PRAYER FOR TODAY MONDAY 9TH JANUARY 2023 – A PRAYER FOR THE RIGHT PACE 

DAILY PRAYER AND SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY.

Engage these Daily Prayer and Scriptures for today. Take to God all that you desire in prayers, while you watch restfully as he steps into situations to bring out beauty and colour in your live. Today, as you commune with God, know that God has settled all that concerns you, Just believe and pray with faith in your heart. Remain blessed in Jesus name, Amen.

Today’s Prayer is Authored by:Ashley Moore

Prayer Focus For Today 9th January 2023: A Prayer for the Right Pace

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” – Hebrews 12:1, NLT
I wouldn’t call myself a runner. The longest distance I’ve ever pounded out on the asphalt was just over three miles for a run my city hosted. In an attempt to prepare, I wanted to go a little extra, ensuring that on race day, I would successfully complete the mileage required.

If I wanted to finish the race strong, I had to practice! I spent many days leading up to race day, lacing up my sneakers, stretching my calves and hamstrings, and charting my course for the day. But the learning curve was steep! I would start off strong, allowing anticipation and nervous energy to fuel me. But then I’d hit a wall emptying my energy reserves too quickly. I realized running was all about finding the right pace.

What about you? How is your pace of life? Do your feet hit the floor every morning in a hurry to check your email and get work started so you can coast into the evenings and weekends? Or are you more of a procrastinator? Do you postpone tasks until they can no longer wait, leaving yourself and others in a frenetic crunch to meet deadlines?

For me, depending on the day and task, I fall into both extremes. But that’s what both of those categories are—extremes. And the truth is, there’s a healthy tension, or for our purposes, there’s a healthy pace. Remember the nursery rhyme about the tortoise and the hare? Slow and steady is the pace we’re looking for because, as Christians, we’re playing the long game.

In Hebrews 12:1, Paul reminded us that the Christian life is a race. And the way he instructed believers to run indicates that he wasn’t talking about a sprint but a marathon. He specifically commanded that we run with endurance. The Greek word Paul used is hupemoné which means cheerful constancy, patient continuance, or, put simply, to wait. But why would Paul tell us to run a race and, in the next breath, tell us to wait or to run patiently?

Paul knew following Jesus in a world full of temptations was going to be arduous, like running a long race. One that would require the right pacing. He knew we would fare better if we didn’t come out the gate ablaze and burn out too quickly.

He also spoke to those of us who are slow starters to remind us that people need to see Christ in us. We need to continuously strip off the things that keep us from running well (Hebrews 12:1). Live a simple life, but invite someone who doesn’t know Jesus to partake in your daily activities to bear witness to Christ in you. We have to hold the tension; slow and steady wins the race.

Each of us has a race God has specifically carved out for us to run, whether we consider ourselves marathoners or not. The race won’t be an easy one all the time. We will need to train, run with endurance, and, most of all, master a sustainable pace so that we can finish strong.

PRAYER FOR TODAY.

Let’s pray:

Lord,
Thank you for the Word and how it both acknowledges the hardship we face as Christians and simultaneously offers us direction and encouragement. Jesus, as we seek to live in ways this year that honor you, I pray you would help us do so at a sustainable pace for the path you carved out for us. You know how long each of us will be on earth and you know each and every sin, weight, struggle, and limitation that threatens to take us off course. You knit us together with gifts, talents, and stories that specifically minister to those in our spheres of influence. I pray you’d use our efforts to run with endurance to draw others to salvation in you. Let us continue to remember the great cloud of witnesses who have run faithfully as proof that you will supply what we need to finish strong. May we run with endurance, just as those did before us, and in a way that spurs on those who come after us.
In Jesus’ name, amen.

This Is the Assurance of Answers to Your Prayers – Matthew 7:7-11

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN GIVE GOOD THINGS TO THOSE WHO ASK HIM!