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CHAPTER 1

January1 Becoming Humble

God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.

Matthew 5:5

Humility is one of the marks of following Jesus. Jesus says we will inherit the earth if we show humility, a special kind of teachability — so it must be pretty important. But many of us begin our quest for humility by trying to control our behavior, which just doesn't work.

Humility is a condition of the heart. Our hearts change as we spend time gazing on the greatness of God. When we read his Word, we see our own sin in comparison with his righteousness. When we talk to him, we remember that he is wise and we are foolish. As our hearts change, our outward attitudes and behaviors follow. When we spend time with God, we can't help but become more humble.

True intimacy with God always brings humility.

BETH MOORE

January 2 Pure Hearts

God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.

Matthew 5:8

Only those with pure hearts can see God. If we are harboring some ill will or hiding some sin or refusing to give some part of ourselves to God, we can look for him all we want, but we won't see him. As we come before God, we must rid our hearts of anything that might come between him and us.

It can feel excruciating and almost impossible to let go of our treasured sins sometimes. But when we do catch that glimpse of God, we'll realize that everything we've given up pales in comparison to seeing him.

It is a pleasant thing to behold the light, but sore eyes are not able to look upon it; the pure in heart shall see God, but the defiled in conscience shall rather choose to be buried under rocks and mountains than to behold the presence of the Lamb.

ANNE BRADSTREET

January 3 Love Your Enemy

Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!

Matthew 5:44

To love an enemy seems an unfathomably tall order. Praying for someone who has harmed us — and may still have plans to harm us — would be impossible if it weren't for the power of Jesus.

Jesus would not give us an order without enabling us to follow it. But we must seek him for strength, wisdom, and courage to obey. As we pray for people who wish to harm us, he will reach into our hearts and change us. When we truly seek Jesus in prayer, love is the only possible result.

It is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.

CORRIE TEN BOOM

January 4 Private Prayer

When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Matthew 6:6

Women lead busy lives. It may be tempting to think we pray enough in church or before meals. But while these public opportunities for prayer can be good, Jesus tells us that we need to also carve out some alone time with God.

Choose a place to meet with God regularly. It could be in a cozy chair at home, or it might be in your car just before you go in to work. It doesn't matter the location so much as the state of your heart. Create some time and space for your heart to be alone with God. Then he will reward you.

Build yourself a cell in your heart and retire there to pray.

CATHERINE OF SIENA

January 5 It's Not Magic

When you pray, don't babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.

Matthew 6:7

Sometimes we app roach prayer nervously because we think of it as a magic spell that we might mess up. But Jesus frees us from the lie that if we don't pray long enough or say the words just right, God may not answer.

When you pray, you are kneeling before the throne of God. So don't worry about following a certain formula for prayer. God is not a genie or a fairy who will answer the way we want if we say the words just right. He is our loving father, and he already knows our heart's needs and desires. Simply open yourself to him, and don't focus on "doing it right." If your heart is right, you can't do prayer wrong.

Prayer is the application of the heart to God, and the internal exercise of love.

JEANNE-MARIE GUYON

January 6 A Daily Discipline

Give us today the food we need.

Matthew 6:11

As Jesus was teaching his disciples how to pray, he stressed our need for daily reliance on God. He did not say, "Give us the food we'll need till next Sunday" or "Give us enough food to last until we think to pray again." Jesus' request for daily food showed the disciples (and all his followers) that prayer — and trusting God to provide for our everyday needs — should be a daily discipline.

We don't have to wait till we're in the foxhole to call out to God. We can pray to him all day long, every day, all year. In giving his life, Jesus made such direct, immediate access to God possible. We can take advantage of this access anytime.

Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?

CORRIE TEN BOOM

January 7 The Father of Lies

[The devil] has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 8:44

The Pharisees didn't believe in Jesus, because they trusted that their ancestry as children of Abraham was enough to save them. But this was a lie from Satan to keep them from God's truth. What lies have you believed? Jesus' words can encourage us with this truth: the lies that we're battling against every day come from the enemy.

We don't serve the father of lies. We serve the God of truth. We don't have to believe these lies when they're fired at us. We can reject them in the name of Jesus, in the name of his love.

We're going to have to let truth scream louder to our souls than the lies that have infected us.

BETH MOORE

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Excerpted from "The One Year Inspirational Words of Jesus for Women"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Hudson Bible.
Excerpted by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.
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