Prayer Thoughts for the Heart

Archive for April, 2010


We can give a gift and never say a word. However, words can be a wonderful gift. I believe Jesus gave a lot of gifts without saying a word. When He did speak, He spoke with great wisdom and chose His words carefully.

It doesn’t take a word to give the gift of a smile or open a door for someone. No words are needed to give someone in traffic a chance to go ahead of you.

No words are necessary when we give the gift of a hug to a hurting friend. Most teachers and pastors will appreciate the gift of a nod when we like their preaching and teaching.

Our prayers of praise, worship, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication can be done in silence and will be a gift to our Heaven Father. What a wonderful gift to give to Him.

We can give ourselves a most precious gift by meditating and reading The Bible. We can also give ourselves a gift of peace and joy as we go about our daily work, when our mind is kept on God and pleasing Him.

We can give the gift of a hand clap of praise to God after hearing a beautiful song by a choir. It is wonderful and appreciated, I am sure, when we give the gift of being patient with someone.

If we think and count to ten before we speak some of our opinions, our gift of silence, will more than likely be better received.

These gifts cost nothing. It’s just that we are being observant, conscience of our surroundings, and interested in being nice to friends and strangers. We will probably never know how these gifts may have helped the person that received them. However, we may receive the same gift back that we just gave or more than likely one of these gifts from someone else. Life is about giving and receiving with thanksgiving.

“For if you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use to give—large or small—will be used to measure what is given back to you” (Luke 6:38 LB).





What is the virtue that will help identify a Believer with Jesus Christ? Jesus told the disciples, the night before His crucifixion, that they were to love each other. This would show all people that they were His disciples.

This command is alive and well today, and is for me and you. The disciples had been a little envious of each other. Jesus reminded them that they were to love each other as He had loved them. Not to be jealous of each other.

How much did Jesus love them? He loved them enough to give up His life for them. We are not talking about a part time love, once in a blue moon love, or only if people love us first. No, we are to demonstrate life giving love.

We are all identified by something. Listen to Jesus’ command and let your love shine bright into this dark world.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35 NIV).




How Amazing is God’s Amazing Grace? Well, I will tell you how Amazing His Grace is.
God revealed His Grace to the world by Jesus Christ. The gift of Grace can be received by repenting of sin and by faith. There is no shortage of His Grace and it is greater than all our sins, Ephesians 2:8-9.

We can receive Grace because God loves us and not because we deserve it or that we loved Him first.

It is by God’s Amazing Grace and the Holy Spirit that we come to the knowledge of the truth and are taught by it.

Truth is the moral Truth of God and is the bases for all Truth. God is Truth. According to the scriptures, you can’t separate God’s Grace and His Truth, Psalm 25:10. Everything God does is done in righteousness, mercy, Grace and Truth, with justice.

Scripture also records that our speech should always be with Amazing Grace. When it is, it is gracious, respectful, wise, holy, wholesome and desirable. If it isn’t, it will not be pleasing to the ears of others or the ears of God, Colossians 4:6.

When we pray to our Heavenly Father, we are going directly to the Throne of Grace with confidence, to receive His mercy and find His Grace to help us in whatever need we may have, Hebrews 4:16.
God’s Amazing Grace is what gives us Amazing Hope for today and tomorrow, and gives us our desire to serve Him.

Godly Hope is not wishful thinking, because it comes to us from God and it resides in us. It gives us a deep convicting assurance about the Bible, eternity past, the present, and eternity future.




An Epitaph is a few words on a grave stone in memory of someone. Most times when I visit a cemetery to put flowers on a family grave, I will look around and read some of the epitaphs.

What do you suppose your epitaph will tell everyone who stops to read it? To expect a nicely worded epitaph we must live our life towards that end.

Most often a person who knows Jesus and lives according to His commands will have an epitaph the family will give them.

Whether you are good or bad, when people view the grave stone they will write you an epitaph as they speak of your life.

Several people in Scripture definitely deserve a nicely worded epitaph as a tribute to the godly life they lived. Daniel is one of those persons. He was a man of prayer and faithfulness to God.

Jacob and Rachel’s first born son, Joseph was one who would have a good report for an epitaph. His life was full of adversity and success, but he fully trusted God in the good and bad situations.

The Apostle Paul is one of those persons too. He was a completed Jew, God’s dedicated messenger to the Gentiles, a Church planter, and a Missionary.

I know that we don’t want to think about what will be on our grave stone, but the point of thinking about this, is just to remind us that we should be living our lives in a godly way. Day by day and year in and year out.

Set your heart on God, pleasing Him, considerate of others, and your epitaph will be what you would have liked.