*DAILY SHOWER January 10, 2022 Devotion and declarations*
Prayer before the Word:
_ O God, I thank you for the gifts of life and health. Help me to study your word. Give me the wisdom and grace to put it into practice, in Jesus name, Amen_ .
*TODAY’S THEME: The prize you must pay to become a champion *
TEXT: 1 Corinthians 9:23-27
"[23]And I do this for the sake of the good news (the Gospel), in order that I may become a participator in it and share in its [blessings along with you].
[24]Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours.
[25]Now every athlete who goes into training conducts himself temperately and restricts himself in all things. They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither, but we [do it to receive a crown of eternal blessedness] that cannot wither.
[26]Therefore I do not run uncertainly (without definite aim). I do not box like one beating the air and striking without an adversary.
[27]But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit]."
*SHOWER:*
Like Paul rightly observed, Sports is one key sector known for its disciplinary measures. It's a place where you see both the participants (athelets) and spectators struggling to keep to the rules. They do this so they could win the prize or avoid been disqualified for any reason. Heavenly race requires more than that because it's prize that lasts for eternity. That's why Paul, in today's text, opines that he denies himself earthly pleasures while striving to attain the prize. What can you not do for heaven? So, it is time for us to think out things we must either forsake or incorporate if we must make heaven.
*PRAYER/DECLARATIONS*
Oh God, I thank you for a day like this. I am ready to risk anything so that I must attain the prize. Please, help me out in Jesus name, Amen!
*1. I receive the Grace of God to win this heavenly race. I hereby decree that I'm unstoppable in Jesus name, amen.*
*2. Anything that will stand on my way to success today, I cut you off.*
*3. Therefore, men and women shall strive to favour me.*
*4. God will disappoint my enemies today because He has risen to fight for me.*
*5. Today, I decree and declare that there will be no lamentation at my home, village, society and country in Jesus name, Amen!*
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