Opening Prayer: Heavenly Father above, another week has passed us by. Each day You bless us with a new adventure. We meet new people, get new opportunities to spread our God-given wings and glorify Your being. We are so thankful, merciful Father, for You guiding our every step. Without Your constant lead, we'd go astray like sheep, lost and easily captured by the prince of darkness. And though our work is difficult, Lord, we know You will not give us any burden we can not carry. Thank you, Lord, for being so just to us, even when we are not worthy of Your grace. In Christ name we pray, AMEN.
"And in every work that [Hezekiah] began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered" 2 Chronicles 31:21.
Have you ever done something but there was no joy in the action? Maybe a kindness towards someone less fortunate? Perhaps you helped a friend? Maybe it was even a ministry act, you spread the word of Christ! But, despite the good intentions, you feel no pleasure in the actions. They are done with hopes that one can earn salvation through works, but these are false teachings. In order to do something with all your heart, there must be personal pleasure. Some think this to be an absurd thought because good deeds should not be done for personal gain (whether tangible or intangible). This is quite true! However, if you do a deed with your whole heart, you will feel joy naturally, even when that was not the intention of it. Making the Lord happy by doing His work will, in turn, make you a happier individual! And when we are happy laboring for God, He will be sure to have us prosper, just as He did for Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles.
The Lord likes to see us happy, just as a human father takes pleasure in the joy of his child. We are the Lord's children, after all! Even as we suffer, He calls for us to be joyful, because doing such builds us to be a better Christian(Romans 5:3,4). If we have absolute faith in the Lord, nothing can bring us down, whether mental or physical. If He leads us to it, He will lead us through it! He can do this only if we believe He can. We cause ourselves so much unnecessary pain and discomfort, not to mention failures, by not believing the Lord will, or has the ability to, lead us through certain things. When this is said, many think of trials, but that isn't just it. When we work for the Lord, whether it be ministry work, or using the abilities He's given us to do good, we must have faith in Him. When the work gets difficult, we must remain joyful, knowing He does not intend to leave us hanging by ourselves.
It can be discouraging, sometimes, when we work so hard and have nothing come of it. All through the difficult mission, we speak to our Heavenly Father and ask for His guidance and aid, but it seems as if He is ignoring us. Sometimes it even seems as if He hears us, and puts more on our shoulders to make us fail even worse! But if we look to 2 Chronicles 21:31, we can see that we only prosper if we do the work with ALL our heart. This means we do everything in our power to make it happen, which is more than just praying. However, as I have spelled out quite numerously above, it also means do it with a light and joyful heart. Only if these terms are to be met, may we prosper in the name of the Lord.
"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you" John 15:7.
If the Father and you are one in the same, you will not desire something He doesn't wish for you to have. If you ask for nothing he doesn't already desire for you, then He will surely reward you those things you ask for. In order to have Him abiding in you and you in Him, we must work with all our heart in His honor. Labor that goes to glorifying the Father will strengthen your bond with Him, and make His wishes, your desires. Only at this point will you prosper by His grace. And when you find joy in the Father's pleasure, work will be a blessing to you when it's in His honor.
Closing Prayer: Father above, work is hard when the world is against us and our teachings. But, Lord, we know You know our pain and suffering first hand, for You experienced it all and more. But despite the hardships, we pray You give us the everlasting strength to find pleasure in our doings, knowing they please You. So as this week approaches, we pray You bring forth opportunities to honor and glorify You, and make us feel rejoicing in doing so. Only by Your grace, can we find the saving of others, doing Your work, to be a heart warming blessing. Lord, give us the compassion to love all that we do, because we know we do it for You with all our heart. In Christ's name we pray, AMEN.
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