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DAY 9
Don't Forget The Lord'
'When you have eaten and are satisfied... Do not forget the Lord’ Deuteronomy 8:10-11'

CAN YOU IMAGINE how Ruth felt coming out of famine and suddenly having grain dropped right in front of her? She didn’t deserve it, earn it or even understand it. When you’re not used to being blessed, it’s heady stuff! That’s why God says, ‘remember the Lord your God; for it is He who gives you power to [succeed]’ (Deuteronomy 8:18 Amp). He’s the One who enables you to do what others find difficult or impossible. They’re taking classes to do what you do naturally. Why? Because God’s blessed you with ability! And they may actually resent you for it. That’s because they don’t understand where you came from to get to where you are. They don’t know that when you were discouraged and hopeless, God told you to look ahead because ‘the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory which will be revealed in us’ (Romans 8:18 NIV). God had something in mind for you, greater than anything you could imagine, and He’s fulfilling it, isn’t He? But be careful! This is where many of us make a mistake. We praise God in the hard times but as soon as we get on our feet, we become selfsufficient and snooty. Listen again to what God told His people ‘When you have eaten and are satisfied... Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God’ (Deuteronomy 8:10-11 NIV). Remember today that God’s the source of everything you’ve got or ever will have.

Prayer Point

Father, forgive me for thinking I control the destiny of my life, that I can do it all, that I can provide for myself and family. Lord, I recognise today that You are the creator and sustainer of my life; my source is You, not wealth or power, but You. Help me always remember what You did on the cross, that I might always know my life exists within the sacrifice You made for me. Thank You Lord. Amen!


Happy Easter To You All

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DAY 10
Need a nail?
‘May I never boast except in the cross’
Galatians 6:14 NIV'


THE YOUTH PASTOR was concerned that the beaches of Florida, the site of their upcoming evangelism trip, would distract his kids from their purpose, so he made a big wooden cross. Just before they climbed on to the bus he said to them, ‘Our reason for going is to lift up Christ, so we’re going to take this cross with us everywhere we go.’ Feeling awkward and insecure, the kids dragged the big cross on to the bus. It banged against the seats all the way there. It went with them into restaurants. It stayed with them overnight. It stood in the sand as they shared their faith with thousands of other kids who’d come for spring break. At first, it embarrassed them. Then gradually it became a point of identification; a constant reminder of who they belonged to and why they’d come. The night before they went home, the youth pastor handed each kid two nails and said, ‘If you’re willing to commit your entire life to Christ, I want you to hammer one nail into the cross, and keep the other one with you as a reminder of this commitment.’ Fifteen years later a successful stockbroker called the youth leader and said, ‘I still have that nail. Whenever the pressure is on, or I’m tempted to go astray, I just reach into my pocket and feel it, and immediately I’m reminded that the core of my life is – commitment to Christ.’ Do you think that maybe you need a nail too.

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DAY 11
How are your manners
'Be courteous.’ 1 Peter 3:8 NKJ'
COMMON COURTESY is becoming less common every day. And that’s too bad, because God says, ‘be courteous... that you might inherit a blessing’ (1 Peter 3:8-9 NKJ). We wonder about pleasing God. Preachers have made it complicated; a series of long, drawn-out, deeply painful acts designed to appease a peeved deity who takes delight in making us squirm. But Micah simplifies it, ‘What does the Lord require of you... to love kindness’ (Micah 6:8 NAS). Could language be clearer? Here are ten ‘not-so-common’ courtesies you might want to work on: 1) Go out of your way to speak to people: ‘Pleasant words are... healing’ (Proverbs 16:24 NIV 1984). 2) Try to remember their names; it shows that you value them. 3) Smile; it increases your face value. 4) Be friendly and helpful. If you do, people will reciprocate (Proverbs 18:24). Prayer Point 5) Show genuine interest. You can like almost anybody if you try. 6) Be generous with your praise and cautious with your criticism. 7) Be slow to judge. There are three sides to every story: your side, their side and the right side. 8) Seek to be of service; ‘serve one another in love’ (Galatians 5:13 NLT). 9) Learn to trust people; it builds lasting relationships. 10) Finally, add a sense of humour, a good dose of patience and a dash of humility. Courtesy a) says a lot about the parents who raised you and the family you belong to. Jesus said, ‘Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.’ (Matthew 5:16 NIV) b) determines the level of your blessing!


Prayer Point ;
Sometimes, Lord, everything in me wants to scream at people, which I know is not from You. Help me, Lord, to become the opposite to my sinful nature, to build up, encourage, speak well of, and show interest. Let me be the person You made me to be and when I have choices to make in life that sometimes force a reaction, help me to make the right choice with the right attitude for Your glory. Amen.

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DAY 12
Getting it right

I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God’ Acts 20:27 NKJ
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, 150 years ago some of our best preachers, including founders of great denominations, used the Bible to defend slavery. There’s a lesson there for us. The danger lies in deciding what we want, then using the Bible to justify it, instead of reading the whole counsel of God on a matter and bringing our thinking and lifestyle into agreement with it. David prayed, ‘O Lord... Make Your way straight before me,’ because he didn’t dare trust his own way (See Psalm 5:8 NIV). God’s voice isn’t all that difficult to hear. In fact, to miss it, you almost have to be closing your eyes and stopping your ears. He shouts through our pain, whispers to us while we’re relaxing on holiday, occasionally speaks to us in a song and warns us through the 66 books of His written Word. Count on it; God’s Word will never lead you astray. Never! In addition to His own unfailing wisdom, God gives us wise counsellors, friends, acquaintances, parents, teachers and mentors who’ve earned our love and respect through long years. If you’re wise, you’ll filter what you believe to be the will of God through their thoughts and perspectives. Does your conviction about the direction you’re heading in deepen daily? Or are you seeing lots of red flags and caution signs? Before you undertake a major lifechange, be sure it’s God’s voice you’re hearing and God’s Word you’re following. In other words, make sure you get it right

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DAY 13
Learn to be more flexible

I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some’ 1 Corinthians 9:22 NIV

YOUR PRINCIPLES should be set in concrete but not your methods. Never stop asking, ‘Is there a better way?’ Knowledge in most fields is doubling every five years, so any programme that old should be brought in for an examination, an overhaul and possibly the last rites! As great as Henry Ford was, he had poor people-skills. He believed the Model T ended the need for any other car. When people started saying to him, ‘We’d like a different colour,’ he answered, ‘You can have any colour you want – as long as it’s black!’ And that’s when his business began to decline. If what you’re doing isn’t working, you can: 1) Look for somebody or something to blame. 2) Rationalise, so that you can live with it more easily. 3) Find comfort in the fact that others are in the same boat. 4) Be willing to change. In the film Five Easy Pieces, Jack Nicholson goes into a restaurant and asks for a side order of toast. When he’s told it’s not on the menu, he comes up with a creative solution. He orders chicken salad on toast, then instructs the waitress, ‘No mayonnaise, just butter and hold the chicken salad.’ If you’re too rigid, you’ll break (or go broke). Paul’s great success can be summed up in one verse: ‘I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some’ (1 Corinthians 9:22 NIV). Learn to be more flexible.

Prayer Point :

Father, when I can’t get my own way, remind me who You are. There are many things in life that irritate me, Lord, and I never try and make them better. Help me to serve solutions to things that drive me and everyone around me crazy. Help ‘the church of me’ come back to the original principles on which it was founded, so that I can make the world a better place, one conversation or act of kindness at a time

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DAY 14
I will build My church’
Matthew 16:18 NIV
The church’s all-time biggest blunders

It’s never too late to learn from our blunders. Here are seven: 1) We’ve made unbelief a doctrine. While third-world nations believe God for New Testament results, we teach our seminary students that God doesn’t do miracles anymore. 2) We’ve tolerated division. Who needs the devil when we’re so adept at hating one another in the name of denominational loyalty? 3) We’ve cultivated a religious spirit. We’ve taught that Christianity is about avoiding things like smoking and drinking. As a result we’ve lost our joy because intimacy with God cannot be achieved through performance. 4) We’ve encouraged ‘superstars’. Consequently, some of our preachers have stopped modelling servanthood and have forgotten that Jesus washed feet and rode on a donkey. 5) We’ve equated money with success. We’ve found a way to ‘theologise’ greed, instead of using our Godgiven prosperity to feed the poor and reach the world with the Gospel. 6) We’ve stayed in the pews and become irrelevant. We freak out when somebody uses rap or rock music to reach the younger generation. Instead of engaging the culture, we’re hiding from it. 7) We’ve taught people to be escape artists. Instead of ‘occupying ‘til He comes’, we’d rather be astronauts and fly away. We read rapture novels when we should be praying for those living on the verge of martyrdom. Why can’t we have their kind of faith? We can, if we’re willing to pay the price and commit ourselves fully to God.

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Day 15
You can't do it by yourself
You... became my partners’ Philippians 4:15 TLB

AT MIDNIGHT ON NOVEMBER 20, 1988, a 19-yearold woman who’d fallen asleep behind the wheel plunged her car through a crash barrier. It dangled 60 feet in the air. Some motorists stopped, grabbed ropes, tied them to the back of the woman’s car and hung on till emergency units arrived. A ladder was extended from below to help stabilise the car while firemen chained the vehicle to two trucks. Every time her car moved she screamed. It took over two hours for passers-by, the police, towtruck drivers and firemen – about 25 people in all – to pull her to safety. ‘It was kinda funny,’ Los Angeles Fire Captain, Ross Marshall recalled later. ‘She kept shouting, “I’ll do it myself!”’ Are you like that? Trying to do it all on your Prayer Point own? On his office wall, Alex Haley, the author of Roots, has a picture of a turtle sitting on top of a sixfoot fence post. The caption reads, ‘You can be sure he had help getting up there!’ Haley says, ‘Anytime I feel too proud to ask for help, I look at that picture.’ Somebody within your reach knows something you need to know; something you’ll never learn on your own. They’re your mentor. Get close to them. Drop your bucket into their well and begin to draw water. Paul recognised his limitations, so he connected his life to others. Listen: ‘you Philippians became my partners in giving and receiving’ (Philippians 4:15 TLB). Some of us know how to give but not receive. Others know how to receive but not give. Winners know how to do both.


Prayer point :

Father, persuade me that I need to rely on others and can’t always do things alone. Help me to recognise the great gifts you have placed in the lives of people around me, that I would promote their ability and not just focus on what I can do or get out of something. Help me remain humble, Lord, not proud of my ability but ready to serve someone with what You have placed within me. Amen!

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DAY 16
Stay Humble!

'Be completely humble and gentle’ Ephesians 4:2 NIV
THE CALL OF GOD is a high calling; yet the higher your calling, the lower you must become in your own eyes. Jesus said of John, ‘There is not a greater prophet’ (Luke 7:28 NKJ). Yet, John said of Jesus, ‘He must increase, but I must decrease’ (John 3:30 NKJ). When the Lord called him, Ezekiel fell prostrate on the ground and God had to say to him, ‘Stand up on your feet and I will speak to you’ (Ezekiel 2:1 NIV). When John came face to face with Christ on the Isle of Patmos, he wrote, ‘I fell at His feet as though dead’ (Revelation 1:17 NIV). The more gifted you are, the more humble you must be and the more you must acknowledge that the power that works in you is not human ability but God’s ability. None of us knows exactly what the ‘thorn’ in Paul’s life was, but we know why he had it. Listen: ‘So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh’ (2 Corinthians 12:7 NLT). Thorns come in many forms; God customises them to our personality and designs them according to our need. It could be a problem child, a turbulent marriage or a life-long affliction. It’s what deflates you when others try to exalt you; it’s what enables you to receive a compliment without becoming arrogant. In a sense, it’s not a thorn, it’s a thermostat that regulates your attitude, keeps you on your knees and reminds you that God is your source and God alone.

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DAY 17
Are you becoming critical?
'Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another’ Ephesians 4:31 TM'

CRITICISM IS one of the ultimate manifestations of pride because it assumes superiority! The Bible says that God is at work in each of us (Philippians 2:13 NIV). That means when you criticise someone, you’re saying, ‘God, Your workmanship doesn’t meet with my approval’. What arrogance! We all struggle and fall far short, so on what basis do you point out the faults of another? Paul writes, ‘Criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes’ (Romans 2:1 TM). Is that why you criticise others? When you criticise somebody’s child, who gets upset? The parents! And it’s the same with God. When you judge His people, you’re judging Him. When you tear down His leaders, you’re saying, ‘God, You don’t know what You’re doing by using such people!’ Look out: criticism kept over two million people out of the Promised Land. Imagine, many died just 11 miles from it! They spent their lives wandering in dry places. Is that why you’ve been going through a dry spell lately? They went around the same mountain (problem) over and over again (read Deuteronomy 2:3). Is that why you’ve been going in circles? Jesus said, ‘I have told you this so that my joy may be in you’ (John 15:11 NIV). There’s a direct relationship between the joy you have and the words you speak. Maybe that’s something you need to look at today.

Prayer Point ;

Lord, I am noticing that the older I get the grumpier I am, the more critical I become, and the less tolerant my outlook on life is. Forgive me, Lord. Remind me, Lord, of the younger days when life ‘was’ great and help me change my focus to see life IS great today. Father, nothing should be beyond me, in helping people, doing the jobs no-one wants to do, so help me serve with a good heart to brighten everyone’s day in Jesus’ Name. Amen !

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DAY 18
Willing to serve

He… took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist…’ John 13:4

THE SECRET OF great ministry lies in what we’re willing to lay aside in order to respond to God’s call; like laying aside the comforts of home to go where His name has never been heard or giving sacrificially to support those who go in your place. Or how about taking the ‘flak’ that comes from being the only light shining in your family or in a workplace where spiritual darkness abounds? Not once did Jesus say it would be easy or cheap! Listen to Paul, ‘All the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought had going for me is insignificant... I’ve dumped it all in the dustbin... I gave up all that inferior stuff so that I could know [be intimate with] Christ’ (Philippians 3:9-11 TM). There are evangelists, pastors and workers who never wrote a book, sold a tape, drew a crowd or gained national fame, but they paid the price! Like Noah, whose ‘congregation’ never exceeded eight souls, they still ministered faithfully. They wanted to do more. They hoped they’d go further. But they laid it all aside to serve the few. They said, ‘If I’m not called to help everybody, then, God, please let me help somebody.’ Today, you must answer the question, ‘What am I willing to lay aside in order to serve!