PRAYER GUIDE
September - Mid-October 2018
MEMORIZATION
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
PRAYER AND REFLECTION
Matthew 6:21
September 1st & 2nd—Fantasy Life Philippians 4:11b - I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. Imagine being able to choose your boss, your in-laws, your income level or your abilities. What if you could pick from the best the world has to offer and assemble a life with all the things and people and talents you admire? How would you choose? What criteria would you use? For football fans, this is the whole idea behind "fantasy." You draft only the best players with the right combination of skills. You trade them when they don't meet expectation. You talk trash with the other fantasy team owners also trying to rack up points. And, when you ultimately outscore all of your opponents, you become the winner of your league. Sounds pretty good, right? Unfortunately, too many of us have similar ideas about life. It's been called "grass is greener syndrome," and we can all relate. But, what would happen if you realized one of your draft picks in life wasn't so good after all? After a few years, do you trade your kids for other ones? So, maybe not your kids. But, what about your spouse, your church or others in the family of God? How would you keep score and know you're succeeding? In the end, what would a win look like in the game of your life? Over the following six weeks, we're going to use themes found in fantasy football, compare them to Scripture, and allow God to form a more biblical perspective on this game called life. You in?
Personal Reflection: ________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ September 8th & 9th—You’ve Been Invited to Join the League Matthew 11:28-29 - Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Every fantasy football league is started and run by a commissioner. The commissioner organizes the league, sets rules, settles disputes and does all the heavy lifting behind the scenes so everyone else can enjoy the season. It's been called "the toughest, most thankless job you'll ever love" by one of the leading sports websites. In life, the biggest decision we'll ever make is whose league we will play for. God has and continues to invite everyone into His league. He's the One who created the world and gives life. He's the One who makes sense of life (John 1:1 -4). He provides the playbook that has all authority and is useful in all situations (2 Tim 3:16). But, for some of us, we'll still insist on being the commissioner ourselves. And, others of us will dispute every decision the commissioner makes. May we be as fortunate as Job and hear God say, "Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?" (Job 38:2). We just might stand a chance. But, for those of us who choose to align ourselves with God and His plan, may we echo David's words found in Psalm 86:7-8, “When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me. Among the gods there is none like you, Lord." Our loyalty to God comes from knowing His character and His care for us. He is the One who answers our prayers, guides us by His Spirit, and saves us through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus. He deserves our lifelong loyalty.
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September 15th & 16th—Play with the Team You Drafted Ephesians 4:1b-6 - I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. In fantasy football, everyone is excited on draft day. Team owners put their time in, study stats, watch preseason games, read expert opinions, then make their selections. But, the team doesn't always perform according to expectation. So, the owners consider cutting players and getting new ones to make a different team. Life can be like that, too. We can become consumers of products, of church, and even of relationships. But, our Commissioner of life tells us to play with the team we drafted. The Bible says, "those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable" (1 Cor. 12:22). "Encourage one another and build each other up," (1 Thess 5:11). "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you" (Col. 3:13). This is a completely different ballgame. There's no consuming or trading. Col. 3:12 & 14 reveal the winning strategy: "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
Personal Reflection: ________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ September 22nd & 23rd—Quit the Trash Talk Matthew 12:36-37 MSG - Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation. Talking trash is common in every sport. But, in the game of life, it has no place at all. Scripture calls the tongue "a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body" (Jam. 3:6). It also says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs" (Eph. 4:29). So, why do we speak unkindly to or of one another? This twisted nature of ours feels better about itself when we put others down. Somehow, we believe the lie that talking trash puts us in an elevated position when the truth is we're all the same: broken and in need of a Savior. In God's league, He untwists that nature and gives our tongue a whole new purpose. In Col. 3:16, we learn that Christ's words can live in us and make us wise. His words are to be used to teach and counsel. Our conversations can be "full of grace, seasoned with salt" (Col. 4:6), so that we'll always know how to respond to anyone. And, when we do need to speak some hard truth, we can do it with a whole dose of love (Eph. 4:15).
Personal Reflection: ________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ September 29th & 30th—Point System or Grace System Luke 15:29-30 - All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him! These angry, desperate words were spoken to a father by an older son who spent his life keeping score. In his mind, he should have been winning at righteousness and obedience
when compared to his wayward younger brother. His rage could not be contained when he witnessed the undeserved favor his rebellious little brother received upon returning home. His desperate cries of unfairness and inequity reveal that he'd interpreted his relationship to his father all wrong all along. Can you imagine a lifetime of living under one understanding, only to find out you understood the game incorrectly from the beginning? The last team would finish first? Sadly, many of us inside the church are doing just that. The older brother's biggest mistake was thinking he had to "slave" for his father in order to earn his favor. He didn't have to work for it. It was already his. He was striving through life in a point system, when, in reality, he lived in a grace system. Let's not forfeit the grace that could be ours by holding onto a righteousness that gains us nothing.
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James 1:2-4 - Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. In fantasy football, you face a new team every week. Owners take time to examine their competition to ensure they have the right line-up to combat every possible threat. Sometimes, in our spiritual lives, we take a similar position. We can look at all the perceived threats around us — spiritually, politically, relationally, etc. — and end up defending ourselves against not only threats, but also people who are actually lost or things that are actually harmless. So, we must be discerning about who we battle. We don't want to battle the lost, we want to battle the enemy. By battling the lost, we do more harm to the kingdom than good. The Bible says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Eph. 6:12). We know who leads that charge. And, we know the only way to stand in battle with him is while wearing the armor of God and wielding the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:10-17). May we know our opponent and learn to battle in the Lord’s strength.
Personal Reflection: ________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ October 13th & 14th—Winning Philippians 3:14 - I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. What does “winning” in God's league look like, where points are replaced by grace, and we play with the same team no matter what? The automatic response may be heaven or eternal life. And, although that's true, it's not the whole story. See, eternity doesn't start when we die, it's starts at the moment of salvation. We won when we joined the league. Eternal life is a quality of life that begins now. We will experience it at greater levels as our relationship with God deepens — which takes training and discipline — until ultimately, we will know His love and the abundant life He offers in its perfection. But, eternity is active today. The prize is today. And, God's desire is that our lives here look more and more like life in heaven each day until we join Him there.
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For more information on prayer, contact Kelly Yetter at
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