Friday 9 Mar 2012

Friday Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:6-10

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 12:9
9  And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may overshadow me.

Devotion:
Just when we start to think that we can handle all manner of things we will normally find out that we can’t, and it may not be the easy way that we find out either! Does this mean that God is not with us? Certainly not! On the contrary, God is probably the one that is allowing us to trip over our own feet so that we can be reminded that we need Him at all times! This does not mean that God is the one throwing temptation our way – we can do that all on our own quite easily! God is the one who sees inside our hearts and knows what we need to be reminded of His power and His might.

There is not a lot that will damage our walk with God than a bit of spiritual pride! God does not want us go down that path so allows certain things through our lives to remind us that we depend on Him. God will continue to do all things for His glory and for our good. When we lift up our prayers to God, He is faithful and just to listen to those prayers and to answer them for our good and His glory. But one thing we are reminded of here is that it may not be for our good or His glory for those prayers to be answered immediately!

God does listen to those prayers, but the answers will be done to His timing and not to ours. If we had them answered immediately would we not become spiritually proud and start telling others all about our power with God or our closeness with Him? God can see right through our ways and He certainly does not want us to be proud in what we can accomplish.

When we lift up our prayers to God it must not be in a selfish manner either because that will not bring Him the glory. We should not just be lifting up our prayers during our weakest points; though His strength will be shown at its greatest during those weak times. Our prayers should not be lifted up so that we will feel better but rather to ensure that God does get the glory. Our prayers are not a sign of weakness but rather a confirmation of the strength we gain through Him answering them. When we find ourselves facing hard times we can rejoice that He will make us strong because we are able to lift up our prayers.

Points to Ponder:
How often do you pray?

How often do you praise God?