Praying the Promises: Anchor Your Life to Unshakable Hope

by Max Lucado, Andrea Lucado

Overview

Find security and hope in a broken world through the unshakable promises of God. Join New York Times bestselling author Max Lucado as he leads you through 30 life-changing promises from God in Praying the Promises. You’ll experience a more intimate and effective prayer life and a deeper faith in the God who keeps every promise.

Max Lucado invites you to:

• discover a deeper understanding of the peace and security God offers His people
• learn from the stories of God’s faithfulness and identify tangible ways to implement faith into your own prayer life
• develop a deeper appreciation for the biblical people of faith, reflections, and prayers so you can see a clearer picture of how God is the rock you can build your life upon

Praying the Promises is a great gift for birthdays, clergy appreciation, holiday gift giving, or to someone needing encouragement. Inside you’ll discover:

• 30 sections grouped by Scripture driven promises from God
• thoughtful teachings from Max which can be read collectively or as a 30-day devotional
• Scripture that reinforces each promise
• prayers to help you prayer God’s promises

Whether you are a lifelong believer or if faith is a brand-new adventure, Praying the Promises offers you access to the God who has kept His promises since the beginning of time and will continue to do so for eternity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400315307
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	08/07/2018
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	580,316
File size:	899 KB

About the Author

Since entering the ministry in 1978, Max Lucado has served churches in Miami, Florida; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and San Antonio, Texas. He currently serves as the teaching minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. He is the recipient of the 2021 ECPA Pinnacle Award for his outstanding contribution to the publishing industry and society at large. He is America's bestselling inspirational author with more than 150 million products in print.

Visit his website at MaxLucado.com

Facebook.com/MaxLucado

Instagram.com/MaxLucado

Twitter.com/MaxLucado

Youtube.com/MaxLucadoOfficial

The Max Lucado Encouraging Word Podcast

Andrea Lucado is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. She is the author of English Lessons: The Crooked Path of Growing Toward Faith. Before taking on writing full time, she worked in the Christian publishing industry as a book publicist. She has a master’s degree in English literature from Oxford-Brookes University and contributes regularly to online and print publications such as Relevant magazine and She Reads Truth. When she is not conducting interviews or writing stories, you can find her laughing with friends at a coffee shop or running in the Texas hill country. 

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

God Has Made a Covenant with You

[God] has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature.

— 2 Peter 1:4 NIV

Unshakable Hope

The heroes in the Bible came from all walks of life: rulers, servants, teachers, doctors. They were male, female, single, and married. Yet one common denominator united them: they built their lives on the promises of God. Because of God's promises, Noah believed in rain before rain was a word. Because of God's promises, Abraham left a good home for one he'd never seen. Because of God's promises, Joshua led two million people into enemy territory. Because of God's promises, David conked a giant, Peter rose from the ashes of regret, and Paul found a grace worth dying for.

One writer went so far as to call such saints "the heirs of promise" (Hebrews 6:17). It is as if the promise was the family fortune, and they were smart enough to attend the reading of the will. Jacob trusted God's promises. Joseph trusted God's promises. Moses trusted God's promises. Their stories were different, but the theme was the same: God's promises were polestars in their pilgrimages of faith. They had plenty of promises from which to pick.

One student of Scripture spent a year and a half attempting to tally the number of promises God made to humanity. He came up with 7,487 promises! God's promises are pine trees in the Rocky Mountains of Scripture: abundant, unbending, and perennial. Some of the promises are positive, the assurance of blessings. Some are negative, the guarantee of consequences. But all are binding, for not only is God a promise maker; God is a promise keeper.

Promises from God

By the word of the lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

— Psalm 33:6–9 NIV

"As the rain and snow come down from heaven and stay upon the ground to water the earth, and cause the grain to grow and to produce seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry, so also is my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It shall accomplish all I want it to and prosper everywhere I send it."

— Isaiah 55:10–11 TLB

God is able to do whatever he promises.

— Romans 4:21 NLT

No matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.

— 2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV

Praying God's Promises

Lord, you are the maker and keeper of promises. Your Word does not return void. When you say you will do something, you do it. You are able to do whatever you promise. So many years ago you made a covenant with your people, and you have been faithful to that covenant.

Sometimes it is easier to put my faith in my circumstances rather than in your promises. I want to rely on myself, my earthly possessions, and the people in my life, but these so often fail me. But your promises will never fail me!

As I read through your promises, give me a new passion for them. Show me what promises I have forgotten over the years and need to cling to again. Reveal your true character to me. Remind me of the power of your love and your grace. Strengthen my faith, and teach me to lean on your Word rather than on myself.

Thank you for keeping your promises. I'm grateful for the ultimate promise I have in your Son, Jesus. Amen.

I AM ...

I am building my life on the promises of God. Because his word is unbreakable, my hope is unshakable. I do not stand on the problems of life or the pain in life. I stand on the great and precious promises of God.

CHAPTER 2

You Will Know God

No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, "Know the Lord," because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

— Hebrews 8:11 NIV

Unshakable Hope

Everything in creation gives evidence of God's existence. The intricacy of snowflakes, the roar of a thunderstorm, the precision of a honeybee, the bubbling of a cool mountain stream. These miracles and a million more give testimony to the existence of a brilliant, wise, and tireless God (Psalm 19:1–4). Everything shows evidence of a purposeful design. The facts lead to a wonderful conclusion. God is ... and God is knowable.

He has not hidden himself. He doesn't close the door to his children. He does not resist our questions or refuse our inquiries, but rather the opposite: he promises success to all who search for him. Paul said in Romans, "Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made" (Romans 1:20).

We can know more than simple facts about our Creator; we can know his heart, his joy, his passion, his plan, and his sorrows. We can know God. Of course, we will never know him entirely. God is knowable, but he is incomprehensible (Isaiah 55:8–9). Our pursuit of him must be marked by humility. We will never know everything about God. He is to us what the Grand Canyon is to the explorer: an endless array of discovery and beauty.

But that isn't meant to discourage us. The mark of a saint is that he or she is growing in the knowledge of God. As saints, our highest pursuit is the pursuit of our Maker. So stand firmly upon God's promise. He will make himself known to all who seek him.

Promises from God

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge.

— Psalm 19:1–2

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

— Isaiah 55:8–9

"Let not the wise boast in their wisdom, nor the mighty in their strength, nor the rich in their wealth. Whoever boasts must boast in this: that he understands and knows Me."

— Jeremiah 9:23–24 the voice

What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — His eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

— Romans 1:19–20 NIV

Praying God's Promises

Thank you for being a God who wants me to know you. You have not hidden yourself from me.

Father, at times I have not believed in you. I have wanted more proof, more evidence. But you promised that you have revealed yourself in creation to all of your children. When doubts come, I will cling to your promise.

Your wisdom surpasses all wisdom on this earth. Your ways are so much higher than mine. I could study you and your Word for the rest of my life and still only scratch the surface of the depths of who you are. You are at once knowable and unknowable. You've revealed yourself to me, but so much of you is a mystery and always will be.

Deepen my knowledge of you, God. I want to know you more and understand you better. Reveal yourself to me through Scripture and through your creation. Reveal yourself to me through conversations and relationships. I am so grateful for the promise of a knowable God. Amen.

I WILL ...

I will make the knowledge of God my highest pursuit. I will stand firmly upon God's promise that all will know him. And as one who seeks him, I will trust that he will make himself known to me through the beauty of nature, relationships, and everything around me. He is not hidden from me.

CHAPTER 3

You Are Stamped with God's Image

"Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature."

— Genesis 1:26 The Message

Unshakable Hope

It's easy to feel anything but important when the corporation sees you as a number, your ex takes your energy, or old age takes your dignity. Somebody important? Hardly. When you struggle with your sense of significance, remember this promise of God: you were created by God, in God's image, for God's glory (Genesis 1:26).

God created us to be more like him than anything else he made. He never declared, "Let us make oceans in our image" or "birds in our likeness." The heavens above reflect the glory of God, but they are not made in the image of God. Yet we are.

To be clear: no one is a god except in his or her own delusion. But everyone carries some of the communicable attributes of God. Wisdom. Love. Grace. Kindness. A longing for eternity. These are just some of the attributes that set us apart from the farm animal and suggest that we bear the fingerprints of the Divine Maker. We are made in his image and in his likeness.

And the work of shaping us into his image is ongoing. As we fellowship with God, read his Word, obey his commands, and seek to understand and reflect his character, something wonderful emerges. Or, better stated, Someone wonderful emerges. God comes out of us. We say things God would say. We do things God would do.

You were made in his image, and you are being shaped into his likeness. When the world says you are worthless, remember this gives you infinite worth.

Promises from God

As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.

— Psalm 17:15

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

— Psalm 139:13–14

But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever- increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

— 2 Corinthians 3:16–18 NIV

You have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

— colossians 3:9–10 NIV

Praying God's Promises

Lord, you created everything, and everything you've created is wonderful. You created me, but not only that, you created me in your image.

On the days when I feel like I am not enough or unimportant, help me remember that you cherish me because I am your child. Show me how to live as an image bearer of you. Show me how I can reflect your goodness to others and how I can walk confidently knowing that I am worthy simply because I am yours. Continue to refine me and mold me into your image until the day I see you face to face.

Thank you for loving me, for never giving up on me, and for giving me more value than anything or anyone on this earth ever could. Amen.

I AM ...

I am worthy because God made me in his image. He cherishes me because I resemble him, because I am his child. As his image bearer, I will cling to the promise that I am stamped with his image.

CHAPTER 4

The Devil's Days Are Numbered

The God who brings peace will soon defeat Satan and give you power over him.

— Romans 16:20 NCV

Unshakable Hope

The Bible names a real and present foe of our faith: the devil. The Greek word for "devil" is diabolos, and it shares a root with the verb diaballein, which means "to split." The devil is a splitter, a divider, a wedge driver. He divided Adam and Eve from God in the garden and would like to separate you from God as well. He wants to take unbelievers to hell and make life hell for believers.

Every conflict is a contest with Satan and his forces. For that reason "though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:3–4).

What are our weapons? Prayer, worship, and Scripture. When we pray, we engage the power of God against the devil. When we worship, we do what Satan himself did not do: we place God on the throne. When we pick up the sword of Scripture, we do what Jesus did in the wilderness. He responded to Satan by proclaiming truth (Matthew 4:1–11). And since Satan has a severe allergy to truth, he left Jesus alone.

Satan will not linger long where God is praised and prayers are offered. Satan may be vicious, but he will not be victorious. The devil is a defeated devil (Jude v. 6), so don't give him more than a passing glance. God has already won.

Promises from God

Our fight is not against people on earth but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world's darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world. That is why you need to put on God's full armor. Then on the day of evil you will be able to stand strong.

— Ephesians 6:12–13 NCV

Having disarmed the powers and authorities, [Jesus] made a public spectacle of [the forces of evil], triumphing over them by the cross.

— Colossians 2:15 NIV

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

— James 4:7

But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.

— Jude vv. 5–6

Praying God's Promises

God, you are all-powerful. No evil can defeat you. No one can come against you. You defeated death itself. You are victorious over all. The devil has no authority next to you. With just the mention of your name, he runs in fear.

Out of my own strength, I give in to Satan's temptations every day. I wake up determined not to commit the same sins I did yesterday, yet each day, I do. Sometimes I choose the path that is most convenient instead of what is righteous. Lord, forgive me, and help me remember that I can overcome any temptation when I rely on your strength.

Keep me from evil, not just in my actions, but in my thoughts and my heart. Give me scripture with which to guard myself when temptation comes. Protect my mind. Keep me alert to false promises and false teaching.

I am so grateful that in Christ, I do not have to fear the evil one. In Christ, I can be certain that evil will not conquer me because it has already been conquered. Amen.

I WILL ...

I will acknowledge Satan but worship God. I will trust that Christ is greater than any temptation that will come my way. I will not rely on my own strength when I come face to face with the evil one. I will guard my heart and mind with God's truth.

CHAPTER 5

Troubles Come, but So Does God

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

— Hebrews 11:7 NIV

Unshakable Hope

Before sending the Flood that would cover the earth, God promised safety for Noah and his family. All of humanity at the time was wicked, "but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8). This is the first time we see the word grace in Scripture. We might expect grace to debut in David's psalm or Jesus' sermon or Paul's epistle. But it doesn't. Grace comes when the Flood does.

Noah found a God who would stoop down and help him. Indeed, "stoop" is the Hebrew meaning of the word grace. God stooped and entered Noah's world. Grace is the God who stoops, who descends, who condescends and reaches.

The Noah story is our story. The world is corrupt. The judgment is sure. But the salvation is certain. God has provided us a way of escape: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23–24 NIV).

God promised to stoop down to Noah's level by saving him from the Flood. God then stooped down to our level in the form of Jesus to save us from our sin. We were in trouble, but he came near.

We are saved, not by a boat, but by Jesus Christ. He is our Ark. We enter into him. We trust him. His gangplank is made of Calvary's cross. The skylight is formed from an empty tomb. He seals it shut from the outside. He, and he alone, keeps us safe from the evil that floods about us. When we trust the promises of God, we enjoy the unspeakable benefit of his Son.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Praying the Promises"
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Copyright © 2018 Max Lucado.
Excerpted by permission of Thomas Nelson.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Introduction, vii,
God Has Made a Covenant with You, 1,
You Will Know God, 6,
You Are Stamped with God's Image, 11,
The Devil's Days Are Numbered, 16,
Troubles Come, but So Does God, 21,
You Are Made Right by Faith, 26,
God Will Bring Good from Evil, 31,
God Will Guide You, 36,
You Are an Heir of God, 41,
God Is Near, 46,
Jesus Is Your Redeemer, 51,
Giants Will Fall, 56,
Your Prayers Have Power, 61,
God Gives Grace to the Humble, 66,
It All Ends All Right, 71,
The Best Is Yet to Be, 76,
God Works Through You, 81,
God Gets You, 86,
Jesus Offers Living Water, 91,
You Are Part of God's Kingdom, 96,
Christ Is Praying for You, 101,
Your Sins Are Forgiven, 106,
Death Is Temporary, 111,
Joy Is Coming Soon, 116,
The Holy Spirit Empowers You, 122,
Christ Will Build His Church, 127,
God Will Meet Your Needs, 131,
Justice Will Prevail, 136,
God Makes All Things New, 141,
Hope Is an Anchor for Your Soul, 146,
Notes, 151,