A short devotional message by Holly Furtick that teaches contentment as a practiced discipline in the Christian life. Furtick contrasts praying like Paul (prayers for others, producing joy and contentment) with praying like David (self-focused or vengeance prayers), and urges listeners to pour out to others—pray for, bless, and serve them—so God can refill them. The talk emphasizes intentionality, gratitude, and focusing outward rather than dwelling on personal grievances.
Chapters
There is a secret for believers in Christ. It's counterintuitive, but it is a beautiful thing to experience. And it's this. When I pour out, God somehow pours into me. You see, the enemy wants nothing more than for us to be discontent with our lives. He wants us to hate our job. He wants us to desire to leave our marriage. He wants us to keep our focus on all the things we don't have and all the things that are wrong in our lives. Because if he can keep your focus here, he knows that you will be unable to experience the fullness of life in Christ. Paul knew that focusing on his current situation would get him nowhere fast. I don't know if you're like me, but once I get into a negative state of mind, I can really start to snowball out of control. And my focus gets on everything that is wrong. Stuff I didn't even think was wrong becomes wrong. So Paul practiced pouring out. Even when you want people to pour into you. He said, here are the things that I'm praying for you. That your love would abound, that you would be able to have discernment, and that you would be filled with the fruit of righteousness. Look, I'm not saying that there are not times when you cannot ask a friend for help or you can't be vulnerable with a friend and process through a hard day. But have you ever experienced the joy and the perspective that can come when you take your focus off of yourself and you determine to bless someone else? Remember, we're working around the idea that contentment is an art. That means that it must be consciously practiced. That means that there are some days where you're going to get this right, and there are other days where you're going to fail miserably and you're going to make everything about yourself that's okay. But the more that you practice it, the more it becomes second nature. Have you ever thought about how many of your prayers that you pray that are actually just all about yourself? I mean, most of my prayers are for me. I don't know if you're like me, Lord. Bless me, God. Help me, guide me, give me, show me. Look, it's great for you to pray for yourself. You should pray for yourself. But have you experienced the joy that comes from praying for a friend? From praying a friend through a hard situation and seeing God come through for them? I wanna pray more prayers like Paul. I wanna experience that joy that comes from taking the focus off of myself and focusing on. On those around me. A lot of times you'll realize, wow, I'm really not having a bad day. She's really having a bad day. But a lot of days I pray more like David. Okay, don't get me wrong. David penned some of the most beautiful prayers in the Bible. He wrote Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. In Psalm 34, I will bless the Lord at all times. But I just want to pick on David for a minute. Have you ever read some of his prayers for his enemies? Here's something that he wrote in Psalm 35. He says, May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame. May those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay. May they be like chaff before the wind with the angel of the Lord driving them away. May their path be dark and slippery with the angel of the Lord pursuing them. Have you ever prayed, David prayers? I have. I know you have. I bet just the other day someone cut you off in traffic and you prayed that they would get a flat tire. It's okay. We all do that. We all pray David prayers. Sometimes, David prayers are all you've got. I've been there. And I don't know if God answers my David prayers, but I do know that he hears them and he understands that there are some days where that's all you've got. And he's glad that you're coming to him with your pain and with your grievances. But you know, in my experience, when I pray, Paul prayers, prayers for the people around me, there is a joy and a peace and a sense of contentment that floods my soul. God is so kind and he's so patient. And he sees when we pour out and pray for others, even when we are in the midst of. Of deep personal pain. If we sat around waiting for our circumstances to change before we ministered to those around us, think about all that we would miss out on. We would miss out on increased faith and deepened relationships and an unspeakable joy that comes from honoring others above ourselves. Hey, thanks for watching. I hope that that encouraged you today. Make sure that you subscribe so that you don't miss out on other videos like this, and I'll see you back here next time.
