Topic: Persistent Prayer Reveals Your Priorities [RICK WARREN Devotional 18 September 2021]

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Persistent Prayer Reveals Your Priorities

BY RICK WARREN — SEPTEMBER 18, 2021

“These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

Matthew 6:32-33 (NLT)When you pray for something more than once, you’re not convincing God to do it. He is already waiting to give it to you! He just wants to know what’s really important to you.

Praying persistently tests your priorities. If it’s not worth praying about repeatedly, then it isn’t a priority.

Do you want to know what’s important to you? It’s whatever you worry about most. Worry tells you what’s important in your life. If you worry about it, it’s important to you. If you don’t worry about it, then either you’ve entrusted it to God, or it’s not that important to you.

Every time you start to worry, you should stop and turn the worry into a prayer. If you prayed about everything you worried about, you’d have a lot less to worry about. Worry won’t change anything. But prayer can change everything!

Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, “These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:32-33 NLT).

When your priorities are right, God’s answer is “yes.” He’ll give you all you need if your first concern is to live for his kingdom.

You may be saying, “I’m waiting on God to answer this prayer.” Are you waiting on God, or is he waiting on you? Maybe he wants to test your desire and priorities. He wants to know what’s most important in your life before he gives you an answer.

The Bible promises, “The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right” (Psalm 84:11 NLT).

When you’re living for Jesus—when you’re giving him your attention and staying connected to him—then he is ready to give you what your heart desires.

God won’t hold back any of his goodness!

• What’s out of order in your life right now? For example, how much time are you spending in the Word of God? How does that compare to the time you spend on social media or watching TV?
• What should your desires be if your first priority is God’s kingdom?
• What is one small way you can start today to make a habit of persistent prayer?