Priscilla Shirer - Awaken: 90 Days with the God who Speaks

Copyright 2017 by Priscilla Shirer

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

978-1-4627-7634-4

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 242.643

Subject Heading: DEVOTIONAL LITERATURE \ CHRISTIAN LIFE \ WOMEN

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is taken from the New American Standard Bible ( nasb ), copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

Also used: Christian Standard Bible ( csb ), copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible, and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.

Also used: English Standard Version. ESV Permanent Text Edition (2016). Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Also used: Scripture taken from the New King James Version ( nkjv ), copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Also used: New International Version, NIV copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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For Aunt Jo

Introduction

O ne of the gifts that comes with age is an appreciation for some of the more simple, more commonplace things that seem mundane earlier in ones life. As the years pass, the hidden treasure to be found in humble and unpretentious virtues becomes more accentuatedthings like rest, silence, and the joy of an ordinary day. The attraction toward activity and achievement lessens, becoming slowly, steadily, and appropriately replaced by an interest in more internal matters.

Thats why I dont think I could have penned a devotional in my early twenties. I was too busy. Both externally and internally. If Id tried, Id likely have missed out on some of the personal joy to be found in the process of savoring, meditating, and pondering the many verses and lessons youll peruse in these pages. I would have been rushing to finish rather than being able to glean from the journey that has led to this finishing point. But God is gracious, allowing me to wait until this stage in my life before publishing these devotional entreswhen my children are older, my ambitions more leveled, and my interest in timeless spiritual disciplines like prayer and Scripture meditation more intensified.

The majority of what youll encounter here are personal whispers from Gods Spirit to my own soul over the last decade. I didnt initially write them with the intention of publishing them, but simply to chronicle my own personal time with the Lord, captured in store-bought spiral notebooks filled with wide-ruled paper. To be honest, Ive encountered far more insightful and discerning devotional books than this onerich and timeless compilations from generations past, volumes that have been the framework for my own spiritual formation.

And yet however humble, what I do have, I give to you.

These passages and devotional thoughts have often challenged me, at other times encouraged me, but every time they have transformed me in some significant wayredirecting my focus, shifting my perspective, compelling me to action, and purifying my inner motivations. But not without investing time and quiet into the process. Somewhere along the way as Ive grown older, Ive discovered how much treasure is available beyond the surface reading of a Bible verse. Ive learned not just to scan it but to do business with it to wait underneath the revealing spotlight of Gods Spirit until some aspect of my frailty is exposed and brought to the tenderness of His sanctifying work.

I want this same experience for you too. Which is why Ive peppered each lesson with He Speaks to Me invitationsadditional passages to read or look up, as well as journaling pages to help support you in your own times of sacred waiting before God. I hope they encourage you in the life-altering disciplines that will make each days devotional worth the investment of time youll put in. Contemplate and then record what God is showing you about Himself, about yourself , and what Hes calling you to notice and respond to in the lives of others. Dont feel pressure to use these extra little nuances every day, but dont be too busy not to use them either. The praying, listening, meditating, and recording part is where the internal workthe important worktakes place. Its why devotions matter.

May these passages bring an added layer of dimension, or even just some renewed direction, to your own exchange with the Savior over the next ninety days. Whether young or old, may you be encouraged and realigned toward the simple beauty of sitting with Him, hearing Him, speaking to Him, and being enlightened by His love letter to you. Im praying youll be beckoned away each day from the fast-paced, temporal whirlwind of lesser (though necessary) tasks and be refocused on greater thingsthings that arent applauded and appreciated by most, but are eternally recognized by One... the One who makes life worth living. The One who wants to Awaken you each day to the sound of His voice.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Jude 2425

Day 1

Morning

They gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt.

Exodus 16:21

T heres something about what happens once the sun warms up. The heat of the days trials. The energy-stealing blaze of its pressures and events. Worries can intervene in those afternoon hours, when time is racing past so quickly, when were certain we cant handle them within the amount of daylight thats left to us. Sometimes such stresses can be overwhelming and brazen enough to melt us in our tracks, causing the strength and resolve of our hearts to weaken and disappear.

And while this reality is as current and relevant as the day youre living right now, its also as old as an entire generation of Old Testament Israelites. They emerged from their tents at first light each morning, eager to gather Gods gift of manna that He had strewn across the ground overnight. This was a critical part of their day. An appointed activity. For they knew, once the sun ascended toward its towering position in the sky, this bread from heaven would melt away. Yes, the collection in their bowl would be more than ample for the days requirements. They would be able to serve their families and be assured of Gods provision, based on the abundant measure of what Hed given them. But they would need to wait until next morning before theyd find it new again, ready for another days work.

Perhaps this ancient illustration depicts for us the reason why our hearts so often stir for a fresh word from Godfresh breadearly in the morning, before the heat of the day has set in.

I realize not everyone is a morning person. I realize, too, depending on your stage of life and your weekly schedule, your morning may occur at various, uncustomary hours of the day. But Im convinced that morning is a principle, not merely a time of day. It signifies a position of priority, a place of preeminence.