Quiet Walk

[Judy Harder]

September 29

Romans 14

Christians should not exercise personal liberty if it destroys another Christian.

INSIGHT

We are a part of others; what we say and what we do affects others. This is especially true of Christians. We are a part of the body of Christ; we are a part of one another. Not only does God not want us to live isolated lives but He has made it so that we cannot make it alone. Therefore, we must always be alert to how our actions affect others. If something we do harms another person, we must take that into account. If our freedom causes hurt to a brother or sister in Christ, then love dictates that we limit our freedom.

PRAYER

Praise your heavenly Father for your brothers and sisters in Christ:
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity! . . .
It is like the dew of Hermon,
Descending upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the Lord commanded the blessing--
Life forevermore. (Psalm 133:1, 3)

Pause for praise and thanksgiving, and as you seek to keep your life free from sin, pray this confession 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)

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

Now pray this affirmation to the Lord:
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to have a walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)

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

Kindness in your dealings with others
Encouragement for missionaries in Europe
Your activities for the day
Finally, offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
"For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation." (Isaiah 12:2) 

[Judy Harder]

September 30

Romans 15

We are to conduct our lives in a way that glorifies God.

INSIGHT

When we become Christians, we exchange our citizenship on earth for citizenship in heaven. Therefore, we live according to the value system in heaven, not the value system on earth. On earth we look out for ourselves, and we satisfy our own wants and desires. In heaven we look out for the welfare of others. This does not mean that we neglect ourselves and our families. Other passages in Scripture indicate that we are to love our spouses, children, and parents and care for their needs, which brings this teaching into balance with other truths.

PRAYER

Praise God for His love that we can pass on to others:
"Praise the Lord, call upon His name;
Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His name is exalted.
Sing to the Lord,
For He has done excellent things;
This is known in all the earth.
Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!" (Isaiah 12:4-6)

Having offered Him your praise, pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
The fool has said in his heart,
"There is no God."
They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;
There is none who does good.
God looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
Every one of them has turned aside;
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one. (Psalm 53:1-3)

Pray this affirmation to the Lord:
I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

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

Greater peace and trust
Guidance for your church leaders
Finally, offer this prayer to the Lord:
As we have heard,
So we have seen
In the city of the Lord of hosts,
In the city of our God:
God will establish it forever. Selah.
(Psalm 48:   

[Judy Harder]

October 1

1 Corinthians 1

Paul appeals for unity among the Corinthian believers.

INSIGHT

It has been said: God does the work of God and man does the work of man. Man cannot do the work of God. God will not do the work of man. Paul's exhortation to the Corinthian believers certainly supports this. The Corinthian church had split into factions, following different men. Some said, "I follow Paul." Others said, "I follow Apollos." The most pious among them disdained to follow mere men and said, "I follow Christ." Using the imagery of a husbandman, Paul says, "I planted (brought the message of salvation), Apollos watered (taught you more advanced things), but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase" (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). Pursue the work of man with all diligence. And rest in the work of God.

PRAYER

Praise God for caring for the things that are out of your control:
Oh, give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples.
Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works.
Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
(Psalm 105:1-3)

Pause for praise and thanksgiving.

Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
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. (Psalm 19:12-13)

Now pray this affirmation to the Lord:
He is the Lord our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
Remember His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations.
(1 Chronicles 16:14-15)

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

The fruit of the Spirit in your life
Those who minister in the inner cities
Whatever else is on your heart
Finally, offer this prayer to the Lord:
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
And let them say among the nations,
"The Lord reigns." . . .
Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the Lord,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
(1 Chronicles 16:31, 33) 

[Judy Harder]

October 2

1 Corinthians 2

When Paul ministers to the Corinthians, he relies on the work of the Holy Spirit.

INSIGHT

When we speak, teach, or preach to the unsaved, we are not speaking to those who are merely blindfolded; we are speaking to those who are blind. It is not as though we can appeal to them to remove their blindfolds. Rather, we must appeal to the Lord to remove their blindness through the power of His Holy Spirit. "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). Therefore, it is foolishness on our part to attempt to minister to others without first praying fervently for that ministry, asking the Lord to draw those hearts to Christ.

PRAYER

Praise the Lord that He broke through your blindness with the Light of life:
O Lord, how manifold are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all.
The earth is full of Your possessions . . .
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
May my meditation be sweet to Him;
I will be glad in the Lord. (Psalm 104:24, 33-34)

Pause for praise and thanksgiving.

Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)

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

Now pray this affirmation to the Lord:
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24)

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

That others might see Christ in you
That the Lord of the harvest will send laborers into His fields
Today's activities
Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen. (Jude 24-25) 

[Judy Harder]

October 3

1 Corinthians 3

Paul says no foundation can be laid other than Jesus, and anything else is worthless in eternity.

INSIGHT

When the events of life are viewed with an eternal perspective, things that initially seemed important become unimportant, and things that seemed unimportant become important. Religious activity that is not undertaken with the right spirit or motive is worthless in view of eternity, regardless of how much weight it is given by men. And conversely the smallest cup of water given in the name of Christ receives eternal reward. Be careful how you build your life's work. Keep eternity in mind at all times.

PRAYER

Praise the Lord that He loved us enough to sacrifice His pleasures in heaven for our welfare:
O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. . . .
I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
For Your mercy is great above the heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth.
(Psalm 108:1, 3-5)

Pause for praise and thanksgiving.

Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2)

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind, and pray this affirmation to the Lord:
"He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him" (John 14:21).

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

Greater wisdom for living
Needs of your immediate family
Your activities for the day

Finally, offer this prayer to the Lord:
All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen" (Revelation 7:11-12). 

[Judy Harder]

 
Quiet Walk

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 5

1 Corinthians 7

Paul instructs the Corinthians concerning marriage, divorce, and singleness.

INSIGHT

Within the bonds of marriage, spiritual, emotional, and physical dimensions exist. The relationship should be established by a spiritual bond out of which flow emotional and physical bonds. When this order is properly maintained, the relationship is balanced and satisfying. However, many marriages take the opposite direction. Out of physical attraction grow emotional bonds, and spiritual bonds may or may not follow. Strive to strengthen the spiritual bonds in your relationships in order to keep them healthy and balanced. Even in a marriage where one partner is unsaved, the relationship will be stronger and more satisfying if your spouse sees the reality of your spiritual life and love for Jesus Christ.

PRAYER

Praise the Lord that our spiritual bond with Christ can strengthen the bonds of other relationships:
Praise the Lord!
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord?
Who can declare all His praise? . . .
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting!
And let all the people say, "Amen!"
Praise the Lord! (Psalm 106:1-2, 48)

Pause for praise and thanksgiving as you pray this confession to the Lord:
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind, and pray this affirmation to the Lord:
Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him" (John 14:23).

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

Greater sensitivity to sin
The ministry of your church
Your activities for the day
Finally, offer this prayer to the Lord:
Every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea,
and all that are in them, I heard saying:
"Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!" (Revelation 5:13) 

[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)