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Day 5 of 21 Day Prayer Challenge

1/7/2022

Day 5: OBEDIENCE

OBEY! When I hear that word, I cringe a little bit. I hear, “Do what I tell you, now!” But this word is essential to our faith as Christians. This word is more than just “do what you’re told to do.” It is more than a list of commands—it is a word which describes the essence of the Christian faith.

Obedience for Christians must stem from a desire, rather than a sense of duty. If you look at obedience as a list of things you HAVE to do, you are probably going to resist it and think it is a burden. However, if you have the mindset of love and respect for God, you obey because you WANT to—out of love for Him.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

John 15:14
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (Jesus speaking)

John 14:23-24
“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him. ‘He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.’”

Ask yourself:
- Am I obeying God? What has He prompted me to do that I have not yet done?
- About what things do I refuse to listen to God?
- Am I open to what God has to say about my life?
- Am I open to obeying God today?

Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, please give me a spirit of obedience. Help me to serve and obey you out of a willing spirit. May those around me see your love in me. If there is anything I have been disobedient with, forgive me, gracious Lord. As you have commanded, let me obey. Amen.

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Day 4 of 21 Day Prayer Challenge

1/6/2022

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Day 4: Love

Love is one of those words we throw around quite loosely, isn’t it? We love hot dogs, we love our families, and we love God. What is interesting to me is that God has called us to live our lives according to this word. We are called to love God with all our hearts but also to love our neighbors. How can we do that? How do we love people who are difficult to love? They drive you crazy, and they don’t listen. Yet, when we think of Jesus, we see someone who loved even those who killed Him. That makes loving our neighbors a little easier, doesn’t it?

We have pretty much all seen this passage at some point.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails.”

Notice how each of the positive things in that list describe God. For example, God is patient, God is kind, always protects, etc. You and I, however, look more like the negative things on that list. We envy, boast, are proud, dishonor others, etc. If we are called to love, as God loves, we need to see ourselves the same.

Now read this passage below and place YOUR NAME in the blanks while you read it:

_________ is patient, __________ is kind. __________ does not envy, __________ does not boast, __________ is not proud. ____________ does not dishonor others, ___________ is not self-seeking, ________ is not easily angered, ____________ keeps no record of wrongs. __________ does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ___________ always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ___________ never fails.

I know when I put my name in there; it does not really describe me perfectly. By ourselves, we are not perfect in love. But God is! We cannot love others the way He loves us until we recognize we need Him in our lives. We are not those things above, but God is because God is love.

1 John 4:19
“We love each other because he loved us first.”

Have you ever really thought about this? Have you ever really reflected on God’s love for you? Can we really live and love the way God loves us? These are some great questions to think about today.

Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, please give me a heart like yours—a heart that loves others as you love. Help me to show love to everyone I meet today. Amen.

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Day 3 of 21 Day Prayer Challenge

1/5/2022

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Day 3: Hope

I don’t know about you, but there are times in my life where I feel like things are not going the way I want them to. The news hits us and it’s almost all bad. The diagnosis comes, and it isn’t good. Then everything seems to happen all at once. It’s like there is no break. The world is aching and hurting. We are aching and hurting. It can be quite weary at times. It’s a feeling of despair.

While all those things might feel very real to you, I’m here to tell you that God breaks in to offer hope in the midst of our weariness.

You see, God is the author of hope. His very name and His being is the definition of hope. God gives us comfort in our discomfort. He frees us from whatever bondage we are in. When we don’t feel like getting up in the morning, He is the reason we can get up. Jesus is risen and He is the hope of the world. The hope God gives is something the world cannot crush.

Read and reflect on these verses on HOPE:

Psalm 119: 114
“You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your Word.”

Psalm 31: 24
“Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for and hope for and expect the Lord!”

Lamentations 3: 24
“The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being; therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.”

Proverbs 13: 12
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.”

Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, that you give me purpose. Continue to reveal your purpose for me. Grant me an ear to only listen to your truth about me, and not the opinions of others. Help me to see the hope that your Word proclaims. Amen.

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Day 2 of 21 Day Prayer Challenge

1/4/2022

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Day 2: Faith

We all have something we want to accomplish. We all have goals we want to accomplish, but where is the line between just saying it and making it a reality?

I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I have heard, “Just have faith” come out of someone’s mouth. Sometimes “just having faith” is harder than it sounds because of the situation we are going through at the time. I do believe that “having faith” is essential in our walk with Jesus. But daily living by faith is completely different. Anyone can say, “I have faith,” but if we are not ready to prove that we do, what good is it anyway?

Sometimes having faith means engaging in something so bold that you will end up looking ridiculous if Jesus doesn’t come through. Ultimately, hearing the Word initiates faith; speaking the Word activates faith; doing the Word demonstrates faith.

2 Corinthians 5:7
“We live by faith, not by sight.”

Romans 10:17
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”

James 2:17
“So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.”

Hebrews 11:1-39

Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, please reveal to me where my faith is lacking or where it needs to have actions behind it. Allow me to have a complete faith in you, that I may have the courage to live by faith. Amen.

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Devotions with Pastor Michael De Haan

1/3/2022

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Day 1: Your Heart

If you’re like me, you know that you should pray more. We know that prayer is important, that God hears our prayers, and that God loves it when we come before him with our hearts, our praise, and our requests. Yet we still struggle to pray. Why is prayer so challenging at times? I have talked to many people who struggle with the concept of prayer. What I have observed is that a lot of times our prayers are scattered and unfocused. Often, scattered prayer makes it hard to focus well on what God is speaking into our lives. Unfocused prayer also keeps us from having a deeper and richer connection with God. I want a deeper connection with God. I want to pray more. I want to have better prayers.

Think of prayer like a conversation with a friend, a child, or a spouse. If your conversations are minimal, random, and unfocused, you will rarely connect in any significant way. Sure, you might have some interesting stories to share. But at a heart level, you won’t connect if the conversation remains scattered. The same is true in our relationship with God. We need to have a regular connection with God that is purposeful and intentional.

I have heard that it takes 21 consecutive days of participating in an activity for your body and mind to make it a habit. So, if we participated in something for 21 days in a row, it will be easier for us to continue that activity because our mind made it a normal part of our daily activities. This is where the idea of a 21-day prayer challenge comes from. If we could commit to praying for 21 days, prayer could be a normal part of our daily lives.

Over the next 21 days, my hope is that these emails will help direct prayers to God about different topics, and that after this challenge is completed, prayer would be a part of your daily life as a habit. Sometimes we need a plan, a guide, or a template to help us get started. That’s where this guide comes in—offering some direction to keep our minds from wandering. Even when the 21 days are over, the challenge can be repeated—just start over from the beginning.

I firmly believe God will honor this journey. My prayer for you is that the next 21 days of this prayer challenge will help you grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ.

Begin today by praying for your heart to be softened and open to what God has to say for the next 21 days. Take some time and reflect on these passages about your heart.

EZEKIEL 11:19-20
“And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.”

This comes through self-examination and repentance of every way in us that is contrary to the way that God intends for us. When we spend time in His Word daily and meditate on what it is saying to us, God begins His transforming work in us.

Matthew 12:35
“Good people bring good things out of their hearts, but evil people bring evil things out of their hearts.”

Romans 12:1-2
“So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.”

If God is going to soften your heart, it will involve breaking some resistant parts. So, if there is pain in this process, continue to hold tight to Jesus. You are asking for your heart to feel again, trust that God will carry you through the pain.

Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, please reveal anything that has hardened my heart. Help my heart to be broken by what breaks yours. Reveal yourself to me and soften my heart over these next 21 days. Amen.

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Devotions with Pastor Delinda Jeronimo

1/1/2022

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I am completely directionally challenged. Most of the time I know left from right, and then there’s up and down and back and forth, I’m really good at those, but I’m even better at getting lost!

I was in college and in my early years of ministry back in the good ol’ days, before we had GPS on our phones. It was this separate expensive thing that existed but not everyone had. My family would joke that they were going to buy me a GPS (eventually they did ). I remember I would print out a Google map when I needed to go somewhere (I’m not THAT old, there was at least internet and Google Maps.) I had to have it to drive from Olathe to my small town home of Ulysses. I had to have it to get around in Kansas City. I did have a cell phone back then, when minutes counted and you paid for every letter in a text.

If I got lost, which was often, I called my mom on my “emergencies only” phone, or I stopped for directions (but only if I was on a timeline). I actually liked the adventure in getting lost and it didn’t bother me much unless someone was counting on me or I had to be somewhere at a certain time.

I remember one night shortly after I graduated Mid America, when I was working in Kansas City, Missouri. I got on the road home and they were doing road work and had the only way that I knew home completely blocked off, I was SO lost, it was dark and I had no idea where to go! My sense of adventure kicked in and I found a thrift shop and decided I’d seize the moment and explore a little. I was walking the aisles when I got a feeling I was being followed. Someone was nearly breathing down my neck as I was looking through some artwork. I decided I’d nonchalantly move on to a different section that I figured the guy wasn’t interested in, women’s shoes. He followed. I moved through a few different sections and he lingered. I chose something tiny to purchase in order to get out of there but have someone see my face (do I watch too many crime shows or what?) He followed me to the register. He was two people behind me and had nothing in his hand. I was convinced I was about to become an episode of Criminal Minds. After I checked out, I ran out of the store and to my car, I fumbled with the keys. I just knew he was coming out of the store headed my way. I finally got the right key in the door jumped in and locked the doors. I was never so glad to see something in my rearview mirror. As I drove away, I called my mom frantic, and couldn’t get a hold of her. I called a couple friends, no one answered the phone! I was driving around aimlessly and all I wanted was to get home. Adventure over, I was lost.

We can follow directions and get to our desired destination. We can ignore them and get lost. We can let our sense of adventure take over and take advantage of getting lost. But all that is needed is to to find a good road map or directions from someone who knows the way. The Bible has provided a road map, a way to get on the good road, a way to get away from the evil lurking behind you, following you around looking to derail you. Billy Graham says “Jesus did not say, ‘I am one of the ways, or one of the roads you can take to get to the Father.’ What He said was, ‘I am THE way.’”

As I look in the rearview mirror and see 2021 getting further away and 2022 is in my windshield I am banking on God’s directions to keep me on the good road and planning to spend more time with Him and in the “good Map” with the only one I can truly count on and truly understand. What about you, how are you committed in the coming year to staying on the right road? Reading your Bible more, getting involved in a Bible study or Small Group? Leading one? I pray this year leads you down the road to furthering your growing relationship with Jesus Christ!

“Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14 May God bless you and your family in this coming year!
Pastor Delinda

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from The Woods @Wanamaker

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Day 5 of 21 Day Prayer Challenge

Day 5: OBEDIENCE

Day 4 of 21 Day Prayer Challenge

Day 3 of 21 Day Prayer Challenge

Day 2 of 21 Day Prayer Challenge

Devotions with Pastor Michael De Haan

Devotions with Pastor Delinda Jeronimo

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Devotions from The Woods @WanamakerNeed Prayer From Our Pastors? Click Here​​

Day 5 of 21 Day Prayer Challenge

​Day 5: OBEDIENCE

Day 4 of 21 Day Prayer Challenge

Day 3 of 21 Day Prayer Challenge

Day 2 of 21 Day Prayer Challenge

Devotions with Pastor Michael De Haan

Devotions with Pastor Delinda Jeronimo

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Devotions
from The Woods @Wanamaker

Need Prayer From Our Pastors? Click Here

Day 5: OBEDIENCE