Some of My Very Best Gifts
Note from Jesus My Beloved, Far too often in your world, children and their fathers have great difficulty communicating. Sometimes this situation is because of non-communicative fathers. Other times, however, children go through periods where they don’t want to talk with their fathers because they feel their fathers cannot understand their problems or the world in which they live. On the other hand, some children are just rebellious and don’t want their father interfering in their lives. My Abba Father, your Abba in heaven, doesn’t want these obstacles to come between you and Him. Your heavenly Father wants you to know how to communicate with Him. He wants you to seek Him even when you don’t know what to say or when you don’t know how to say what’s on your heart. Today, I want to give three assurances that when you speak to the Father, He hears you: Remember that He is your loving Abba Father — you come to him as His beloved child (Romans 8:15-16). You can know that even simple words will be heard (Luke 11:1-13). The Holy Spirit intercedes for you (Romans 8:26-27). Providing you with words to speak to God and assuring you that God will hear you are some of the greatest gifts I can give you. Please be blessed and take great advantage of being able to speak with the Creator of the universe as your Father. Know that whenever and wherever you choose to draw near to speak to Him, he will listen to you! Verses to Live My first disciples wanted to learn how to pray. They had seen Me pray many times. They knew I would sometimes withdraw from everything and spend time with the Father. My disciples knew that one of the great blessings a teacher gave his disciples was to teach them to pray. So, their request was a good one. I hope you long for Me to guide you in how to pray. Please notice all the different times I prayed in My life and ministry. Pay attention to how I prayed, where I prayed, and what I prayed. Today, My beloved disciple, I want you to know that prayer is not about saying a lot of different or magical or profound words that sound religious. You are My Father’s child, too. Your prayers don’t need to impress Him. He longs to hear from you. So, please, don’t focus on your words, but on your relationship with the Father. Be honest and simple in what you pray. Recognize that only a few things are truly essential in life and in your Christian service and focus on them. Another time Jesus was praying, and when He finished, one of His disciples approached Him. Disciple: Teacher, would You teach us Your way of prayer? John taught his disciples his way of prayer, and we’re hoping You’ll do the same. Jesus: Here’s how to pray: Father in heaven. May Your kingdom come. Give us the food we need for tomorrow, And forgive us for our wrongs, for we forgive those who wrong us. And lead us away from temptation. Imagine that one of your friends comes over at midnight. He bangs on the door and shouts, “Friend, will you lend me three loaves of bread? A friend of mine just showed up unexpectedly from a journey, and I don’t have anything to feed him.” Would you shout out from your bed, “I’m already in bed, and so are the kids. I already locked the door. I can’t be bothered”? You know this as well as I do: even if you didn’t care that this fellow was your friend, if he keeps knocking long enough, you’ll get up and give him whatever he needs simply because of his brash persistence! So listen: Keep on asking, and you will receive. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened for you. All who keep asking will receive, all who keep seeking will find, and doors will open to those who keep knocking. Some of you are fathers, so ask yourselves this: if your son comes up to you and asks for a fish for dinner, will you give him a snake instead? If your boy wants an egg to eat, will you give him a scorpion? Look, all of you are flawed in so many ways, yet in spite of all your faults, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to all who ask! (Luke 11:1-13) And, My beloved disciple, even when you don’t get your words exactly correct, or when you can’t find the right words to express your heart, remember that I have given you the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is your spiritual DNA that connects you to God as your Abba Father. You are His beloved child. The Spirit will take your emotions, your confusion, and your concerns to the Father. When you don’t have words, point your heart to heaven and ask the Spirit to take your groanings, including those that are too deep for words, and present them acceptably to the Father. He is your Abba. You are His child. The Spirit is your assurance. Offer the Father your heart, your emotions, and your fears, and the Holy Spirit will make them all known to our Father! You see, you have not received a spirit that returns you to slavery, so you have nothing to fear. The Spirit you have received adopts you and welcomes you into God’s own family. That’s why we call out to Him, “Abba! Father!” as we would address a loving daddy. Through that prayer, God’s Spirit confirms in our spirits that we are His children. … A similar thing happens when we pray. We are weak and do not know how to pray, so the Spirit steps in and articulates prayers for us with groaning too profound for
17 Feb 2026
We also serve God who is holy. As He enables us, let us lead holy lives. With His help we can overcome any obstacle. The Holy Spirit has also been deployed to empower us to lead lives that please God. 1 Peter 1:13-16
Comfort in any Season
How does God use us to comfort other? Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God(2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Did you hear what Paul was saying in those two short verses? I hope so, because you are going to need to hang on to it. Life drags us through different seasons – some of them good, and some of them bad; and we are all going to need help or to be ready to help in the darker times. One of my hardest seasons came on a Sunday night many years ago. I was speaking when one of our Shepherds hurriedly started up the church aisle, obviously bringing some kind of urgent message. The closer he came to the front of the sanctuary, the more his face showed great agony. About six rows from the front, he could hold his words no longer. In a spray of grief from a deep well of sorrow, he told the church that one of our family’s 11-year-old boy had been hit by a car as he rode his bicycle to church. The little boy died before we could get to the hospital. The loss was gut-wrenching, hard to accept, and devastating to all of us … especially this boy’s parents. Words cannot describe the pain parents have in such seasons. And while many of us could offer these parents comfort because of our own recent grief, those whose words and presence blessed this grief-stricken family most were those who had been there – folks who had survived the deep wounds of losing a child and had somehow found a way to go on with their lives. Remember how Paul described this principle: Our God is “the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” The truth of this is as undeniable in real life as it sounds in Scripture. Those who have “been there,” and that God has carried through the dark night of the soul, bring something to us when we find ourselves in our own “time to mourn.” Because God’s strength has carried them, their wounds validate … The anguish of our hurt:Not with platitudes, pity looks, or simplistic explanation, but the assurance that here is someone who knows and cares about our hurt. The uniqueness of our pain:We know their wound is like our own, but they recognize that our wound is as unique as the person we have lost. The strength within our spirits:They show us that they are making it through this horror with the help of God and His Spirit, so we can believe we will make it, too, and we do not have to do it alone. The incredible blessing of being in God’s community, His family of grace in the midst of our grief, is that we do not have to walk our loneliest trails of despair alone. When we walk through “the valley of the shadow of death” we will not have to do it alone. Not only is God with us, but God makes Himself available through a fellow traveler who has real skin and a wounded heart of grace. These brothers and sisters in Christ walk with us, support us, and remind us that we are not alone. They are there for every season so that during our time of mourning we are not alone and when we finally reach that time to dance, we have soul-level friends who will share our joy. My prayer for you is this: If God has brought you through when you faced a season of grief and pain, may you find another to help through their season of grief… If you find yourself in the deep well of sorrow and grief… May God bring the right folks to walk alongside you and share your journey till you are where you can help other wounded travelers on their journey. May this be so by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter Jesus sent to comfort, sustain, and equip us. In the name of Jesus, who suffered so we know we never have to suffer alone. Amen. Questions to consider: How have you experienced this principle, “we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” in your life? Were you on the receiving or sharing end of this comfort-giving? How did this bless your life? In the book of Job, when Job’s life crashes in, several “comforters” join him in the dust and sit in silence to share his grief (Job 2:11-13). Then, after 7 days of mourning with him in silence, they open their mouths, and their comfort turns into an attack on Job because they feel like they have to explain why all this happened to Job and defend God for it happening. Why do you think so many people say simplistic and unintended hurtful things to those in grief? Why do we feel that we must defend God with people who have suffered great loss? How is sitting and sharing people’s grief in silence often better than opening our mouths and trying to say something? What should we say to comfort people in their grief? Why do we wait to DO something to help – like buy them groceries, wash their car, mow their lawn, babysit their children – those in grief, rather than just asking them what we can do to help? If you have suffered deep loss, how did God comfort you and how did He use other people to bless you? About the author: Phil Ware has authored 11 years of daily devotionals, including VerseoftheDay.com, read by 500,000 people a day. He works with churches in transition
Icebergs
What do you do about those iceberg dates on your calendar that seem to sink you? One minute we are cruising along enjoying life. The next we feel the bump and shudder of the collision as our heart is ripped apart by one of those iceberg dates on our calendar. Before we know it, our life is taking on water and we find ourselves quickly sinking in emotions we cannot manage and were not expecting. What do we do with being completely overwhelmed? Nearly all of us have these iceberg dates. They can be holidays that have been eclipsed by something bad that happened on that holiday in the past. They can be special days celebrated by many, yet are days when we are left out of the celebration and reminded that we are alone… or rejected… or forgotten. They can be the unwanted anniversary of a day that ripped our heart to pieces in the past – the death of a loved one, the abandonment by someone close to us, a time when we were betrayed by someone we love, or the time of our own epic sin and failure. Unfortunately, iceberg dates dot our calendars in a fallen world. Over time, we can sometimes sweep aside the emotions of these days and go on with life with them nothing more than a blip on our emotional calendar. Some years, we don’t even notice their occurrence and we sail smoothly on to other things. Then, without warning, one year we bump up against an iceberg date and everything crashes in on us. We feel the dull thud impact like the Titanic hitting her infamous iceberg. We notice the shuddering of our emotions as we absorb the blow and our heart is ripped apart afresh. Suddenly, all those deeply buried and hidden emotions flood our hearts with the frigid and paralyzing pain that we had hoped was buried or gone. The agony, grief, pain, loneliness, isolation, and panic of being forsaken are just as fresh as when they first occurred. When icebergs happen, what do we do? Where do we turn? While we have hit one of those icebergs, we still have lives to live, jobs to do, and responsibilities to fulfill. How do we do them? How do we get our emotions back under control? How do we stop the hurt in our heart? How do we do more than stay busy and trudge on? First, we share our pain and get help from Jesus. Remember what Jesus told his closest disciples before his death: They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch” (Mark 14:32-34). We can turn honestly to him and tell him how we feel, just as Jesus told the Father how he felt (Mark 14:34-35; Mark 15:33-34). During a time of difficulty for many disciples, the Holy Spirit gave them this reminder about turning to Jesus in their time of need: For we do not have a high priest [a holy intercessor] who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one [Jesus] who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16). Are we hurt? Do our guts feel ripped out? Do we grieve? Has our iceberg date ripped open our heart and sunk our emotions? Let’s talk to Jesus about this! We don’t have to dress it up in fancy language or holy dress. We can be real and be honest. We are not abandoned in our feelings of being overwhelmed. So let’s ask for Jesus’ help to heal our heart and help us carry our burdens. Second, because Jesus knows the emotions of feeling abandoned and feeling forsaken by those close to him, he has promised to never abandon us (Hebrews 13:5; Romans 8:37-39). As disciples, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us to be his abiding presence in our hearts and to bring us his presence and his peace (John 14:18-25). The Holy Spirit can minister to places in us that words can’t reach, giving us power we didn’t have (Ephesians 3:16) and the comfort and joy we desperately need (Romans 15:13; John 16:33). The Holy Spirit can stir our hearts to live and love again when we think our hearts have lost the capacity to love (Romans 5:5; 2 Timothy 2:7). The Holy Spirit even assures us that whatever we say and whatever we feel will be communicated to the Father in ways that are holy and acceptable to him – even if we don’t have the right words or even any words to say (Romans 8:26-27). Iceberg dates happen to all of us. They float on the seas of our future calendars. So when one of those iceberg collisions occur, let’s not forget to call out to Jesus for help. He knows our pain. He’s felt that pain first hand. He is our assurance we are not abandoned. He sends the Holy Spirit to those of us who ask for the Spirit (Luke 11:13). The Spirit comes as Jesus’ presence within us to comfort us, to bring us peace, to use his power to strengthen us, and to re-awaken our power to live and love again. Iceberg dates happen to all of us, but they don’t have to sink us! About the author: Phil Ware has authored 11 years of daily devotionals, including VerseoftheDay.com, read by 500,000 people a day. He works with churches in transition with Interim Ministry Partners and for the past 21+ years, he has been editor and president of
Trust
Will we open up and really trust him to change our story into a grace story? I mean that you are saved by grace. And you got that grace by believing. You did not save yourselves. It was a gift from God. No! You are not saved by the things you have done. So no person can boast that he saved himself. God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would do good things. God had already planned those good things for us. God had planned for us to live our lives doing those good things. (Ephesians 2:8-10 ERV) Hear the Story One of the most influential people in Pastor Rick’s life was a woman named Diane – a walking miracle. In Jesus in the Margins, Rick shares her story. The summarized version is something like this. Diane’s Father was physically and emotionally abusive. His anger would flare up constantly and he would beat her and treat her worse than trash. The only thing that held Diane’s life together was her mother. Diane was five years old when her mom died. Soon after, Diane’s grandmother became ill and died, leaving her in the care of a father who beat her and a grandfather who began sexually abusing her. Just when it seemed like her world couldn’t get any worse, her father remarried. Her new step-mother was just as cruel and abusive as her father. Diane learned not to trust anyone or anything because bad things were going to happen and the good people would be taken away. Diane survived in spite of it all. She grew up, got married, and had two beautiful daughters. At first glance, she seemed to be the perfect mother. On the outside she was giving, loving, and bubbly. However, on the inside, she protected a tightly wrapped heart that refused to receive love. She refused to let anyone under the surface; she simply would not trust. It seemed safer that way – she didn’t want to be hurt again. So, she stayed away from any one or any thing that wanted to invade her protected past. And she hid her past well. Her numbness and callousness was keeping her from receiving God’s grace. Without God’s grace love seems impossible – not just for Diane, but for all of us. If love is impossible, then we can’t know his healing. So, we hide. Jesus refused to leave Diane’s life that way. He slowly invaded her heart. His grace story gently and progressively peeled away her layers of protection. With his strength she faced her past and learned to forgive. Over the years, Diane talked of Jesus as though she had just had coffee with him. The truth is, she did. She spent each morning with her journal and her Bible. Each morning renewed his presence. During those encounters with God she could hear Jesus whispering, “Will you dare to trust me today? Will you dare to believe you are loved?” Her growing faith produced a new image of herself. She was a child of God, loved and treasured. Now she could walk a path of life that was beyond her sight, and she walked it well. God created a new Diane out of the chaos of her childhood. She became his walking miracle – a grace story. Find the Story You may have a friend who, like Diane, is a grace story. Ask around and see. Share Diane’s story with a friend and let God have a chance to operate. You may find there is a miracle sitting right in front of you. It could be that God uses this moment to begin invading a broken world. Either way, God will use the moment to ignite new grace stories. Just do it. Be the story What is it that keeps you from walking a path beyond yourself? What roadblocks or barriers keep you locked inside yourself? Let God in – let Jesus invade your heart. Trust him with your past. He is still asking, “Will you dare to trust me today?” We get so distracted and the interference is so loud that we too get numb and calloused. Maybe the break-through you seek is waiting for you in mornings with your journal and the Bible. The next chapter of your story could begin there. What do you think? A Final Word from Ron I read a challenging analogy this week. It comes from a pastor named Kerbyjon Caldwell. The analogy goes something like this: The football game of life is being played and non- believers, seekers, searchers, wonderers, and cynics are watching. The play-clock has started. The church people gather in a huddle. They huddle on Sunday mornings, they huddle on Sunday nights, they huddle for mid-week prayer and study, and they huddle for bible study and prayer. They huddle to plan and they huddle to meet. They are really good at huddling. But, those on the outside wonder, “When are they ever going to break the huddle and play the game?” God is still in the healing business. He is breaking into lives all around us, pealing back those ugly protective layers hiding our pain, doubt, and distrust. He is ready to shape and love and invade our past and present. So when are we going to act like it. When are we going to play the game? People are watching. Do you see them? About the author: Ron Rose was a beloved minister, noted author, and leader of several ministries. Ron made himself available as a listener and friend, spending time with people on the go and in coffee shops, sharing grace and a listening ear, and connecting them with God who is always in the room. Ron went to be with the Lord in November 2024, but his legacy of grace and encouragement lives on.
Today’s Verse – 1 John 3:11
This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. —1 John 3:11 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… The original message? Love one another. The enduring message? Love one another. The most convincing message? Love one another. The most difficult message? Love one another. The clearest message? Love one another.This call to love one another reminds me of the convicting verse I once heard a preacher use about loving our brothers and sisters: To dwell above with saints we love, O that will be glory. But to dwell below with saints we know, Now that’s another story. But it’s the story we’re called to write with our lives. Love one another. It’s Jesus’ enduring message to us is clear: Love one another! My Prayer… Loving Father, I commit to you that I will intentionally show my love for your children in what I do and say. I do this trusting in your grace and the Holy Spirit to empower me to do more loving things and be more loving than I could be on my own. I want to obey my Lord’s command to love others as he did. Through Jesus, my Savior, I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
16 Feb 2026
The Lord we worship is mighty. He deserves our adoration. We have read and seen what He has done and can do. We are privileged to have access to Him, but let us never forget how majestic He is. Revelation 4:1-11.
Empty!
What are you filling your tank with? This past week, a friend of mine – whose name I will not mention – had some car trouble more than 500 miles from his home. If you’ve ever been in that situation, it is certainly disconcerting to say the least. What do you do? Who do you call? How much will it cost? All these questions rush through your mind. In my friend’s case, it was just a matter of putting gas in the gas tank. Unfortunately he had already had to pay a tow truck – now do you see why he will remain nameless? In his defense, he ran out of gas while his gas gauge was showing that he still had a quarter of a tank of fuel remaining. Of course, I couldn’t help but see a spiritual application in this event. How many people do you suppose are trusting in a “fallible gauge”? How many people do you think are being told they’re alright, but their “spiritual tank” is actually empty? I do know that on the day of judgment that there will be some who stand before Christ who will be surprised that they are not saved. (Matthew 7:21-23) To avoid such a fate, we must trust in the only “gauge” that will never fail and never mislead us … the word of God. Friends, spend time in God’s word so that you can make your calling and election sure. So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Doing this, you will never stumble or fall away. For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. (2 Peter 1:10; 1 Peter 1:18-19 NLT) About the author: Steve Higginbotham is a native of West Virginia. His father also preached. Steve serves the Karns Church of Christ in Knoxville, TN and is an instructor in the Southeast Institute of Biblical Studies and an editor for Think Magazine. Steve & Kim have four children, Kelli, Michael, Matthew, and Anne Marie.
Hope Does Not Disappoint Us
Can we keep from being disappointed by broken hopes? For good or bad, I’m going to share something of myself with you. I have to tell you right up front that I am not that deep when it comes to studious intellectual things. Not that I can’t study things out when it’s called for, but I’m more of an easy going guy who enjoys being laid back. Any day of the week, I would much rather read Lord of the Rings or Star Wars than some book on religious philosophy. Though obviously from my chosen vocation you can figure out that religion, philosophy, and the such-like are important to me. However, I do enjoy other less deep things, too. Having said that, one of my readers sent me a quote from Victor Hugo that got me to thinkin’ and studyin’ on something. Hugo wrote, “Hope is the word which God has written on the brow of every man.” Man, doesn’t that have the feel of deep religious philosophy to it? Not only does it sound deep, it also has the ring of truth to it because it is based upon the teachings we find in God’s word. Can’t you hear the words ring out in a deep vibrating baritone voice, “HOPE IS THE WORD WHICH GOD HAS WRITTEN ON THE BROW OF EVERY MAN!” It’s true isn’t it? I mean, which of us can go on for another day without some kind of hope? It is in our very nature to have hope – perhaps our genetic make up given to us by the Creator to “live in hope.” We hope for a better tomorrow.We hope for a better life.We hope for a raise at work.We hope for that special person to notice us.We hope for world peace and the end to all wars and killing. Hoping means that we think (maybe somewhere deep down inside of us) that these things will happen. That’s what gives us the motivation to go on day after day. Even at times when things look less hopeful, we still have that small spark of belief on which to hang our hopes. The apostle Paul shares these wonderful words of hope with us in 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 for times when we feel beaten down. He says, “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.” Paul also wrote in Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” I know that sometimes life gets tough for us. It is sometimes very difficult to see how we can possibly go on – that we almost reach the end of our hope. But if our hope is in God, the work of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts, this hope will never disappoint us. About the author: Russ Lawson is a former missionary to Africa and minister in Ohio. He now works with World Christian Literature Outreach and writes a weekly email devotional, Messages from the Heart. For more information about Russ, click here.
The Behinder I Get
How are you doing at keeping up with all your responsibilities? My mom grew up with a saying that she passed on to us. It goes something like this: “The harder I work, the behinder I get!” While it may not be correct grammar, it’s sure correct for many of our lives – or at least the way we feel about them. Many folks today find themselves behind, and the more they try to do to catch up, the “behinder” they find themselves. We can end up in this situation for many reasons. Some of us are procrastinators. Some of us over-schedule. Some of us are not disciplined with our time. Some of us waste a lot of time getting ready to do what we need to do. Some of us don’t work hard. Some of us have a lot of unexpected pressures and problems intruding into our lives. Some of us don’t prioritize the things we have to do. I’m sure we could list a bunch of other reasons why many of us find ourselves “behinder” even though we feel like we’re working hard on our “to do” lists. Unfortunately, one reason many of us are behind is very sad: we live like we’re too busy to pray. I’m afraid that many of us see prayer as something to work into our busy schedules if we have time. Others of us only see prayer as an emergency cry for help when we are in trouble and want God to bail us out. During the daily routine that burns most of our time and churns up most of our problems, we forget to take time to pray. In the process of neglecting prayer, we find ourselves getting “behinder.” Reuel Lemmons, a great Christian leader now gone to be with the Lord, used to say, “I only get done what I pray about.” He made prayer a top priority. Bill Hybels’ good little book on prayer has the convicting title, Too Busy Not to Pray. These leaders remind us what Jesus so powerfully demonstrated in his own life and ministry: prayer is the key to accomplishing the work God wants us to do through us. Early in the Lord’s ministry, he demonstrated the importance of prayer for those of us with busy lives. (Mark 1:35-45) After an incredibly hectic schedule on the previous day, Jesus rose early one morning and went off to a lonely place to pray. During his time of prayer, he re-centered his schedule in the mission God had called him to accomplish. Peter came looking for him and told him that many people were in need of his attention and were seeking to find him. Jesus replied that he needed to move on to other places – to the towns and villages – and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom there. Why would Jesus leave behind those wanting to be healed? Why move on to other places? Jesus’ answer was clear, “This is why I came.” Prayer re-centered Jesus on his mission. I don’t know about you, but I need to be reminded occasionally of several humbling truths I believe we can learn from Jesus’ actions: I can’t do everything, so I must do the most important things – the things God wants me to do. I can’t help everyone, so I must help those whom God leads me to help as I fulfill my mission. I won’t be able to distinguish the most important things that God wants me to do without spending time in God’s presence in prayer. The busier I am, the more important it is that I spend time in prayer. Even when I’m busy doing the Lord’s work, when he places someone in my path that has needs, I need to be compassionate and serve them. If you keep finding yourself “behinder” in life, look closely to see if you have left out the most important element of a busy and effective life: prayer! About the author: Phil Ware has authored 11 years of daily devotionals, including VerseoftheDay.com, read by 500,000 people a day. He works with churches in transition with Interim Ministry Partners and for the past 21+ years, he has been editor and president of HEARTLIGHT Magazine, author of VerseoftheDay.com, God’s Holy Fire (on the Holy Spirit), and aYearwithJesus.com. Phil has also authored four books, daily devotionals on each of the four gospels.