A Prayer for Employment

Our Heavenly Father is very interested in you and desires the very best for you. It is His will that you prosper and be in health as your soul prospers (III John 1). Be aware that God is not limited to meet your need or bless you through a paycheck, although He can certainly use a paycheck to do so. Always remember that God is your source and you are His very own child.
Keep the Word first place in your life. Do what God told Joshua in Joshua 1:8: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
We join our faith with yours as you pray this prayer:
“Father, in Jesus’ Name, I seek Your wisdom and trust You to direct me in seeking the job that is best for me. I will walk in mercy and truth and lean not unto my own understanding. Thank You for opening wide a door which no man can shut and for giving me favor.
“It is my desire, Father, to be debt-free and owe no man anything except to love him, according to Your Word. I am willing to work with my own hands, so that I lack nothing. I praise You that it is Your will that I am self-sufficient financially and have an abundance to meet all of my needs, with enough left over to give generously to others.
“I will not fret or have anxiety about anything, Father, for Your peace mounts guard over my heart and mind. Because You are my source, I have confidence, comfort and encouragement in Your provision. I thank You, Father, for supplying my need of employment according to Your riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Scripture References: Proverbs 3:3-5; Revelation 3:8; Psalms 5:12; Romans 13:8; I Thessalonians 4:11-12; II Corinthians 9:8 (The Amplified Bible); Philippians 4:6-7 (The Amplified Bible); II Corinthians 1:3 (The Amplified Bible); Philippians 4:19.

Grace is Power

When it comes to grace, people usually go wrong in one of two ways.
We either think that we’re too far gone for it and dismiss it.
Or we take it for granted and abuse it.
While they’re on opposite ends of the spectrum, they’re actually just two different expressions of the same problem:
They both view grace as weakness.
The first group lives as if grace is too weak to rescue them.
The second group lives as if grace is too weak to transform them.
Both are wrong. Grace isn’t weakness.
Grace is power. It is power to save and to transform. To cover all of our sins and remove them from our lives. To get you off the hook and to get you into the zone of transformation.
Check out 1 Corinthians 15:9-10:
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
I love that. First Paul relates with those of us who think you’re the exception to God’s grace. If there was ever a candidate, it was Paul. Not you. And apparently his sin wasn’t too powerful for God’s infinitely more powerful grace. And neither is yours.
Then he comes in and punches those of us who abuse it in the mouth. God’s grace is not without effect. Grace isn’t just a cheap perfume you splash on to cover the stench of your sins. It’s the power to change your life from the inside out.
Grace is power.
Power to save. Power to live right. Power to talk right. Power to walk right. Power to give. Power to forgive. Power to do anything God calls you to do in His name. Power to pray. Power to overcome.
Paul could have lived in perpetual guilt for what he had done. Or he could have taken advantage of what God had done for him. But he didn’t. And look at what he became.
You have the same options.
Embrace the power of God’s grace and imagine what you’ll become.

Resource of the Day: Another overlooked aspect of grace is that it doesn’t just rescue you from a life engrossed in sin. It also keeps you from it. If you’re like me and don’t have the most dramatic testimony, check out this post for some encouragement and motivation for praising God for what He has kept you from: Grace redefined.

Finding Confidence In God

By Dr. Charles Stanley

Lam. 3:21-26

God’s people have only one way to face life: confidently. After all, He loves us, has saved us from eternal death, and is committed to guiding us through every moment of life. God wants us to live confidently—but too often we allow feelings of personal inadequacy and unworthiness to derail our faith.

The apostle Paul lived through horrendous circumstances—rejected by his Jewish peers, stoned, abandoned for dead, ridiculed, ignored, and often beaten and imprisoned for his devotion to Christ. But Paul continued to maintain a confident hope, right up to the very end. How did he manage this?

The apostle recalled one simple truth: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). He focused on his Lord, just as Jeremiah had: “Great is Your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I have hope in Him”’ (Lam. 3:23, 24).

The classic hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” expands on this important idea. The next time you sing it, don’t miss its wonderful message: God is faithful and does not change (Heb. 13:8). In this one truth, we find our reason for hope and unwavering confidence. The Lord’s unchanging nature teaches us that even when we feel unlovely, we remain beautiful to Him. We can do nothing to change His love for us—it is unconditional and flows freely from His throne of grace. He never changes, and He is faithful to keep all of His promises.

Do you trust God? Have you experienced the strong assurance that comes from placing your faith in His unfailing love? He loved you unconditionally yesterday, and He loves you with the same love today and tomorrow—forever. Therefore, roll the burden of your heart onto Him, and you will discover that you, too, can sing, “Great is Thy faithfulness.”

Adapted from "The Charles F. Stanley’s Life Principles Bible," 2008.