Daily Devotions
July 10th, 2017 by Pastor Solley1 John 1:1-4 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
KJV
I have been speaking on Sunday morning of the abundant life experienced by the Apostle John after he was born again, about the joy John had in the Lord. (Verse 4) I want now to look at the rewards received by John for living such a life, rewards he received in this world, not in heaven. We call these blessings but as we look now at John we can call them rewards. First, John experienced a deep prayer life. (1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.) There are some in the Bible who prayed, and is seems everything they ask for was granted by God. Elijah asked for the rain to stop and it did for three years. When he asked God to open the heavens there was a flood. Elisha asked that his servant be able to see the unseen world of angels and that man’s eyes were opened to see horses and chariots surrounding and protecting the man of God. Daniel prayed and mouths of lions were shut. It was not as if they asked for small things, they asked for great things and God granted their requests. John it seems was the same. The Holy Spirit did not give those men words to write that were beyond where they were living, John prayed and God gave him the requests that he brought to the Lord. How can we experience that type of prayer life? That is what I want to look at this week. Let me say this morning that to experience that type of prayer life we need to pray. How much time will you spend in prayer this day? Not the quick “Help me” prayers that we often utter, but how much time will you spend apart and alone with God? This is a busy world we live in, we will do many things this day, but how much of our day will be devoted to a quiet time with God in prayer?