Topic: Trust God One Day at a Time [RICK WARREN Devotional 19 October 2021]

Click HERE for Previous MESSAGES

Trust God One Day at a Time

BY RICK WARREN — OCTOBER 19, 2021
FROM CONNECTING WITH GOD: THE LORD’S PRAYER

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done . . . Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

Philippians 4:6-8 (NLT)God wants you to trust him one day at a time. He wants you to ask for your “daily bread” (Matthew 6:11 ESV), not for your weekly bread, monthly bread, or yearly bread.

The Bible says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done . . . Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:6-8 NLT).

This passage teaches four things to do daily to trust God:

Worry about nothing. “Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Matthew 6:34 NLT). Why is worry such a big deal? Because it’s not just a bad habit—it’s a sin. But God keeps his promises, and you can trust that he will take care of you.

Pray about everything. Prayer changes things. Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (NIV) God solved your biggest problem—the sin that kept you from heaven—when he sent Jesus to die for you. If God loved you enough to send Jesus to die for you, don’t you think he loves you enough to take care of all your other problems?

Thank God in all things. No matter what happens, give thanks. The Bible doesn’t say, “For all things, give thanks.” It says, “In all things, give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 GNT). You don’t have to be thankful for bad things in your life. You should never be thankful for evil. You don’t have to be thankful for cancer or a car accident. But God says that in everything you can give thanks. Why? Because you know that God’s going to take care of you. You know he’s going to meet your needs. You know he’s going to help you.

Think about the right things. In Philippians 4, God has given you a list of things to think about—things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise.

Where do you find things that are pure and lovely to think about? You won’t find them watching TV or scrolling through social media. You will find pure, lovely, and honorable thoughts in the Word of God. Read it, study it, memorize it, and fill your mind with it. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” (NLT).

Make today the day you start trusting God one day at a time.

• Do you believe prayer changes things? Why or why not?
• Where do your thoughts turn most often? Do they turn to things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise?
• In what situation do you need to thank God today?