Michael Harrison's e-devotion

  I love it when Scripture seems to come to life.  You know literally Scripture is designed by God to be living and interactive in our lives.  Watch how God does that.  Psalms is one of the greatest places for me as I use the verses for Scripture-fed, Spirit-led, worship-based prayer. For years I have been reading Proverbs on a daily basis.  Those verses come alive.  Add to that Psalms and the book Praying the Psalms by Daniel Henderson.   Strategic Renewal and the 6:4 Fellowship is where I found this.  Check out www.strategicrenewal.com for that and other resources as well as great content on prayer.  Also for a great conference call “Resilience” coming in October.  Daniel’s book guides you through Psalms in your prayer time.   Take some time today to read and pray the Psalms.  Here are just a few verses.  Grab from them some characteristics of God…  He is my shield and holds me, His love is unfailing, He ...

  As I was reading Scripture last I was struck by one person and their commitment to God.  This king was a leader.  He is mentioned in other places, but the verses I share with you are the two points I want us to look at for a few minutes today. 2 Chronicles 26:3-5  CSB   Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God throughout the lifetime of Zechariah, the teacher of the fear of God. During the time that he sought the Lord, God gave him success. Uzziah did what was right.  He honored God as a man, as a leader and in all he did.  That was not the common thing for kings.  In fact if you read about the kings in the Old Testament often the king is said to have done evil before the Lord.   That wasn’t the case with this man.  We nee...

  Psalm 37:4  CSB   Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. What has your attention?  Take a close, up close look at all the things that distract you, the things that make you mad, the stuff that makes you glad and anything that keeps your gaze and your mind for more than just a few seconds. I listened to a message this week from an incredible preacher that talked about how our phones have completely grabbed our attention.  And he talked about many other things to.   But what caught my attention (did you hear that) the most was the importance of letting God be who gets and takes your attention.  The verse above is a promise.  Delight in God, and He fulfills your desires. How can that be true?  It is.  Whatever we look at longing and lovingly we become like. In his message Andrew Forrest reminded us that choosing to put our mind on God does make a difference.  Further, he shared somethings that should hel...

  One of the best questions you can ask others is “how can I pray for you?”  It might catch someone off guard, like they aren’t prepared for it.  But the conversations after are always telling and important. I have found that people appreciate being prayed for.  People are touched when you you show that you care.  And yes, the most important part is that someone knows Jesus, and I find that prayer can be a great connector. God calls us to pray.  He challenges us to pray for ourselves and others.  Prayer reminds us all of who us really in control.  So, today try this if you haven’t before.  Ask the waitress, the cashier, your co-worker, your neighbor, or that person you happen to be with “how can I pray for you?”  Then follow through with the conversation.  It might be simply to listen, but make sure to pray for that person and what they share. James 5:16 NASB Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one an...

  What do you do when you can’t sleep?  When you wake up early and try to go back to sleep, what do you do? The older I get the more the answer to that question is to pray.  Just pray.  What do I pray for?  I pray for the people who come to my mind, and the more I pray the more people come to my mind. It is the interaction with the one who cares for us the most that makes the most difference in our lives.  This could be when we are at our lowest and struggling.  This could even be when everything is going well.  Just spend that time with God and praying. Praying has several parts that you don’t want to miss.  The two biggest are speaking and listening.  Too often our prayers are just pouring out to God.  Stop and listen.  Listen to what seems to be in your mind and heart.  Hear the things that God puts in your heart.  Even go to Scripture and pray the verses you are reading back to God.  Let Him speak.  He i...

  In an old song, actually a Christian, the question is asked “do you see what I see?”  Great question, and what I want to do today is ask it another way. Do we see what Jesus saw? Mark 6:34  CSB  When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things. Matthew 14:14  CSB   When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd, had compassion on them, and healed their sick. When Jesus saw the needs of the people, He was moved inside with compassion.  But it was just feeling sorry for people.  He did something about it.  At one point He fed them.  At another He healed the sick.  At another time He taught them. Do we see what Jesus saw and do something about it? 1 John 3:17  CSB   If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him—how does God’s love reside in him? Do something about w...