Fourth Day: Morning - A Diary of Private Prayer: A Devotional Classic by John Baillie

Fourth Day - Morning


  Almighty and eternal God,
  Thou art hidden from my sight:
  Thou art beyond the understanding of my mind:
  Thy thoughts are not as my thoughts:
  Thy ways are past finding out.


  Yet hast Thou breathed Thy Spirit into my life:
  Yet hast Thou formed my mind to seek Thee:
  Yet hast Thou inclined my heart to love Thee:
  Yet hast Thou made me restless for the rest that is in Thee:
  Yet hast Thou planted within me a hunger and thirst that make me dissatisfied with all the joys of earth.


  O Lord God, I praise and magnify Thy name that thus Thou hast set Thy seal upon my inmost being, not leaving me to my own poor and petty selfhood or to the sole empire of animal passion and desire, but calling me to be an heir of Thine eternal Kingdom.  I bless Thee for that knocking at my heart's door that warns me of Thy waiting presence.  I bless Thee for Thy hand upon my life, and for the sure knowledge that, however I may falter and fail, yet underneath are Thine everlasting arms.


  O Thou who alone knowest what lies before me this day, grant that in every hour of it I may stay close to Thee.  Let me be in the world, yet not of it.  Let me use this world without abusing it.  If I buy, let me be as though I possessed not.  If I have nothing, let me be as though possessing all things.  Let me to-day embark on no undertaking that is not in line with Thy will for my life, nor shrink from any sacrifice which Thy will may demand.  Suggest, direct, control every movement of my mind; for my Lord Christ's sake. Amen.

Quiet time on Titus 3 (NIV)

For a quick read of Titus 3 (NIV) click the link below:
http://religionhelps.blogspot.com/2010/10/titus-3-new-international-version.html 


A. Things That Need to Be, Titus 3: 1-2


“1 Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, 2 to malign no one, to be uncontentious, gentle, showing every consideration for all men."



1. What does Paul tell Titus to do in 3:1? 


2. How many things does he tell them to do? Is there anything odd about the list?


3. How many items address the topic of obedience? Why might he have this emphasis?


4. From this list, what positive character attributes should characterize God’s people?


5. What are some negative character traits we are to refrain from?


6. Discussion Questions: Paul is here instructing Titus on how Christians should act. Why do Christians need to be reminded about how to live? If they have the Holy Spirit, should they not naturally do what is good?


B. Things that should not be (Titus 3:3)


"For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another."


7. Who is Paul talking about here in verse 3:3? Who is the ‘we?’


8. How does he describe our past lives?


9. What areas did you once entertain?


10.What is the difference between hateful and ‘hating one another?’ Why are they two items?


11.Use other words to describe each of the above items. If one still lives in such a way, make sure one repents and asks the Lord to cleanse.


12. Discussion Questions: Why is it that it is so common and typical that we all would live lives contrary to what is good? Can we say what is good or bad? Is there such a thing as children living in an innocent stage? Why or why not? When in life does man or child become bad? Why so?


C. Things that should not be (Titus 3:3)


"But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared."
13.When did things begin to change for the better (3:3)? 


14.Describe what happened in your own words. 


15.Did God’s kindness appear to you? How so? How old? Did you see the significant change.


16. Discussion questions. In this and the following verses indicate that Jesus Christ was more than just a man; He was God Himself. What difference does it make? How is it possible?

Third Day - Morning - A Diary of Private Prayer: A Devotional Classic by John Baillie

Third Day – Morning

  Lord of my life, whose law I fain would keep, whose fellowship I fain would enjoy, and to whose service I would fain be loyal. I kneel before Thee as Thou sendest me forth to the work of another day.

  For this new day I give Thee humble thanks: for its gladness and its brightness: for its long hours waiting to be filled with joyous and helpful labour: for its open doors of possibility: for its hope of new beginnings.  Quicken in my heart, I beseech Thee, the desire to avail myself richly of this day’s opportunity.  Let me not break faith with any of yesterday’s promises, nor leave unrepaired any of yesterday’s wrongs.  Let me see no fellow traveller in distress and pass by on the other side.  Let me leave no height of duty behind me unattempted,  nor any evil habit unassaulted.  Where deed of mine can help to make this world a better place for men to live in, where word of mine can cheer a despondent heart or brace a weak will, where prayer of mine can serve the extension of Christ’s Kingdom, there let me do and speak and pray

  This day, O Lord –

    give me courtesy:

    give me meekness of bearing, with decision of character:

    give me longsuffering:

    give me charity:

    give me chastity:

    give me sincerity of speech:

    give me diligence in my allotted task.

  O Thou who in the fullness of time didst raise up our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to enlighten our hearts with the knowledge of Thy love, grant me the grace to be worthy of His name. Amen.

Second Day, Evening - A Diary of Private Prayer: A Devotional Classic by John Baillie

Second Day – Evening

  O Father in heaven, who didst fashion my limbs to serve Thee and my soul to follow hard after Thee, with sorrow and contrition of heart I acknowledge before Thee the faults and failures of the day that is now past. Too long, O Father, have I tried thy patience; too often have I betrayed the sacred trust Thou hast given me to keep; yet Thou art still willing that I should come to Thee in lowliness of heart, as now I do, beseeching Thee to drown my transgressions in the sea of Thine own infinite love.

  My failure to be true even to my own accepted standards:

  My self-deception in face of temptation:

  My choosing of the worse when I know the better:

          O Lord, forgive.

  My failure to apply to myself the standards of conduct I demand of others:

  My blindness to the suffering of others and my slowness to be taught by my own:

  My complacence towards wrongs that do not touch my own case and my oversensitiveness to  those that do:

  My slowness to see the good in my fellows and to see the evil in myself:

  My hardness of heart towards my neighbours’ faults and my readiness to make allowance for my own:

  My unwillingness to believe that Thou hast called me to a small work and my brother to a great one:

        O Lord, forgive.

  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and give me the strength of a willing spirit.  Amen.

Quiet time on Titus 3 (NIV)

Titus 3: 5-9

Second Day - Morning - A Diary of Private Prayer: A Devotional Classic by John Baillie

  O God my Creator and Redeemer, I may not go forth to-day except Thou dost accompany me with Thy blessing.  Let not the vigour and freshness of the morning, or the glow of good health, or the present prosperity of my undertakings, deceive me into a false reliance upon my own strength.  All these good gifts have come to me from Thee. They were Thine to give and they are Thine also to curtail.  They are not mine to keep; I do but hold them in trust; and only in continued dependence upon Thee, the Giver, can they be worthily enjoyed.

  Let me then put back into Thine hand all that Thou hast given me, rededicating to Thy service all the powers of my mind and body, all my worldly goods, all my influence with other men.  All these, O Father, are Thine to use as Thou wilt.  All these are Thine, O Christ.  All these are Thine, O Holy Spirit.  Speak Thou in my words to-day, think in my thoughts, and work in all my deeds.  And seeing that it is Thy gracious will to make use even of such weak human instruments in the fulfilment of Thy mighty purpose for the world, let my life to-day be the channel through which some little portion of Thy divine love and pity may reach the lives that are nearest to my own.

  In Thy solemn presence, O God, I remember all my friends and neighbours, my fellow townsfolk, and especially the poor within our gates, beseeching Thee that Thou wouldst give me grace, so far as in me lies, to serve them in Thy name.

  O blessed Jesus, who dist use Thine own most precious life for the redemption of Thy human brethren, giving no though to ease or pleasure or worldly enrichment, but filling up all Thine hours and days with deeds of self-denying love, give me grace to-day to follow the road Thou didst first tread; and to Thy name be all the glory and the praise, even unto the end. Amen.

First Day - A Diary of Private Prayer - A Devotional Classic by John Baillie

  Eternal Father of my soul, let my first thought to day be of Thee, let my first impulse be to worship Thee, let my first speech be Thy name, let my first action be to kneel before Thee in prayer.

  For Thy perfect wisdom and perfect goodness:

  For the love wherewith Thou lovest mankind:

  For the love wherewith Thou lovest me:

  For the great and mysterious opportunity of my life:

  For the indwelling of Thy Spirit in my heart:

  For the sevenfold gifts of Thy Spirit:

                                  I Praise and Worship Thee, O Lord.

  Yet let me not, when this morning prayer is said, think my worship ended and spend the day in forgetfulness of Thee.  Rather from these moments of quietness let light go forth, and joy, and power, that will remain with me through all the hours of the day;

  Keeping me chaste in though:

  Keeping me temperate and truthful in speech:

  Keeping me faithful and diligent in my work:

  Keeping me humble in my estimation of myself:

  Keeping me honourable and generous in my dealings with others:

  Keeping me loyal to every hallowed memory of the past:

  Keeping me mindful of my eternal destiny as a child of Thine.

  O God, who hast been the Refuge of my fathers through many generations, be my Refuge to-day in every time and circumstance of need. Be my Guide through all that is dark and doubtful. Be my Guard against all that threatens my spirit’s welfare.  Be my Strength in time of testing.  Gladden my heart with Thy peace; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

God Has a Plan for Your Life

God Has  a Plan for Your Life


All the days ordained me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:16)


How can we be assure of becoming a success in this life of our?
• By doing things God’s way!


Why must we do God’s way?
• It’s because God has developed a perfect plan for our life.
• A plan which IF FOLLOWED, will lead us to a fulfilled and a meaningful life!
• A life in which we will have contentment and joy in everything we do.


So what exactly is success?
• One definition could be: “success is the continuing realization of a worthwhile goal.”


What does continuing realization mean?
• Each day as we take a step (no matter how big or small it is) forward toward realization of one of our objectives or goals, then, we are already successful for that particular day!  With this as our definition of success, each of us can be successful every sing day for the rest of our lives!


What is a worthwhile goal then?
• Worthwhile, could simply relate to the objectives and goals we set for ourselves because they are reflective of the things God really wants us to do!


Why should the goal be reflective of the things God really wants us to do?
• Because God knows what is best for us!


Overcoming Procrastination and Inertia


There are 2 areas where we need to overcome before we can discover and live by God’s plan!  They are: a) PROCRASTINATION and 2) INERTIA.


The Dangers of Procrastination
• Put off doing one thing and another thing gets piled on top of it, on and on until you have a mountain of things to do!
• Inertia will sets in!


The Dangers of Inertia
• We are so overwhelm from the pile of works to be done (because of procrastination) that we do not know where to begin!
• So we simply do not start to solve the problem and inertia sets in!
• Before long, anxiety becomes a factor!


Both procrastination and inertia were leading to stagnation and defeat! Do not underestimate the dangers of procrastination and inertia!


How do we take actions to overcome procrastination?


First, Make a List


The first step to overcome procrastination:
• Identify those areas in our life where we have been procrastinating.
• Begin by making a list of the various areas of our life.
• Examples are: God, Family, Jobs, Relationships, Finances, Future Ambitions.


The second step would be:
• Make a list of all the things we have left undone in the key areas of our lives.


Other possible hurdles and challenges that will stop us from taking the first step:-
• The Pain of acknowledging some of certain affected key areas  of our lives could be intense that we cannot even put them on a list!
• Denial that we are not procrastinating.
• Lying to our self that we do not have this problem.


How do we overcome this?
• Ask God to help us begin to be honest with our self.

Areas of Procrastination	Priority
	A-C-B	1-2-3
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

A:  Areas of procrastination which would relieve the most pressure.
B:  Areas of procrastination that do not give the most or the least pressure
C: Areas of procrastination that would relieve the least pressure.
1: The Highest Priority to be carried out
2: Neither Highest nor Lowest Priority to be carried out
3: The Lowest Priority to be carried out


First identify all the areas of procrastination by A, B, and C.
Then set a priority number to the Abs, and follow to the Bs and Cs.
 
Now Move into Action


• After identifying the areas of our life that are bogged down due to procrastination, we need to CODE IT so that we know what needs priority and what needs not!
• The next step now is to decide WHAT to do and WHEN to do them!
• Look at all the A-1 areas of procrastination, develop a plan for doing all of them within a certain time frame
• Tackle those items which take relatively little time quickly.
• After resolving them, the achievements would be a source of encouragement to get them done and out of the way!
• The key with each one is to take the first sep and then decide what other next step is and when we will take them and overcome procrastination one step at a time!
• As we move through the list, we will gain more and more confidence and encouragements.
• Note: we might discover that some of the tough items are not so tough  at all! Or those that we set as high priority are not as important as we thought! Or certain things should not even be on the list to be done at ALL!!! So we need to decide wiser when we list down the next day list to overcome! 


What is the key to success in overcoming procrastination for life?
• We need to set aside the time in advance to deal with each areas of our life that are affected by procrastination.
• Dedicate a certain time each day, at the same time, to clear the list!
• Once we gain traction and a sense of momentum, we need to maintain it!  This is called discipline!


The fruits of overcoming procrastination
• We know the relief and pleasure that come from overcoming procrastination
• We became more diligent in getting things done first thing first
• We are more focus in our day-to-day planning
• We can free more time to do other more rewarding things
• We are free to move forward in obedience to the plan God has prepared for us.
Remember: Procrastination is always dangerous – in the realm of the spirit and everywhere else!


Setting Goals: Signposts to the Future


Once we have overcome procrastination, the next step is to SET GOALS which we believe to be consistent with God’s plan for us.


How do we define “goal”?
• Our definition is, “a very specific objective, measurable in time and quantity.”
• The more measurable it is, the more effective it will prove to be a device to move us in our intended direction!
• Goals are MOTIVATORS OF LIFE! It is something that keeps us moving forward instead of stagnant like what procrastination did.
• It is the setting and pursuing of goals which move us from KNOWING God’s will to DOING His Will.


What is the difference between a PURPOSE or OBJECTIVE and a GOAL?
• When we have a general idea of what we want to do, that is generally our “Purpose”.  
• As we put our time, resources, hand and feet to that general idea, we would be able to get more FOCUS.
• As we focus more and more on the  details of what is involved to accomplish the purpose, we tend to identify various GENERAL OBJECTIVES or THINGS to be achieved.
• Here, we would define some VERY SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES which are measurable in time and quantity.
• These are the SPECIFIC GOALS, which will lead us to the fulfilment of our PURPOSE!
• Without GOALS and achieving them within certain time frame, the PURPOSE or OBJECTIVE would continue to be something that we intended to do, not something that we had done!


Applications
• Purpose is to write a Blog
• I then broke that purpose down into specific GOALS (i.e. develop an overall outline of the book by a specific date; first draft; certain amendments, etc) all within a specific time frame.
• All of the GOALS are aimed at the same PURPOSE, to write a BLOG!
• So we need to go through the PROCESS of determining what should be OUR GOALS, because we are not going to discover what would and would not work that could achieve our PURPOSE realistically!


Exceptions!
• It is important to note that just because we set particular goals did not necessarily mean we had to achieve them!
• We might find that some were not realistic, some were not advisable, and some were just not necessary!


Why do we need to set GOALS?
• It is because the way God works is that He gives us little parts of the puzzle of life.  
• Then as we begin to work on one part, he gives us another.
• We never have the really big picture, although we are likely to have increasingly large glimpses as the pieces of the puzzle come together.


What are the specific elements or requirements of a GOAL?


1. It needs to be in WRITING.
• Write a “goal statement” in which we commit our goal to paper as accurately and succinctly as possible.
• Spell it out so we know exactly what it is we hope to achieve!
2. It ONLY has ONE OBJECTIVE.
• To focus in the achieving each goal and moving on to the next goal in line!
3. It needs to be SPECIFIC and MEASURABLE.
• So we know when it has been achieved and if not, WHEN can we achieve it!
4. It must have a DEADLINE attached
• The purpose of the deadline is to assist us in knowing when we’ve PLANNED to act or accomplish or achieve something.
• This should increase our ability to identify and work toward achieving God’s Plan at the correct pac.e
5. It has to be REALISTIC
• The objective and the deadline must bear some semblance of reality ot the ability of the person to achieve the goal!
• All goals should be ACHIEVABLE!
--
How to Set Goals for Your Life


• In order to know the answer we must first discover what Scripture calls “the desires of the heart” that God has placed within our self.
• These are things we want to do or be or become that GOD wants us to do or be or become
• They are tied to God’s long-range plans for our lives, and as we identify them and set goals to move toward them, we’ll be moving toward reaching our God-given potential.


How do we know if they are God-given?
• Those that are not from God-given could come from either: 1) Desires of the Flesh or 2) Satan’s manipulation.


What are some desires of the heart from God?
• Marriage, work, callings in serving your home church are some of the desires of the heart that are God’s inspired!
• Take them before God to determine if they are from HIM! Affirm them!
• Ask God about each desire in prayer
• Check it against God’s Word to make certain it is not inconsistent with Scripture.
• After we have determined that our idea, thought, or desire is not inconsistent with Scripture, we need to determine whether we have “the peace... which transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) with respect to it.
• A simple rule of thumb.  If in doubt, don’t do it!


After acknowledging they are from God, what then?
• If the desire is consistent with Scripture and you have peace with respect to it, then you may safely proceed to plan and achieve the goal associated with the idea.


What happen if we no longer have the desire or lose peace after God did says it is from Him?
• You may have to decide whether God wants you to persevere in order to overcome obstacles, or whether He wants you to re-evaluate your direction.
• Suffice it to say that if you continue to have the desire and the peace, and if you do not become aware of an inconsistency with Scripture, you may continue to assume that you are hearing God’s voice and proceed on that basis unless and until He tells you to the contrary!


What if you know God want you to do something, but you don’t have the desire to do it?
• Ask Him to give you that desire.
• The first thing would be to focus on the objective that you are motivated to achieve and which you believe is reflective of God’s will for you.
• You want this objective with all your heart, and you know beyond question that God wants it for you.
• Focus on the objective of obtaining an attitude of obedience in the area of disobedience.
• Spend certain time with the Lord over a number of days a week.
• During this time, specifically ask Him to give you a desire to be obedient and read the Bible.