Day 14 -Saturday- August 19, 2023-- Prayer Focus -Jars of Clay
2 Corinthians 4:7-18 (NIV)
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”[a] Since we have that same spirit of[b] faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
A jar of clay - what can we learn from a jar of clay.
1. Jars begin moldable.
This means to be pliable. Clay is moldable when water is added (water is very much like the Holy Spirit). The essence of the gospel is change.
Clay can form and retain the shape of an outside force (the Holy Spirit).
May this be true of us day by day.
May our prayer be - Help me to be moldable day by day.
2. Jars are strengthened by fire.
Fire hardens and strengthens clay.
This can be the Holy Spirit strengthening us to stand.
Pray to be strengthened day by day.
The Holy Spirit makes us resistant to the hardships of life.
1 John 4:4 Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.
May our prayer be strengthened by Fire.
3. Jars are vessels with a purpose.
Pray to be filled every single day.
We are vessels carrying Jesus.
We are the hands and feet of Jesus.
We are simply the vessel that brings the message of Jesus to others.
May our prayer be that we acknowledge we are just the instruments, or vessels that bring the message of Jesus to others.
