Stormie Omartian - The Praying Womans Devotional: Let Gods Word Change Your Life

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

All Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

These devotions are taken from The Power of a Praying Woman Bible.

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THE PRAYING WOMANS DEVOTIONAL

Copyright 2008 by Stormie Omartian

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-6341-1 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-6342-8 (eBook)

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C ONTENTS

I love reading the Word of God. I especially love it when the Scriptures I am reading inspire me to pray. And they always do. In this book I want to share with you certain verses I have chosen throughout the Bible, and how they have impressed my heart and mind and led me to pray specifically. I hope that as you read each one of these short Bible studies and devotional prayers, they will encourage you to see every verse of Gods Word as a source of inspiration to draw you into a closer walk with the Lord through ongoing prayer.

I pray that each Scripture presented here will lead you to read it in your own Bible so you can reach further into the rest of that passage or chapter. There is much to be gleaned from reading Scripture in the context of its surrounding material when you have the time or inclination to do so.

In this book you will find examples of how to pray for your life and the lives of those around you, as well as for your world and the things you care about most. You will learn what God asks us to do with regard to prayer and how we should respond to His direction. You will be reminded of the ways God wants you to pray and why.

May each devotional and prayer encourage you to go deeper into Gods Word to find the treasures God has for you there, and to pray in ways you might not otherwise have thought to pray. It is my prayer that each time you read in this book, it will bring inspiration for your day and hope for your future.

Stormie Omartian

Read and Consider

John 11:1-44

Jesus looked up and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me (John 11:41-42).

J esus showed up for a close friends funeralafter he had already been buried. He deliberately missed it all. When Lazarus became sick, his sisters sent word to Jesus. But Jesus stayed where He was for two more days, saying to His disciples, This sickness will not end in death (11:4), and then, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up (11:11). They didnt understand what He meant, so He finally told them, Lazarus is dead (11:14).

By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Mary and Martha found it hard not to express their disappointment with Him. They knew He could have healed their brother, but now they would have to wait until the resurrection to see him again. In response Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies (11:25).

When He arrived at the burial site, Jesus asked that the tomb be opened. When the stone was rolled away, Jesus prayed, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. But this sounded like the end of a prayer, not the beginning. Obviously, Jesus had been praying all along. He had been talking to His Father for days as He always did, but with full knowledge of this upcoming event.

It surely was difficult for Jesus to not be with His friends during this tragic time. But He talked with God and waited for the right moment so that God would be glorified in all that happened. He thanked His Father out loud for the benefit of all who were listening, and then He called Lazarus out of the tomb, grave clothes and all.

Jesus knew that His Father always heard Him. He knew days before that Lazarus would be resurrected. What a wonderful thing it is to be so certain that God always hears us when we pray. To trust completely that we are Gods very own children and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).

God wants us to believe that He always listens to our prayers and will answer. He wants us to have an ongoing conversation with Him that keeps us in tune with His will and His purpose. He wants us to remember that Jesus brings life no matter how dead and helpless things seem. We just need to keep praying and believe in His ability and desire to answer.

Father God, I thank You that I am Your child and a joint heir with Christ. Because of that, I can trust that You always hear my prayers. Help me to maintain ongoing communication with You, just as Jesus did, so that I may have a deep and abiding walk with You and You will be glorified by my life.

In Jesus name I pray.

Read and Consider

John 17:20-26

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you (John 17:20-21).

D id you know that Jesus prayed for you and me? In this passage Jesus was interceding for His followers, but He was also speaking ultimately to every believer down through the ages.

We who have come to faith in Jesus can listen back in time to this moment when the Lord prayed for us. We were on His mind as He prepared to lay down His life in order to provide forgiveness for our sins, abundant life now, and life with Him for eternity.

Jesus prayed for us to have unity with other believersacross the nations, across cultures, across time, across the street, across the room, across the sanctuary. He also prayed for us to have unity with Him and the Father and the Holy Spirit so that our lives would convince others of who He is. He declared His love for us and promised to share His glory with us. He prayed for our salvation so that we could be with Him forever, and He promised to continue to make Himself known to us so we could experience more and more of His love.