Spending time in prayer – Devotional for October 22. Praise the Lord, everybody! The dictionary says the act of consecrating is a dedication to the service and worship of a deity. Many Christians honor God with a day or two of fasting and consecration every week, but lately, they find themselves doing more of one and less of the other.
Bible Verse for Today
And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. (Luke 9:23-24)
Many of us have been dedicating a day to the service and worship of God, but now we find ourselves doing more “fasting” and less “consecrating.” This is because we are increasingly engaged in routine daily activities and have less and less time for spiritual exercises, prayer, meditation, and praise. So we don’t eat and think that is enough for fasting.
In the above passage of Scripture, Jesus told His disciples and us that if we want to be His followers, we need to surrender our lives to Him daily. Daily forsaking our old lives and living every day in consecrated service to God. In truth, we cannot choose which days we will be blessed and which days we will not. God was letting us know that the things we do when we call ourselves “consecrating” should be doing these things every day.
Does that mean we must be walking around all day looking stern, trying to convey a pious attitude? No, the joy of the Lord is our strength. But our happiness should be in Him always.
We need to stop trying to replace it with worldly joy when we feel the world is having what seems like more fun; Jesus was living a consecrated life every day.
Jesus tells us in John 4:34: “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” Jesus said this to His disciples after they saw He appeared tired and hungry, and they had been imploring Him to eat. Jesus was tired and hungry, but Jesus found joy and contentment.
Spending time in prayer:
- Part of our daily consecration should be that as soon as we open our eyes in the morning, we should give thanks and be determined to do God’s will that day.
- Spending time in prayer should be our sustaining force throughout the day, fasting or not.
- We must remain determined to daily live our lives “consecrated” in service and the worship of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
God bless you all!
Spending Time in Prayer
Father God, forgive us for our slackness concerning our consecration to you. Lord, help us be more vigilant in seeking you in our worship and fasting. Lord, we promise to spend more time in prayer every day. Please help us keep this commitment. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
