Jim Maxim
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.
—Psalm 139:17–18
God created You to live life the way He intended. You are unique. You are essential. You are “the apple of [God’s] eye” (Psalm 17:8). You
are His child, His creation. You are the desire of His heart. You are beautiful in His sight. Yes, you. You are His child, His son, His daugh- ter, part of His royal family. He chose you.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (John 15:16)
You are a bearer of fruit! Everywhere you go, you carry the life-giving presence of almighty God. Look at why He chose you: “That you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain”
(John 15:16 nasb). That’s the real you, that’s the son or daughter God created you to be. He longs for you to let Him live big in your life. But as Jesus said, you can’t do it alone.
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. (John 15:4 nkjv)
Let’s pray these two prayers daily, among others:
Father God, please don’t let me limit You in my mind. Father, please take the lid off of my thinking and allow me to think the thoughts You have towards me. Please, God, help me to walk in the path You have for me to bring You glory and for the sake of the gospel.
Father, please use me to make faith come alive in someone’s heart somewhere today. Please, God, help me to be sensi- tive to those around me, to shower Your love and hope upon them, to bring them to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ for Your eternal glory.
God longs for you to grow in Him and to become the best you possible. I know you feel that same longing in the deepest part of your soul. The body of Christ is better when the real you shows up. We, the body of Christ, need the real you. Your world needs the real you.
During His earthly ministry, “Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37–38 nkjv).
The burden I have for God’s people is that they would get unstuck
from a mundane or routine Christian life and embrace what God
Life as He Intended 27
Almighty has for them—what His plan for them will mean for their lives right now, what His plan will mean for their families, and how it would affect the world around them. Our lives become unstuck when we understand God’s desire for us. This book was written with a pas- sion for you, as a Christian, to walk more closely with God Almighty and to become the real you that God intended you to be. When we begin to focus first on the kingdom of heaven and our true desire is to do His will, then and only then will real contentment, peace, and supernatural power flow naturally from our lives.
Now, this is not meant to be a way to get all the things that you want or elevate yourself in the eyes of the world. The purpose is to become the you God always had in mind, for His kingdom and His glory. In the end, it is all about God and His kingdom goals. And He is the One who will bring it to pass—not us!
We read Jesus’s words: “Apart from me you [little you] can do noth- ing” (John 15:5). But He also said, “You, the real you, can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.” (See Philippians 4:13.) In other words, Jesus is saying, “If you do it My way, if you let Me work in you, I will flow out of you and through you every single day of your life, and the real you will show up!”
To become the person God intended you to be, you must do it the way He intended you to do it, with His Word and His power!
The apostle Paul put it this way:
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
So what power are we trying to use in this life? In God’s reality, to become the person God intended you to be, you must do it the way He intended you to do it, with His Word and His power! Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 nlt). And He meant exactly what He said! Apart from Him, we can’t do it! But with His leading, by the power of the Holy Spirit, He can transform our Christian lives into a life of power in Him. So He promises, “rivers of living water” (John 7:38). Living waters for you, your family and friends, and the world around you that is dying without a Savior. Waters that will bring life to any situation through the gateway of prayer.
These days of prayer were designed so that you will learn how to pray to a God who hears and answers you. You will experience these moments with almighty God that will transform you and your under- standing of the spiritual world. With the apostle Paul, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” (Ephesians 1:18 niv), that you will know, see, taste, and feel the power of the Holy Spirit in prayer, and learn how to bring others with you before God by praying the Scriptures. Now, let’s go to the throne room together and pray.
Excerpted from “21 Days of Deeper Prayer: Discover an Extraordinary Life in God” by Jim Maxim with Daniel Henderson, © 2020 by Jim Maxim. Published by Whitaker House, New Kensington, PA. Used with permission. All rights reserved. www.whitakerhouse.com.
Free audio prayers found here: www.acts413.net/deeperprayer