Day 5

Scripture to Read: Luke 18:1-8

Too often when we pray, we look for a feeling of some kind to validate ourselves, our experience of God, or both. But we must understand that our feelings cannot be trusted and that our feelings often lie to us. If we don’t feel close to God, then we often choose not to fellowship with God. If we don’t feel worthy of talking to God, we will fill our time with something to help us overcome our unworthiness. We don’t know how the persistent widow felt in Luke 18:1-8, but we know that she made her request clear to the judge. God wants us to know that, in ourselves, we are NOT worthy to enter His presence. But He also wants us to know that because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, His blood cleanses us completely, and Christ makes us worthy to enter into God the Father’s presence. God wants us to experience the fullness of who we are in Him. We must see ourselves through His eyes and not our own. God describes us throughout His Word as being His children, His chosen race, His royal priesthood, His holy nation, His people, His possession, His body, His bride, etc…. (Matthew 5:9, John 1:12, Romans 8:16, Romans 8:19, Romans 9:8, Romans 9:26, 2 Corinthians 6:18, Galatians 3:26, Galatians 4:4-7 1 John 3:1-2, Revelation 21:7). If we would simply believe what God says about us, then we would experience Him fully in sweet fellowship through prayer every day of our lives.

Challenge & Application

1. What did God teach you today about experiencing Him more fully? 2. From what you have learned, what must you do to experience God more fully each day?

Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!

Devotionals from this week

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Day 1

As God led Luke to write His Word, God made sure to let us know, here in Luke 18:1, that the parable of the persistent widow was a parable all about prayer and not losing heart. So, our focus this week is going to be on prayer and not losing heart. As you consider your prayer life, think about how you would describe your prayer life to someon...

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Day 2

Prayer definitely includes us asking God for specific requests. Even from the parable that Jesus shared in Luke 18:1-8, we find that the widow had a request and that she was persistent in asking for that request to be answered. Note that what the persistent widow was asking for was “legal protection from her opponent,” in Luke 18:3. There are...

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Day 3

Another important part of prayer is thanking God daily for all He has done, is doing, and is going to continue to do. Giving thanks to our Heavenly Father can become so mundane if we’re not careful. For instance, do we thank God for His provision before we eat or do we find ourselves only going through the motions because we pray the same thi...

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Day 4

Praising God is also absolutely necessary for us to live spiritually healthy lives. So, what is the difference between thanking God and praising God? The simplest way to look at the difference is that we thank God for all he has done, is doing, and is going to do. We praise God for who He is, has always been, and will always be. Praising God ...

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Day 5

Too often when we pray, we look for a feeling of some kind to validate ourselves, our experience of God, or both. But we must understand that our feelings cannot be trusted and that our feelings often lie to us. If we don’t feel close to God, then we often choose not to fellowship with God. If we don’t feel worthy of talking to God, we will f...

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Day 6

Prayer includes practicing God’s incredible presence in our lives, continually, because He lives in us through His Holy Spirit. When we consider how to practice God’s presence, it’s like enjoying our favorite meal, sport, video game, music, movie, social media venue, T.V. show, etc…. When we are enjoying any of these things, there’s nothing e...

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Day 7

God loves us so much and too often, we forget this awesome truth. When we grasp the depth of God’s love for us, it is His love that motivates us to live for Him and to talk with Him every single day. But, when we doubt His love for us, that is when our spiritual lives become stagnant, boring, mechanical, and even lifeless. When we doubt God’s...

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