EXPAND TO READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 14 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 3): There have been many times in my life since coming to faith that I have felt like You want me to say something, yet my confidence level has not been strong in those moments to actually say what You want me to say. I often feel doubt in my mind like maybe I’m interpreting things wrong or maybe I’m not smart enough to speak to others what You want me to speak to them. Please forgive me for not trusting in You more and leaning on You more in my daily walk, Father, but especially when it comes to having confidence to speak Your truth to others. I know that You are the greatest teacher out there and I need to start to build up the confidence in me to be able to speak whatever it is You want me to speak.
PROMISE (verse 5): In the middle of this verse, You make us a promise about those who prophecy in Your name. You promise us that they are greater than those who speak in languages. You promise us that prophecy is used to educate others for Your glory and not to diminish them or disgrace them. You promise us that we are all called to prophecy but not all are called to know other languages. Help me to live in this promise better, Father, so that I may be more prophetic in sharing Your truth with others, both believers and unbelievers.
ATTITUDE (verse 1): You tell us to pursue three attitudes or ways of living in this single verse right at the beginning of this chapter. I have failed at all three of these often in my life, so I ask for Your help with these. The first is to pursue love; help me to truly embrace an attitude of love in my life, Father. The second is to have a true attitude of desire towards our spiritual gifts. I still do not truly know what my spiritual gifts are because I feel some things I have/do are from my flesh so I am confused as to what is a true gift from You and what was driven by my own selfish desires in this life. The last, but certainly not least, is an attitude of sharing through prophecy. I have struggled quite a bit with being comfortable and confident in sharing Your truth and Your word with others. I know this is an attitude You expect of me, yet I do still struggle. Help me with my confidence in this matter, Father, so that I ma be more comfortable in speaking Your truth to others when the need arises.
COMMAND (verse 40): This last verse in this chapter is a very short verse, but I feel it is a very powerful command. You say that “everything must be done decently and in order.” To me this says that we are to do all things with a decent, or righteous, heart and motive, but also that we are not to do things out of Your divine orders. For example, when I was a child, I had to learn how to scoot, crawl, and stand before I could walk and I had to do each decently enough to “work out” those small muscle groups to become better for the next step. If I had done these out of order or not done them in a way that I built up the muscle groups and balance properly, then I would have definitely failed along the way and possibly even injured myself. The same can be said for our faith as we should take things as You want us to take them and do them in a “decent” manner while maintain the proper, righteous order of things in our life.
EXAMPLE (verses 3, 7-9): There are so many examples in this chapter, but these four verses seem to stand out the most to me. You pretty much summarize and give a couple of examples as to the power, importance, and justification behind prophecy. You first tell us that prophesies are for the edification, encouragement, and consolation of others. You then use musical instruments to give us examples of how our words and language are the gateway to proper prophecy so that others may understand what we are translating from You. I love the trumpet example for the ancient battlefields. If the trumpet player made an unrecognizable sound from their trumpet, then the army would not know what to do. If the trumpet player did their translation of orders properly in a manner that the army understood, however, then they would be able to quickly take action on whatever the sound is coming from the trumpet. The same applies to the words we use to translate Your truth to those around us. Help me to be better at relaying messages from You to others, Father, so that I may properly and effectively glorify You with my words.
*DAILY NOTE: Thank You, Father, for this amazing lesson on prophesy as well as clearing up what it actually means to prophesy. Essentially, prophesy is just the use of Your message and Your truth in a way that others understand it enough for their education, encouragement, and consolation. I do struggle with my confidence in this topic, so I am grateful that Your lesson today was to help build me up more by giving me the foundation of why prophecy is so important. Thank You for such a great testimony to prophesy, but also for given me many practical examples that I was easily able to understand and learn from. You are the greatest teacher and I am so grateful for the lessons You are always providing me.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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