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fbcslo | spiritual formation practices for loving G

Praying Gods Promises

Desire

To build my lie on the oundation o Gods promises, and honor Him by asking boldly or what He has promised to give

Denition

Praying the promises is a practice o ghting temptation, despair, rustration and apathy by centering my attention on promises God

has made in His word, and putting my hope in these promises rather than the alse, empty promises o sin. I turn these promises into

prayers, boldly asking God to provide or me what He has promised, through Jesus, so that I can stay close to God.

Scripture

2 Peter 1:3-4 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to lie and godliness, through the knowledge o him who called usto his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become

partakers o the divine nature, having escaped rom the corruption that is in the world because o sinul desire.

Hebrews 11:24-26By aith Moses, when he was grown up, reused to be called the son o Pharaohs daughter, choosing rather to be mis-

treated with the people o God than to enjoy the eeting pleasures o sin.

2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises o God fnd their Yes in Jesus.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up or us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Devotional

Read 2 Samuel 7.

King David was the greatest king Israel ever knew. Though he made some terrible mistakes, his lie was characterized by a longing to low God and a desire to bring his heart in line with Gods. Even the Lord called David a man ater my own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14).

In his desire to honor God, David planned to build Him a temple. This desire was good, and pleased Godand yet it wasnt Gods plan

Solomon, Davids son, would build the temple; but or David, God turned the promise around. Instead o David building a house or t

worship o God, God promised in lavish terms to build Davids house: the line o David would never end.

Today we know that this was a prophecy about Jesus, the Son o David, who centuries later would be born, proclaim the Kingdom o

God, be crucied and resurrected and then take His seat on the throne o God, where He will rule orever and ever. (See Revelation 5,

Philippians 2:5-11, Psalm 2).

But something else happens in this passage which is very important. God makes David a promiseand David immediatelyturns that

promise into a prayer. Ater praising the strength and grace o God, David speaks words that should inorm the way we pray: For you

O Lord o hosts, the God o Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, I will build you a house. Thereore your servant ha

ound courage to pray this prayer to you. (2 Samuel 7:27)

Do you think David would have had the boldness to ask God to build up his name and make his lineage last orever? No! The courage

David says, comes rom knowing God has already promised: And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you ha

promised this good thing to your servant. (v. 28.) Because Gods character is true, and God has promised, thereore David will pray.

This is important or us because we need Gods promises to make it through every day. We are constantly prey to temptations, rustra

tions, anxieties, impatience, and despair. Why? Because we are vulnerable and relatively powerless. When we catch glimpses o our

inability to secure joy and peace or ourselves and those we loveand the ultimate sign o this is death, which no one can avoidwe

are prone to ear. And out o that worry come all sorts o temptations to turn rom God and trust in something we can do or acquire o

become. We ear loneliness so we indulge in antasy. We worry about nances so we cut corners or stop being generous. Our relation

ships eel unstable so we try to manipulate, control, cajole or impress others into staying.

How to ght this? Paul calls these temptations ery darts, and calls us to deend ourselves with the shield o aith. But there is only o

ofensive weapon listed in the armor Paul describes in Ephesians 6: the Sword o the Spirit, which is the Word o God.

You see, temptation is powerul because it is a promise o joy, peace, comort, rest. But it is a alse, emptypromise. It cannot deliver. Th

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is no joy that way, no peace. But, like David, we have true and sure promises rom God. And we can wield this, like a sword, to combat

the alse promises. We need these true promises to turn our attention away rom the alse ones.

What gives us the boldness to ask God or better blessings than sin can ofer? Paul tells us: because o Jesus Christ. Because Christ rec

ciled us to God, there is nothing God we need which God will withhold. Every promise in the Bible is given a resounding Yes! becaus

Jesus purchased them or us, every one.

Questions or Refection

1. Read the list o promises below, in the Practicing section. Do these promises sound like God is ofering health, wealth, comort an

ease? What is he promising?

2. Think on one recent situation when you elt tempted to sin. What was the promise o that sinwhat need in your heart was it claim

ing to fulll? Is there a promise below that God makes to meet that need? Re-imagine the situation, but imagine yourself using t

promise o God to ght the temptation. What would that look like? What practical steps might you take to remember the promise?

Practicing

One o the best ways to pray Gods promises is to begin by choosing and memorizing the promises you know you will tend to need.

Each o us have various ears, worries and desires that we know are easy targets or alse promises. By having Gods Word at the ready

we can engage in ghting or our joy in God more readily.

(This discipline works just as well or times o despairbecause despair itsel is a temptation to disbelieve God.)

Look over this topical list and select two or three promises to memorize. Commit them to memory this week.

Once you have them memorized, choose a day to be extra-vigilant or alse promises. ( This isnt meant to be a perect daythe poin

to observe where you tend to be assaulted, so that you can be strategic.) Discuss what you nd with a trusted riend, and come up wi

a practical plan or how you will turn instead to pray Gods promises.

God loves us aithully

1 Peter 5:7

Psalm 103:11-14, 17

Jeremiah 31:3

1 Chronicles 16:34

Psalm 100:5

God has orgiven us

Hebrews 10:14

Hebrews 9:26

Hebrews 7:25

Psalm 130:4

Isaiah 55:6

1 John 1:9

1 Timothy 1:15

Acts 10:34Romans 10:11

Ephesians 2:8-10

Psalm 86:5-7, 15

Lamentations 3:31-33

2 Corinthians 5:17, 21

John 3:36

1 Peter 2:24

1 Peter 3:18

Isaiah 43:25

We are Gods children

Romans 6:14

Galatians 2:20

1 John 3:1-2

Romans 5:9-10

2 Corinthians 5:18-19Romans 8:14-15

God will help us love Him

Jeremiah 31:33

Deuteronomy 30:6

Ezekiel 11:19-20

Ezekiel 36-26-27

Jeremiah 32:40

Philippians 2:12-13

Philippians 1:6

1 Corinthians 10:13

God will be our delight

Psalm 16:11

Psalm 37:4

John 17:24

Psalm 21:6

Psalm 36:8

God will give us the Spirit

Isaiah 44:1-5

John 14:26

John 15:26

2 Corinthians 3:18

God will be our strength

Isaiah 41:10

2 Corinthians 12:9Deuteronomy 33:25

Isaiah 46:4

Deuteronomy 31:8

Proverbs 21:31

Psalm 73:25-26

Psalm 121

Philippians 4:13

Joshua 1:9

2 Chronicles 16:9a

1 John 4:4

John 15:7

Psalm 118:13-14

God protects us rom harm

Romans 8:31

Psalm 62:5-8Psalm 20:6-8

Romans 8:38-39

Proverbs 18:10

Psalm 91

Psalm 55:22

John 10:27-30

Psalm 34:17-18

God provides all we need

2 Peter 1:3

Ephesians 1:3

Hebrews 13:5

Isaiah 58:11

Isaiah 55:1

John 6:35

1 Timothy 6:6

2 Corinthians 9:8

Romans 8:32

Philippians 4:19

James 1:17

God works or our good

Romans 8:28

Hebrews 12:9-10Jeremiah 29:11

Romans 5:3-5

James 1:2-3

Psalm 37:4-5

Jeremiah 32:40

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

God will teach us

Psalm 32:8

Proverbs 3:5-7

Proverbs 3:11-12

God will give us rest

Matthew 11:28-30

Psalm 23

God will never leave us

Joshua 1:5b

Genesis 28:15

Deuteronomy 31:6, 8

1 Chronicles 28:20

Hebrews 13:5

Gods purposes will stand

Isaiah 55:11 [His Word]

Isaiah 46:9b-11

Isaiah 40:8

Numbers 23:19

Jeremiah 1:12b

God will be exalted

Philippians 2:10-11

Psalm 46:10

Isaiah 2:11

Isaiah 49:3

God will give us eternal lie

Romans 14:9-11

John 14:2-3Revelation 22:4

John 11:25-26

Revelation 21:4

Faith pleases God,

overcomes sin

1 John 5:4

Hebrews 11:6

Psalm 125:1-2

Isaiah 26:3-4

It is good to wait on God

Luke 21:19

Romans 2:7

Isaiah 30:15, 18

Matthew 24:13Isaiah 49:23

Isaiah 64:4

Isaiah 40:31

Lamentations 3:25-27

James 1:12

Psalm 42:11

Psalm 37:5-7

Serving God brings joy

Luke 14:11

Proverbs 29:23

Matthew 18:4

James 4:6, 10

Isaiah 57:15

Luke 1:52

Matthew 23:12

We fnd lie by giving it

Matthew 10:39

John 12:25

Mark 10:29-30

Gods Word is reliable

John 8:31-32John 8:51

2 Timothy 3:16