Daily Devotional

Have Your Prayer Heard by God. A Commentary on Matthew 6:7

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

Many brothers and sisters believe the longer they pray and the more words they say, the more God will hear. So we always notice that some brothers and sisters pray for one or two hours, and even three or four hours. Does God really listen to the prayer like that? From this verse, we can know the Lord requires us not to say empty or repeated words when we pray. If you pray for three or four hours, merely speaking false and nice-sounding words. Then this kind of prayer is not the genuine prayer. It won’t be heard, but even despised by God. Then, what’s the genuine prayer? God’s word says: “What does it mean to truly pray? It means speaking the words within your heart to God, and communing with God having grasped His will and based upon His words; it means feeling particularly close to God, feeling that He is in front of you, and that you have something to say to Him; and it means being especially radiant within your heart, and feeling that God is especially lovely. You will feel especially inspired, and after hearing your words your brothers and sisters will feel gratified, they will feel that the words you speak are the words within their hearts, the words they wish to say, and that what you say represents what they want to say. This is what it means to truly pray. ” (“Concerning the Practice of Prayer”) It can be seen from God’s word that God wishes us to speak the truth and the words within our hearts to Him, just say what we think in our hearts, no matter how many words we say.

Jehovah Is Our Shepherd — Psalm 23:1

Proverbs 26:23 - Discern Evil People With a Pure Heart

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…
Reading this verse, I thought of the Pharisees, who appeared devout, making a show of saying lengthy prayers at a crossroads or at the gate of synagogue. Nevertheless, when the Lord Jesus came to do His work, they did their utmost to oppose and condemn Him, nailed innocent Jesus to the cross for the sake of their own status and livelihood. Finally, they were cursed by God. We should learn how to discern this kind of people and not be cheated by them, especially it’s the crucial time to meet the Lord’s return. We need to make our mind clear and seek the truth with a humble heart, lest we miss God’s salvation.

John 10:27 - Hearing God's Voice

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

The Lord Jesus’ words show us the practical path to know God and welcome the Lord’s return: being able to recognize God’s voice. When the Lord Jesus came to work, people like Peter, John, the Samaritan woman, and Nathanael, from the Lord Jesus’ words and deeds, recognized that He was the One who has authority and power and that the Lord Jesus was the coming Messiah, and so followed Him and received His salvation. Even though those religious Pharisees and scribes knew that Jesus’ words have authority and power, they defined God according to their own conceptions and imaginations, believing that man whose name was not Messiah was not Christ. What was worse, they resisted the Lord Jesus and nailed Him to the cross, which offended God’s disposition and led to the destruction of Israel. The lesson of history tells us that the key to welcoming the Lord’s return is to pay attention to listening to God’s voice. The Bible says, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the middle of the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7). “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). From these words in the Bible, we can see that when the Lord comes again, He will knock at our door with His words. Therefore, if we can seek the words the Spirit says to the churches and hear God’s voice, we will welcome the appearance of God and follow the footprints of the Lamb. Just as God says, “Since we are searching for the footprints of God, it behooves us to search for God’s will, for the words of God, for His utterances—because wherever there are new words spoken by God, the voice of God is there, and wherever there are the footsteps of God, God’s deeds are there. Wherever there is the expression of God, there God appears, and wherever God appears, there the truth, the way, and the life exist. In seeking God’s footprints, you have ignored the words that ‘God is the truth, the way, and the life.’ And so, many people, even when they receive the truth, do not believe that they have found God’s footprints, and still less do they acknowledge the appearance of God. What a grave mistake!”

How Can We Obtain Force and Enter the Kingdom of Heaven? A Commentary on Matthew 11:12

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

From this verse, we can know the requirement for entering the kingdom of heaven that the Lord Jesus pointed out for us: Only by practicing God’s words and doing God’s will can we enter the kingdom of heaven. As Christians, our greatest wish is to be raptured into the kingdom of heaven. So, how can we obtain the right to enter the heavenly kingdom? What direction should we do it in? The Lord Jesus said, “Not every one that said to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). And the Bible also records, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Obviously, only when we do God’s will, follow His way, break free from sin and are purified, can we enter the kingdom of heaven. However, many people don’t focus on following the way of the Lord or practicing His words; instead, they think as long as they work hard for the Lord, make sacrifices, expend themselves, and spread the gospel more, they can enter the kingdom of heaven. This reminds me of the Pharisees who single-mindedly pursued working hard for the Lord and traveled far and wide to preach the gospel. They thought that as long as they did in this way, they could be praised by the Lord and enter the kingdom of heaven. This is the direction they worked toward. But in the end, all of their actions were condemned as hypocritical because they wanted to enter the holy kingdom of God through external toil instead of practicing the Lord’s words. Let us take a look at the Lord Jesus’ disciple Peter. In his pursuit of the Lord Jesus, he focused on practicing according to the Lord’s requirements in everything, and pursued loving God and satisfying God, and finally he achieved an ultimate love of God, obeyed God unto death, was crucified upside down for God, and became a person after God’s heart. People like him will live in the heavenly kingdom. If we compare the directions the Pharisees and Peter worked toward, it’s easy to see that if people who believe in God and follow Him want to enter God’s kingdom, only by practicing the Lord’s words, following His way, and becoming people who do God’s will, can they realize this wish. This is the only condition for entering the kingdom of heaven. Just as God says, “You must know what kind of people I desire; those who are impure are not permitted to enter into the kingdom, those who are impure are not permitted to besmirch the holy ground. Though you may have done much work, and have worked for many years, in the end if you are still deplorably filthy—it is intolerable to the law of Heaven that you wish to enter My kingdom! From the foundation of the world until today, never have I offered easy access to My kingdom to those who curry favor with Me. This is a heavenly rule, and no one can break it!” From God’s words, we can see that God is righteous and holy, and God’s kingdom is holy, so how can those who are impure be permitted to enter into the kingdom? Meanwhile, we can see God’s will is to bring those who are saved by God, changed and made clean into His kingdom. Having known God’s will, we should pursue doing God’s will, following God’s way, and being cleansed and perfected, thus achieving an ultimate love of God and obeying God unto death like Peter. Only in this way can we be people after God’s heart, and have a place in the heavenly kingdom."