Romans 12 Challenge - Week 2 - Verses 11-12

July 28 - August 3

Romans 12:11-12

¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.     

 Take the Romans 12 Challenge!

• Memorize the weekly verse(s)
• Pray the prayer every morning/evening
• Print the reminder card, post it somewhere visible, take it with you
• Every time you see the "12" of the Seahawks' 12th man flag, think about applying these thoughts to your life.
• Post a comment to this blog to share how God is transforming you for good!



save, copy, print as an ever-present reminder

Think about it

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  The term "lacking in zeal" could be simply translated as "lazy."  In Greek, "fervor" means "to boil or bubble."  Don't be lazy, but boil with spiritual energy.  Our being spiritually pumped up is for a purpose: not self, but service.  How are we serving the Lord today?

Be joyful in hope.  Unshakable joy.  Remember how important the absolute reality of God's promised future is to Paul's presentation of the gospel in Romans.  Our hope in what God will do can bring us joy in our lives today...and give us eyes to see what God is doing right now.

Be patient in affliction.  Affliction speaks of pain, misery, and grief.  Problems get worse when pain causes us to panic.  Patience gives us perspective.  Consider Romans 5:3-4..."We glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope."

Be faithful in prayer.  Prayer makes all this possible.  To be faithful in prayer means to hold tightly to it, to be a persistent pray-er.  It is in prayer that the Holy Spirit connects us to God.  Feel too tired and worn out to pray?  Remember that the Holy Spirit is already praying for us in our weakness...see Romans 8:26-27.

 

Pray about it

God, when I’m tempted to be lazy in loving others, give me a shot of spiritual adrenaline that revs up my servant heart.  Fill me with hope that makes joy overflow.  When I’m under pressure, grant me patience.  Empower me to persist in prayer. Amen.

Apply it

This week's focus reminds us how important our inner spiritual life is to the way we live outwardly in our relationships with others.  We're called to be spiritually-energized servants who are joyful, hopeful, and patient even in difficult circumstances.  That's a lot to ask for...is it even possible?  Prayer makes it possible.  Focus on your prayer life this week.  Start by deciding on a particular time each day to pray the simple prayer I've put together.  Pray it again and again as the week goes on.  What changes might make you more energetic in your exercise of prayer?

 



Reminder Card for Black & White Printing



 

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