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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Chris Hodges
Read between
March 11 - March 11, 2025
Prayer overcomes anxiety and fear. Prayer keeps us anchored in truth and helps us maintain an eternal perspective, freeing us from circumstantial worries and temporary trials. “Do not be anxious about anything,” we’re instructed, “but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6 NIV). When you immerse yourself in regular prayer, “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7 NIV). Prayer is a place to “offload” cares and give them to God.
Prayer connects us with God. Prayer keeps your faith alive, your hope in Christ strong, and your relationship with God healthy.
Prayer is that access point, where heaven touches earth, where we maintain our lifeline with our Creator, our Savior, and our Redeemer.
No matter what you’re doing throughout your day, praying first keeps you tethered to the One who loves you most.
God wants you to come to Him just as you are. You don’t have to make sure you’re all bright and shiny when you approach Him. He wants the real you, even when you’re upset or angry. God would rather you whine, complain, cry, curse, rant, and rave than withdraw. He can handle your passionate anger and your bitter fears and would rather you maintain relationship with Him than walk away, dismiss Him, and refuse to talk to Him. Indifference to God is worse than your anger, resentment, or frustration.
God honors bold prayers because bold prayers honor God.
Using fear in reference to worship doesn’t mean to cower, cringe, or be afraid of God. This kind of fear is more like awe and recognition of God’s greatness. In a healthy family, children both love and respect their father.
After you connect with the amazing grace of Jesus and the lavish love of the Father, then you’re ready to experience the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit.
The word worship comes from the root word worth. When we worship the Lord, we sing about His worth, not our own or anyone else’s. Worth is reflected by the names someone has, and the same is true of God. His worth is revealed in His names. “The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10 NIV).
In fact, God wants to bless us—it’s His nature as a Father who lavishly loves His children to pour out His blessings on us. But the reason He blesses us is not so we can be rich and have a lot of stuff and live a life of comfort and leisure. God’s Word tells us, “I will bless you . . . and you will be a blessing to others” (Genesis 12:2 NLT).
You may not know your purpose yet or the extent of it, but God does. He wants to show you and empower you to do what seems impossible to you now. I’ve never stopped praying for the Lord to enlarge my influence: “God, show me Your purpose for my life so I can live a life bigger than my own.” I dare you to pray your own version of this request and see what happens!
If you’ve received God’s blessing, influence, and presence, then I have some bad news for you: all of hell will try to stop you. That’s why we pray like Jabez and ask God, “. . . keep me from harm” (1 Chronicles 4:10 NIV). You may be under attack right now, even as you’re reading the words on this page. You may assume it’s circumstantial, but actually the enemy of your soul is trying to keep you distracted from relying on God and living out your purpose. It is not accidental. It is spiritual.
The devil wants you to focus on your pain—to focus on escaping it, comforting yourself from it, or wallowing in it as a victim. But when you focus on what God wants, then you can trust that your pain will no longer be the center of your life. Paul expressed it well: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
Remember, prayer isn’t about God moving toward you. Prayer is about you moving toward God.
we should pray the names of God in order to exercise God’s power and authority over all situations. Paul tells us that God exalted Jesus to the highest place “and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9–11 NIV). James adds that “even the demons believe—and tremble” (2:19 NKJV). When we pray the names of God, we’re connecting to the Highest Authority.
praying to all three persons of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is a vital part of relating to God in His fullness. Similarly, praying additional names of God directs our attention to His many qualities, abilities, and attributes.
“The LORD is my shepherd . . .” (23:1, emphasis added), which makes our prayers incredibly personal. We can trust that God leads, guards, nourishes, and protects us just as a shepherd would for his sheep.
You also need your Good Shepherd to provide for you, which brings us to the second name and quality of God in Psalm 23, our Provider:
we come to the third name and quality of God in our prayer model: God is our Peace. The psalmist described this beautifully with pastoral imagery: “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters” (Psalm 23:2 NKJV, emphasis added). This prayer seems more relevant than ever. God often has to “make us lie down” because we are so busy and refuse to slow down until we’re forced to do so.
We must practice slowing down and focusing on our priorities rather than allowing every urgent demand to rob us of time, energy, and peace. In Ecclesiastes we’re told, “Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind” (4:6 NIV). In a world where we’re constantly told to do more, have more, and go for more, we must remember that less—with God—is always better.
God is also our Healer, or Jehovah-Rapha. This Hebrew name means to restore by returning to the previous point of departure. God is the only One who can restore our health, minds, hearts, families, finances, and relationships back to the health and wholeness that He intended. This includes physical healing and healing in any other area of our lives.
He is also our Righteousness: “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3 NKJV). The Hebrew tells us God is Jehovah-Tsidkenu, meaning He is not only our Righteousness but He makes us righteous as well. Through the blood of Jesus, we receive what we could not do for ourselves.
Are you following God’s path for your life? The one guided by His righteousness, for His name’s sake? When we pray to God as our Righteousness, we submit our plans in order to follow His plans. We pray for His will to be done and not our own. We surrender our own agendas and let go of doing things our own way.
God is a holy God and His name is holy. He wants to lead us away from a compromised lifestyle. When we follow Him, God will deal with our character, our flesh, our choices, and our anger. Down the path of righteousness, we lose our bitterness, our sinful weakness, and our tendency to compromise and justify ourselves. “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Peter 1:14–15 NIV).
We are never alone as we walk by faith because God is our Constant Companion. Once again, the psalmist described it perfectly: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4 NKJV). This is God as Jehovah-Shammah, “The Lord Is There.”
God as our Constant Companion leads naturally to this next name—our Defender: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” (Psalm 23:5 NKJV). What does this mean? Basically, it means you can relax even in the battle. You can trust that the Lord is fighting for you and protecting you. You can sit down and enjoy your meal while He guards you against harm. The Hebrew name for this name of God is Jehovah-Nissi. You are able to relax because He is always protecting you from harm. Right now, thousands of US troops remain deployed at various locations around the world as the war on
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The final name of God emerging in this psalm is our Sanctifier: “You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over” (Psalm 23:5 NKJV). The literal Hebrew name is Jehovah-M’Kaddesh, meaning God sets you apart for His special purpose. God has anointed you so that you belong to Him for His sacred use. And He has given you more than you need—your cup runs over—so that you can minister and give to others.
God anoints you so you can use your blessings to bless those around you. He always gives you more than you need so that your generosity can point back to His. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9 NIV). In Old Testament times, only a select few were trained and anointed to be priests in the temple. But after Jesus, our ultimate High Priest, came and sacrificed Himself for us, we now share in His royal priesthood.
As you can see, praying all the names of God found in Psalm 23 carries enormous spiritual weight. Without a doubt, it’s one of the most powerful ways to pray. When we pray the Prayer of the Sheep, we focus on God and His character—not ourselves, our needs, and our requests. It may seem counterintuitive, but our needs are met as we let go of them and focus completely on who God is in all His glorious dimensions. After all, God is not answering prayers based on what you’ve done or who you are. He answers prayers based on who He is. And when you pray this, the outcome is clear: surely goodness
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When you’re praying for someone who needs the Lord, pray that they see Him without any obstacles or distractions. Pray against whatever is in their way so that they can see the light of God. Pray that they can see God’s power and experience His love based on their own encounter with Him and not what anyone else tells them.
God wants His beloved sons and daughters to come home. Praying for people to have personal encounters with the living God makes a huge difference. They realize that God is not an angry judge waiting to punish them but a loving Father unlike anyone they’ve ever met. They are no longer blinded by misconceptions about God, because they have begun to see the truth of who He is for themselves.
Being sensitive to others’ spiritual needs does not mean preaching or quoting Scripture. It means showing kindness, patience, and a willingness to help without expecting anything in return. God usually reveals Himself to the lost through those who already love and serve Him.
When we are aware of spiritual warfare, we can be active in praying through it. God has given us victory and power to fight through the blood of Christ. We can overcome anything that comes against the truth of God and His Word by calling on the name of Jesus.
Whether you’re feeling worried or not, share your thoughts and concerns with God. Ask Him for His supernatural protection. He says He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways (Psalm 91:11). Trust this promise and lay everything down before Him, trusting His good plans and His power to protect you and those you love.
Your ability to fight the devil is only as strong as your relationship with the Lord.
No matter how you feel or what you’re going through, you have access to the power of the living God. His Spirit dwells in you and provides strength, stamina, and the power you need to overcome the Enemy’s attacks and live victoriously in Christ. He has won the battle already so you don’t have to rely on your own abilities.
God has made it clear throughout the Bible that there’s a path to life that produces fruit, fulfillment, and joy.
Knowing God should be our priority—not learning about Him or even serving others in His name, but spending time with Him, praising and worshiping, talking and listening. The more we get to know Him, the more we want to know.
In order to have clarity, though, your heart-lens must be clean and clear. Your heart is a filter for how you see things in life—your hurts, wounds, trials and triumphs, experiences both good and bad. We’re told, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23 NKJV). In other words, keep your heart-filter clean because it holds the issues of life.
Many people don’t see their God-given purpose because they’re limited by the cloudy lens they’re using. When you see clearly and find your calling, it brings hope to your life.
We don’t truly realize just how connected to the world we actually are—and how much that connection corrupts us. Jesus told His disciples that they were disconnected from God and too connected to the world. If you stop and think about your own life for a moment, I suspect you’ll realize that we’re the same way today.
Prayer is the bridge to living in the spiritual world and unleashing God’s power in our lives.
Pray without ceasing. Pray with other people. And always pray first!
