Scripture and Prayer Focus for September 22, 2026

 September 22 -- John 8: 48-54 "The Jews answered him, 'Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?' Jesus answered, 'I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.' The Jews said to him, 'Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, 'If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.' Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?' Jesus answered, 'If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.'"

Prayer focus for today: It's becoming more and more difficult these days to distinguish lies from the truth. Social media allows us to present ourselves any way we wish. Filters or no filters, the way we present our lives is often showing only what we want to reveal -- in the way we want to portray it. Jesus was presenting the truth to the Jews; the truth about Himself, and the truth about their lives. They didn't like it one bit. Pray today for courage to present your life truthfully. Where you have not been truthful, pray for strength to correct that. Pray for the truth of Jesus Christ, and eternal life through Him alone to be portrayed and glorified through your life - in person and in social media. The freeing power of Jesus will amaze you (and those who know you)!

Scripture and Prayer Focus for September 21, 2026

 September 21 -- John 8: 41-47 "'You are doing the works your father did.'  They said to him, 'We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father -- even God.' Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.'"

Prayer focus for today:  I remember the first time I heard someone say, "If you're not following God, you're following Satan."  It struck me like a ton of bricks. I was hit with the reality of that statement that in any sin, I'm CHOOSING to follow Satan. Let that sink in for a minute. We all get comfortable living our lives the way we want, and we don't often think about sin, because it's the "little things" we get comfortable allowing into our lives. ANYTHING that goes against God's ways is sin. (Not just the big, ugly, socially known things.) I don't know about you, but I know I have things that are sin that I have to stop, acknowledge, and SHED today!  Pray for strength for each of us to repent and turn away from those comfortable sins. It's the only way to experience true freedom in Christ.

Scripture and Prayer Focus for September 20, 2026

 September 20 -- John 8: 34-40 "Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.' They answered him, 'Abraham is our father.' Jesus said to them, 'If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.'"

Prayer focus for today: Today's prayer request is simple, yet deep -- pray that Christ would never say to you, 'my word finds no place in you.' Jesus was very plain to those he spoke to in today's scripture; pray today that He would never say to you that you are just full of religion but have none of Him in you. 

Scripture and Prayer Focus for September 19, 2026

 September 19 -- John 8: 27-33 "They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, 'When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him,' As he was saying these things, many believed in him. So Jesus said to the Jews who had beleived him, 'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.' They answered him, 'We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?"

Prayer focus for today:  How many times have you found yourself being questioned about what you believe?  Some of us have experienced this often in our lives, but some have rarely been challenged. (In fact, some of you have probably prayed that you would NEVER be challenged to explain your faith.)  Pray today for God to bring people into your lives who will question your faith in ways that cause you to truly examine what you believe ... and why. Pray for wisdom to know the Truth of Jesus Christ and be able to explain it to those who don't know what truth really is. Pray for each Christian to have the confidence to know what they believe and stand on that truth alone. Don't worry, I'm praying we will also know we're not alone!  (And remember, this doesn't have to be a deep theological explanation, just the truth of God's Word and what Jesus has done to CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!

Scripture and Prayer Focus for September 18, 2026

 September 18 -- John 8: 20-26 "These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.   So he said to them again, 'I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.' So the Jews said, 'Will he kill himself, since he says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?' He said to them, 'You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.' So they said to him, 'Who are you?' Jesus said to them, 'Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world that I have heard from him.'"

Prayer focus for today: Just as Jesus never changed his story, pray today that each of us would be faithful to speak only God's truth. Pray for strength to NOT be swayed by the world. Sure, the conversation topics may change, and the people you talk with will change, but pray for wisdom and courage to always speak the truth. This is so lacking in our world today. Work to be IN the world, but not OF the world. Pray for true wisdom to understand what this means. So many of us are forwarding social media posts that look "good", but are lacking or twisting Scriptural truth. Pray today that each of us would bear Christ in every choice we make today. 

Scripture and Prayer Focus for September 17, 2026

 September 17 -- John 8: 12-19 "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.' So the Pharisees said to him, 'You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.' Jesus answered, 'Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.'  They said to him therefore, 'Where is your Father?' Jesus answered, 'You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.'"

Prayer focus for today:  How many people would you say you really know?  I mean, REALLY know? Often we call someone a friend or say "someone I know" when we really just know them in passing or from what they choose to reveal on social media. Often, there is the presented "truth" that we see and then there is the truth. It's one thing to know about Jesus, but it's a totally different thing to truly KNOW Jesus. Today, join us in truly praying that each of us would KNOW Jesus. Ask Him to reveal to you the areas where you are just following what you've heard or seen on social media, so that you may truly know where to dig in to the Scriptures for the true truth. Pray for the truth to penetrate years of 'surface religion' in you and those you love that we may all be free in Christ to know, follow, believe, and share. 

Scripture and Prayer focus for September 16, 2026

 September 16 -- John 8: 3-11 "The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?' This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, 'Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.' And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.'"

Prayer focus for today: The story of the woman caught in adultery has many twists and turns, possibly even mimicking your own life or your favorite streaming show. However, it shows each one of us the personal side of Jesus -- the only one that matters. The woman was brought to him for condemnation by the religious leaders, yet Jesus, in His own special way, pointed out to the leaders that ALL of us are sinful beings in need of forgiveness and hope. While we don't know what He wrote in the ground, some speculate it was the sins of the religious leaders. Others suspect it might have been specific scriptures addressing their sins. Whatever it was, THAT wasn't the focus (if it was, God would have had His words written down). What was important were his final words to the woman brought before Him, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."  These are His words to each of us still today. He doesn't condemn, He teaches. He calls us to Himself. He loves. He forgives. Yet we are also commanded - from now on sin no more. 

Pray today that each of us will take time away from the "usual" of our day and truly ask Jesus to reveal to us the sin in our lives. Pray for that 'next layer' to be peeled back where we would clearly see sin as sin and ask Jesus to forgive us and guide us on the path that would never let us return there. Pray for honest hearts to seek forgiveness from those we have wronged and the strength to 'go and sin no more'.