Anticipate :: Devo #14

When God Arrives Early
The writer of today’s lesson talks about God arriving “early” in meeting our needs, this as a lead-in to a discussion of prayer. God knows what we need and wants us to be engaged in his work. A big part of this is his desire that we be engaged in conversation with him through prayer. Read Daniel 9:4-23. Here we see a really special answer to prayer ~ the angel Gabriel delivers God’s answer while Daniel is still praying! The point we are directed to see in this lesson is not that we should expect an angel to personally deliver answers to our prayers, but the kind of prayer that makes a difference. Look at Daniel’s prayer. We see that:

- He confessed his own sin and that of the
nation for which he was praying.
- He pleaded for God’s mercy.
- He based his appeal on God’s character,
mercy and glory, not on his own.

The lesson then proceeds to look at things that might hinder our prayer life. Here we have:

- Praying to impress others (Matthew 6:5-8)
- Praying without confidence that God will
hear and respond (James 1:5-8)
- Praying with wrong motives (James 4:3)
- Neglecting prayer altogether (James 4:2)

Finally, the lesson writer issues the following “challenges:”

Prayer
- Take time to talk to God now – no pretense, no fancy
words, no self justification, no personal agenda.
- Take time to listen to God now – he might want to
prompt you in some way… write down any
promptings you sense.
- Don’t be in too big a hurry when you talk and listen to
God. And know that on the trip, we’ll be able to see
And experience him. He is, after all, already at work.