Carter Conlon | Daily Devotionals

I remember standing in the church years ago when the call was given to yield your future into the hands of God. I remember nobody moving, but my heart started pounding. Oh God, I said, you can't mean me. I had nothing to give to the kingdom of God, at least I thought. I had a bad temper. I was selfish to the core and I was fighting a lot of my own struggles.

But I walked to the altar and I said, God, I have nothing to give to you. If you can use nothing, you can have my life. You can have my future. It was not my strength, not a plan, not a resume. I responded with nothing in my hands.

If you think today you have nothing to give God, bring to him your nothing and watch God do something with your nothing. Join with us every Wednesday night, 7 p.m. Eastern time at itstimetopray.org, where God's taking people with nothing from all over the world and starting to do something.

It's time to pray.

Mark 14:37 'and he came and found them sleeping'. Jesus came back to the garden and found the disciples asleep, not because they didn't care, but because the battle was beyond their ability and their strength. Jesus was not surprised. He was revealing a truth that they needed to see. They wanted to stand with Him and they meant it with all their hearts, but human ability cannot sustain spiritual warfare.

Jesus was showing them that the future would demand something they didn't possess. This wasn't condemnation. It was a revelation. The spirit was willing but their flesh was weak. God allows you and I to enter moments where our limits are exposed so that we learn to stop trusting in ourselves.

When our strength runs out, the beauty of this whole thing is that God steps in. Let the fire of trial bring you to a dependence on Christ alone, where true strength is found. It's time to pray.

Psalm 127:1: "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." God makes it clear that anything built in human strength in his kingdom will not last. The disciples labored sincerely, yet God showed them their effort was not enough.

Staying up late, eating the bread of sorrows, striving to prove loyalty cannot produce a lasting testimony. If God is not building the work inside of us, then our labor is in vain. Peter believed his commitment could sustain him, but the fire of trial revealed otherwise.

God must build the testimony within each of our lives. When we stop striving and surrender control, it's then the Spirit of God begins to work. Lay down the pressure to carry what only God can sustain.

Today, talk to him about it. Ask him to build within you what you cannot build in yourself. There's no shame in it. There's only victory.

It's time to pray.

We must pray for God's mercy as the days get darker. You and I must pray for our homes, our families, and our children. We must even pray to God to have mercy on our enemies. We shouldn't be rejoicing at the judgment of anyone. Jesus Christ said that he didn't come down to condemn, but he came to forgive, and we are to be the ambassadors of that forgiveness. God didn't appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I want to encourage you today not to be afraid of the time we're now living in. We tend to want to shut off all the news, stick our heads in the sand, and pretend it's all going to go away. But you and I don't have to do that because God has not given us a spirit of fear. In Christ, he's given us power, the ability to love all people, and he's given us a sound mind. God answers prayer.

Therefore, it's time to pray.

Gospel of Mark 14:38: "The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak." Jesus spoke these words in the garden, not as condemnation, but as revelation.

Peter the Apostle wanted to stand. His desire was real, but desire is not strength. Jesus was showing him that human willingness cannot overcome human weakness. Sitting at the table, Peter believed that he could endure anything. In the fire, he discovered he could not.

This is where God brings every believer: to the place where self-effort collapses. The flesh cannot finish a divine journey. What is of us alone will burn in the fire, but what is of Christ will remain.

God doesn't expose weakness to shame us, but rather to save us. When you and I stop trusting in our own strength, Christ alone becomes our strength. Yield your confidence to Him today and let His power reign in you.

It's time to pray.

"Loose him and let him go." This is what Jesus said when Lazarus came out of the tomb. When God calls you, he does not call you to remain bound. You are loose to clap your hands. You are loose to give glory to God. You are loosed to be the person that Jesus Christ made you to be.

You're not meant to stay wrapped in yesterday's grave clothes. You're not meant to live under the voice that says you will never change. When He calls you, you come forth. When Jesus calls you live, don't hold back your response today. Step out of the grave, walk forward. Let Him finish in you what He's already begun.

Join with us every Wednesday night 7 p.m. Eastern Time at itstimetopray.org. People are stepping out of the grave all over the world because they're hearing God's voice called them.

My brother, my sister, it's time to pray.

Finding strength in the fire begins with admitting that you don't have the strength you need. Peter learned this lesson in the Garden of Gethsemane, and every believer must learn it as well. Sitting at the table, Peter believed that he had the strength to stand, but the fire of trial revealed the truth.

God leads us to the end of ourselves so that he can become everything to us. The fire strips away false confidence and exposes our need for the strength of another. When self-effort collapses, divine strength steps in. This isn't defeat. It's actually deliverance. God isn't trying to shame you. He's trying to save you from trusting what cannot hold.

When we stop trusting in our own strength, suddenly the supply of God's strength becomes ours. Today yield your life to Christ anew and afresh and allow him to carry you through whatever fire and trial that you are facing.

It's time to pray.

Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, facing the greatest trial of his life. He had asked his disciples to watch and pray with him as he prepared to go to the cross. Earlier that night, they promised loyalty. Peter said they would never deny him. Yet when Jesus returned from prayer, he found them asleep again.

Scripture says they had nothing to answer him. The boasting was gone. The confidence had eroded. What they believed about their own strength had collapsed all around them. This silence was not defeat. It was actually truth. God was bringing them to the end of themselves so that his strength could begin to be theirs. There were no more explanations, only surrender.

This is where true strength is found. Stop trusting today in your ability to endure and allow Jesus Christ to become your strength in the fire. Talk to God about it right now because it's time to pray.

Are we in the last days? If we are, there must be a witness to the current events of our day in Scripture. Now some scriptures speak about the last days, but there is a sign that is given to followers of Jesus Christ.

The Bible says that since we are not children of darkness, the last days will not overtake us as a thief. So in other words, there's an interior witness given to us by the Holy Spirit that we are living in the days that were foretold in the Word of God.

We should be aware now of the times that you and I are living in. The signs are everywhere. It should cause a cry in our hearts to God to have mercy, not just on us but on this society. We should be diligent in walking righteously with God and using our lives and our time to lead as many people as possible to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, for truly Christ is coming again soon.

It's time to pray.

Are we in the last days? If we are, there must be a witness to the current events of our day in Scripture. Now some scriptures speak about the last days, but there is a sign that is given to followers of Jesus Christ.

The Bible says that since we are not children of darkness, the last days will not overtake us as a thief. So in other words, there's an interior witness given to us by the Holy Spirit that we are living in the days that were foretold in the Word of God.

We should be aware now of the times that you and I are living in. The signs are everywhere. It should cause a cry in our hearts to God to have mercy, not just on us but on this society. We should be diligent in walking righteously with God and using our lives and our time to lead as many people as possible to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, for truly Christ is coming again soon.

It's time to pray.