Quiet Walk

[Judy Harder]

October 4

1 Corinthians 6

Brothers should not go to court against brothers, especially before unbelievers.

INSIGHT

When we come to Christ, we give up our title to all earthly possessions, and we receive eternal possessions that are fabulous beyond imagination. All of the riches of Christ are ours as co-inheritors with Him; all those things that we might have viewed as possessions must now be seen as "on loan." We are now merely administrators, stewards of these things that belong to the Lord. We must hold them loosely with an open hand, not as possessions, and use them as we believe Christ would.

PRAYER

Thank the Lord and praise Him that Christ's passion for us went as far as the Cross:
Praise the Lord!
I will praise the Lord with my whole heart,
In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. . . .
His work is honorable and glorious,
And His righteousness endures forever.
He has made His wonderful works to be remembered;
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion. . . .
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.
His praise endures forever. (Psalm 111:1, 3-4, 10)

Pause for praise and thanksgiving.

Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, and have forgotten the God who fathered you. (Deuteronomy 32:18)

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.

Now pray this affirmation to the Lord:
"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:

Patience in dealing with others
The hungry around the world
Whatever else is on your heart
Finally, offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
"The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you,
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26). 

[Judy Harder]

October 6

1 Corinthians 8

Take care that your actions do not wound another Christian.

INSIGHT

There is an inseparable link between Christ and the church. In Acts 9:4 Jesus appears to Saul on the road to Damascus and asks, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" Yet Saul had not persecuted Jesus; he had never even seen Jesus. However, because he was persecuting the church, Jesus rebuked Saul for persecuting Him. Again in 1 Corinthians 8 Paul teaches that if we sin against our brothers in Christ-wounding their consciences when they are weak-we sin against Christ. We must be cautious with our words and actions.

PRAYER

Praise Christ, the Head of the church:
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, . . . that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height , and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14, 17-19)

Pause for praise and thanksgiving.

Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
"Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and
the glory forever. Amen" (Matthew 6:11-13).

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.

Now pray this affirmation to the Lord:
Give ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my meditation.
Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up. (Psalm 5:1-3)

As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:

Perseverance
Endurance for those who work with the homeless
Whatever else is on your heart
Close this time of worship with the following prayer:
To Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21) 

[Judy Harder]

October 7

1 Corinthians 9

Paul limits his freedom for the sake of other Christians.

INSIGHT

Spiritual maturity is not a product of human effort. The fruit of the Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit, not of self-effort. Yet God will not grant spiritual maturity to us unless we are striving for it. Paul says, "I run . . . not with uncertainty. I fight . . . not as one who beats the air. I discipline my body . . . " in pursuit of spiritual goals (1 Corinthians 9:26-27). The reality is that few of us have the spiritual passion to equal the temporal passion of the unsaved. It is a challenge to care about the same things God cares about-a challenge we must accept!

PRAYER

Praise God that His work of sanctification continues in your life:
May the Lord give you increase more and more,
You and your children.
May you be blessed by the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's;
But the earth He has given to the children of men.
The dead do not praise the Lord,
Nor any who go down into silence.
But we will bless the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!
(Psalm 115:14-18)

Pause for praise and thanksgiving.

Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
"Execute true justice,
Show mercy and compassion
Everyone to his brother.
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless,
The alien or the poor.
Let none of you plan evil in his heart
Against his brother" (Zechariah 7:9-10).

As you confess your sins, pray this affirmation to the Lord:
I will praise You,
For You have answered me,
And have become my salvation. (Psalm 118:21)

As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:

Purity of mind
Your spiritual goals
Today's activities
Finally, offer this prayer to the Lord:
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:15-16) 

[Judy Harder]

October 8

1 Corinthians 13

Love is the greatest virtue that all Christians should exhibit.

INSIGHT

Throughout the Bible, love is clearly considered the supreme virtue. Both Jesus and Paul teach that the greatest Christian virtue is love. However, it is not always easy to measure love, especially because our society has such a distorted concept of what love is. Many people think that love is simply an emotion. We may think that if we don't feel "warm and fuzzy," we don't love. While emotions certainly may be attached to biblical love, love is primarily an act of the will. And God commands us to love. If you exhibit the qualities listed in today's chapter, you are loving regardless of your emotions.

PRAYER

Thank the Lord and praise Him that He loves us with the same love He asks from us:
Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
Praise the name of the Lord!
Blessed be the name of the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore!
From the rising of the sun to its going down
The Lord's name is to be praised.
The Lord is high above all nations,
His glory above the heavens. (Psalm 113:1-4)

Pause for praise and thanksgiving.

Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin and in fellowship with Him:
So Samuel said:
"Has the Lord as great delight in burnt
offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22).

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind, and pray this affirmation to the Lord:
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)

As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:

Greater love for fellow Christians
The work of missions in Europe and Asia
Whatever else is on your heart
Finally, offer this prayer to the Lord:
Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
(Psalm 19:14) 

[Judy Harder]

October 9

1 Corinthians 15

Christ's resurrection is the basis for our resurrection, which is the final victory over sin.

INSIGHT

It is difficult for us to imagine what our resurrected bodies will be like. Yet there are snatches of information in the Scriptures that may give us some idea. In Matthew 17, for example, we read about Jesus, Moses, and Elijah who, having lost their earthly appearance, glow with a dazzling light. From this one brief example, we might conclude that our bodies will shine with dazzling light, that we will be free from gravity, that we may travel at fabulous speeds, and will be able to appear and disappear. C. S. Lewis once wrote that if we were to see our glorified selves coming down the street, we would be tempted to fall at our own feet and worship ourselves.

PRAYER

Praise the Lord that each believer will have a wonderful resurrected body:
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy,
Because of Your truth. . .
You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield. . .
But we will bless the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore.
Praise the Lord! (Psalm 115:1, 11, 18)

Pause for praise and thanksgiving.

Now pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
David's heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly"
(2 Samuel 24:10).

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind, and pray this affirmation to the Lord:
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)

As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:

Greater faithfulness with your time
The president, national leaders, and national and world affairs
Whatever else is on your heart
Finally, offer this prayer to the Lord:
Who is wise?
Let him understand these things.
Who is prudent?
Let him know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right;
The righteous walk in them,
But transgressors stumble in them.

[Judy Harder]

October 10

2 Corinthians 1

The Lord comforts us in our affliction so we may comfort others.

INSIGHT

There is a fellowship of suffering. Someone who has suffered the same things we have suffered is better able to minister to us. And if we have been comforted in our suffering, we are better able to comfort someone else who experiences the same difficulties. Suffering can make us compassionate toward others. As the sufferings of Christ overflow into our lives, so can the compassion of Christ overflow from our lives into the lives of others.

PRAYER

Praise the Lord that Jesus was willing to lay down His immediate comfort for our sakes:
Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, O you servants of the Lord!
You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the courts of the house of our God,
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
Sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant.
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His special treasure.
For I know that the Lord is great,
And our Lord is above all gods. . .
Blessed be the Lord out of Zion,
Who dwells in Jerusalem!
Praise the Lord! (Psalm 135:1-5, 21)

Pause for praise and thanksgiving.

Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak;
O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled.
My soul also is greatly troubled;
But You, O Lord - how long? (Psalm 6:1-3)

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind, and pray this affirmation to the Lord:
When the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit . . . that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-5, 7)

As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:

The renewing of your mind
The needs of your extended family
Your activities for the day
Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24) 

[Judy Harder]

October 11

2 Corinthians 4

Man's evident weakness presents an opportunity for God to manifest His power.

INSIGHT

When we look at Israel and the Mosaic Law, we tend to think that the Jews performed poorly. All they had to do was be obedient to some basic laws, and God would bless them beyond measure. Yet they might say the same about us. With the Holy Spirit living in us, we have only to live in love toward God and man and God will bless us spiritually beyond measure. While human frailty is glaring in both systems, the work of God is being accomplished nevertheless. God's message is carried in "jars of clay" so that in eternity the glory of the redeemed will go to God and not to man.

PRAYER

Offer your praise to the Lord as an expression of the gratefulness of your heart:
I will extol You, my God, O King;
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty,
And on Your wondrous works. (Psalm 145:1-5)

Pause for praise and thanksgiving.

Now pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin and in fellowship with Him:
Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great
transgression. (Psalm 19:12-13)

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind, and pray this affirmation to the Lord:
Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:11)

As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:

The Lord's leading in your life
Opportunities for evangelism
Whatever else is on your heart
Finally, offer this prayer to the Lord:
Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days! (Psalm 90:14) 

[Judy Harder]

October 13

2 Corinthians 8

We should follow Christ's example and be generous toward others.

INSIGHT

One of the marks of maturity is the ability to put off immediate reward for the sake of a future goal. Likewise, the willingness to put off temporal reward for the sake of eternal reward is a good mark of Christian maturity. The Scriptures teach that someday we must all appear before the bema seat of Christ. In ancient Greece, the bema was the grandstand where judges gave out honors to the winners of athletic competitions. Thus, it is before the divine "bema" that we will all appear. If we compete according to the eternal rules, we will gain the honor of reward from the eternal Judge. As Paul wrote, we must set our minds "on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:2).

PRAYER

Praise God for supplying all your needs:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Indeed I have all and abound. I am full . . . And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:18-19)

Pause for praise and thanksgiving, and pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
The law of Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of coins of gold and silver. (Psalm 119:71-72)

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind and pray this affirmation to the Lord:
Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
And the man who gains understanding;
For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver,
And her gain than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies,
And all the things you may desire cannot
compare with her. (Proverbs 3:13-15)

As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:

Yieldedness to God's will
Missionaries in the Middle East
Your activities for the day
Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
May the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21) 

[Judy Harder]

October 14

2 Corinthians 9

Christians should give generously as God has prospered them.

INSIGHT

God asks for your money, not for His sake, but for yours. What God wants is your heart, and one measure of how much of your heart He has is how willing you are to give your money back to Him. Two of God's reasons for asking Christians to give to other Christians are to foster mutual unity and concern among believers, and to show the love of God to the unsaved. Remember, it is not the amount but the willingness that counts. Give as God has prospered you.

PRAYER

Praise the Lord for the many material possessions you enjoy:
We have thought, O God, on Your lovingkindness,
In the midst of Your temple.
According to Your name, O God,
So is Your praise to the ends of the earth;
Your right hand is full of righteousness.
Let Mount Zion rejoice,
Let the daughters of Judah be glad,
Because of Your judgments. (Psalm 48:9-11)

Pause for praise and thanksgiving.

Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."
But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Mark 10:21-22)

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind, and pray this affirmation to the Lord:
How sweet are Your words to my taste,
Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through Your precepts I get understanding;
Therefore I hate every false way. . .
Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy,
And teach me Your statutes.
I am Your servant;
Give me understanding,
That I may know Your testimonies.
(Psalm 119:103-104, 124-125)

As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:

Contentment with what you own
Health concerns of friends and family members
Whatever else is on your heart
Finally, offer this prayer to the Lord:
Your testimonies are wonderful;
Therefore my soul keeps them.
The entrance of Your words gives light;
It gives understanding to the simple.
(Psalm 119:129-130) 

[Judy Harder]

October 15

2 Corinthians 12

Paul was given a vision of heaven and then "a thorn in the flesh" to keep him humble.

INSIGHT

The Bible gives us a number of reasons why Christians suffer adversity. One reason is to strengthen and mature us. Another is that it is the natural consequence of our own foolishness from which God does not necessarily protect us. And another reason Paul gives us in today's chapter is to keep us humble. If things always went well for us, if life was always "coming up roses," we would tend to become conceited, to think more highly of ourselves than we ought and perhaps think less of others. Notice that Paul only prayed three times for the removal of his "thorn in the flesh" (vv. 7-8). When it was clear that God was not going to remove it, Paul accepted it.

PRAYER

Because the Lord always has a reason for allowing adversity, we can praise Him for all things:
Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,
And I will declare Your greatness.
They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness,
And shall sing of Your righteousness.
The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
The Lord is good to all,
And His tender mercies are over all His works.
(Psalm 145:6-9)

Pause for praise and thanksgiving.

Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin and in fellowship with Him:
Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day. (Psalm 25:4-5)

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind, and pray this affirmation to the Lord:
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)

As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:

Patience in difficult circumstances
The work of missions in South America
Whatever else is on your heart
Finally, close with this prayer to the Lord:
Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands. (Psalm 90:17)