get to work?

Re: Verse reading—1 Samuel 9 & 10 (day three)

Is not my clan the least of all the clans?

Self-abasement is not the same thing as humility.  The former stems from a deep-seated despair that one’s inner defectiveness relegates him to a status of low regard in the eyes of others.  The latter comes from a wisdom that knows that one’s inner beauty will arouse impulses in him to use that beauty as a manipulative tool or an excuse for self-seeking, and that those impulses will be checked only by a regard for the welfare of others.  Self-abasement masquerades as humility for a while.  But humility will always welcome others.  Self-abasement will eventually blame others for one’s own despair.  The more power a person has, the deadlier the blame becomes.  Witness the life of the son of Kish.  There is no substitute for humility.

 

Re:Verse reading–1 Samuel 9 & 10 (day two) As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. 10:9

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. John 15:16

Make no mistake when the Lord calls you, he changes you. There is never an indication that we get our hearts right, or that we initiate the act of redemption. When God calls, he equips. We are wise to recognize this so that we can return the glory due him as we see his will accomplished in our lives and in the lives of others. He can take you from wherever you may be and transform you into royalty.

 

Re:Verse reading–1 Samuel 9 & 10 (day one) 

“Samuel answered. . . ‘And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel?  Is it not for you and for your father’s household?’ Saul replied, ‘Am I not. . .of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families in the tribe? Why do you speak to me this way?’ “– 9:20-21

It sounded like nonsense!  Samuel saw Saul as a leader for God’s people, a recipient of all resources and authority.  Saul saw himself as a member of an insignificant family and tribe.  Samuel saw big.  Saul saw small.

When I surrender to Christ, I give up the “me” I have known and receive by faith a new (true) identity.  Past sins no longer identify me.  (Forgiven).  Former weakness is not who I am anymore (Empowered)  I was Cephas.  Now I am Peter.

If I am a new person in Christ, I must see myself through God’s eyes.

Re:Verse reading–1 Samuel 7 (day seven)

I count 5 spiritual disciplines utilized in our text this week that we rarely attempt:

v.2 the lament prayer –  We sometimes find it impolite to come before God emotionally, when the freedom of uninhibited prayer is exactly what we need.  There are numerous examples of lament psalms that are great guides for difficult prayer (e.g. Psalm 6 & Psalm 55)

v.3 Repent + _______  – we hear the call to repentance in Scripture.  The next step is to rid your life of that which you are repentant of.  You may need to physically destroy an item that is causing you to sin further or reminding you of your former ways.

v.5 & 9 intercessory prayer – when you are praying for yourself do not forget to pray for others.

v.6 fasting – this is a perfect uncomfortable reminder that we need God more than we need food.  Why not skip lunch occasionally, to pray, and let your hunger pangs point you to heaven?

v.12 commemorate – In the text Samuel marks God’s faithfulness with a stone. It is good to find a small item that will remind you of what God has done in a specific instance.  Some people like to pick out a small stone from an important spot and keep it in their pocket, others like to write a specific verse on a small sheet of paper and keep it on their dashboard, there is no limit to what you can find to remind you of what God has done.

I hope you can find the time this week to try one of these 1 Samuel 7 spiritual disciplines out in your personal walk with God.  I know they will increase your faith.  Be adventurous in your faith and try these kinds of new things.  These new things have worked for thousands of years.

Re:Verse reading–1 Samuel 7 (day five)  vs. 12 Then Samuel took a stone…and named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”  True repentance helps us see and understand God more accurately in the three tenses.  It’s in the name of the stone- Ebenezer “Thus far the Lord has helped us”.  Only after they repented, the Israelites recognized: 1- God was helping in the past (thru sorrow, defeat, depression) 2- God is helping in the present (joy, deliverance, nearness) 3- God will help in the future (His nature, character, promises are un-changing).  There was gratitude for the past.  There was joy in the present.  There was hope for the future.

Romans 2:4- The kindness of God leads you to repentance.  2 Peter 3:9- not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. Psalm 46:1- God is a very present help.

Anyone want/need that kind of perspective and hope?  Repent and believe!!