A Prayer for Your Conscience
By Rick Warren
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” – Psalm 139:23-24, NLT
The first step on the path to a clear conscience is to take a personal moral inventory or a personal spiritual assessment.
You need to sit down with God in a quiet space by yourself when you’re unhurried and say, “God, I’m going to do business with you. I’m going to make a list of anything that’s between you and me that’s wrong in my life. Help me to see the things that I know are wrong and the things that I don’t know are wrong.” Ask God to clear your mind and reveal your sins.
You can pray Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (NLT). You’re saying, “God, turn your spotlight on my inner self. Find the stuff in me that’s entangled me and that’s holding me back.”
It’s important to take your time. Don’t rush it! Don’t say, “God, I’ve got five minutes for you to reveal every sin I’ve ever done.” Take your time. Write it all down.
Why is it important to write it down? Writing makes it specific. Thoughts disentangle themselves through the lips and the fingertips. You speak it, and you write it. If you haven’t written it down, you haven’t really thought about it.
Let me ask you a very important question. How serious are you about wanting God’s blessing on your life? Enough that you’re willing to be gut-level honest? Are you willing to be honest with God? Are you willing to be honest with yourself? Are you willing to be honest with other people? Or are you just going to live in denial? Denial and God’s blessing do not go hand-in-hand.
If you’re serious, then you’re just a step away from liberation! You are one step away from a feeling of joy and purity that you’ve never experienced. You are so close to freedom from the habits and hurts and hang-ups that are messing up your life.
Don’t procrastinate. There is nothing more important in your life than to have the blessing of God. Take time today, get alone by yourself, and do a personal spiritual assessment. It will change your life!

Lord, I want to lay before you all that weighs heavy on my heart. Reveal even the sin I am not aware of, Lord. I lay these at your feet and pray your forgiveness on me. I believe you when you say that you wash us whiter than snow. Thank you Lord for your unending love for me! Help me start fresh right now to make choices that honor you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Give God Your Best Time
by Rick Warren — April 29, 2019

“Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence him. With them alone he shares the secrets of his promises” (Psalm 25:14 TLB).

If you want to build a deep relationship with God, you have to slow down and be quiet.

Friendship with God is like any other friendship—you have to make time for it. If you don’t make time for your human friends, they’re not your friends. You make time for your friends. And if God is going to be your best friend, you’ve got to give your best time to him.
The Bible says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NIV).
You need to have a daily quiet time with God. You have to be still so that you can know him better.
Psalm 25:14 says, “Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence him. With them alone he shares the secrets of his promises” (TLB).
Many people don’t know God. They haven’t experienced God’s love. They don’t know why he does what he does. Yet, the Bible says that friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence him—in other words, those who slow down and spend time with him.
What would a friendship be if you never invested your time in it? Friendships need attention. You will never know God intimately if all you do is come to church services. You’ve got to read God’s Word and ask him, “God, is there anything you want to say to me?” You don’t have to use any fancy phrases or words. Just talk to him authentically. And then listen!
The Bible says it like this in Matthew 6:5-6: “When you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production . . . Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace” (Matthew 6:5-6 The Message).
Slow down today, focus on God, and listen as he speaks to you about his grace.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick
Talk It Over

What are the distractions that keep you from being still before God? How can you limit those distractions?
Why is it sometimes easier or more enjoyable to spend time with our friends than with God? What do we misunderstand about God when we feel this way?
We sometimes over-complicate our quiet time with God. What kind of things can you do to slow down, be quiet, and spend time with God simply and honestly?

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.

Monsters are real. And sometimes, when grownups don’t act, the monsters hurt children.

Here’s a link to the editorial at Illinois News Network.

The 24-hour national pep rally for Tiger Woods was still going strong Monday evening when word came from Paris of a fire that was engulfing Notre Dame Cathedral. Woods’ Presidential Medal of Freedom worthy accomplishment of keeping a little white ball out of a creek was quickly and rightfully replaced by a different story, a bigger story, an international story, the story of the loss of a structure that was both an architectural marvel and a monument to faith.

Here’s a link to the editorial at the Southern Illinoisan.

You Don’t Have to Live in Fear
by Rick Warren

“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them . . . There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:16, 18 NIV).

Setbacks will come your way. You can’t avoid them. You may lose a job, a relationship, or your health. And when you do, you start to fear.

But you don’t have to stay afraid. Here are two important steps you need to take to break free from fear:
Remember how much God loves you. He will never stop loving you. He won’t love you any more or any less. His love is unconditional and eternal. The Bible says, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them . . . There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:16, 18 NIV).
When you invite God into the front door of your life, fear goes out the back door. Love and fear can’t stay together. In real love, there is no fear.
God is perfect love, and he drives out all fear. The more you get to know God, the less you’ll be afraid.
Remember that God’s plan is good. God doesn’t have bad plans for you. That doesn’t mean nothing bad will happen to you. But the Bible tells us in Romans 8:28, “We know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans” (TLB).

The Bible says “all that happens” fits into God’s good plan—not just the good stuff. He can and will bring good out of anything.

When Jesus died on the cross, God brought tremendous good out of the bad. Anyone can bring good out of good. God specializes in bringing good out of bad.
Both of those truths revolve around this one: You must choose faith over fear. When you’re experiencing a setback, trusting that God loves you and has a plan for you isn’t easy, but it’s the only path forward.
If you’re tired of being in prison and you want to walk through the door to freedom, you can pray a simple prayer of belief today. Just say, “Lord, I bring you the things that have imprisoned me, things I’ve been ashamed of, regrets, resentments, and worries. I don’t want to live that way anymore. I want to live a life of freedom. Today, I want to walk through the door of freedom—your Son, Jesus Christ. As much as I know how, I want to follow you. I ask you to come into my life and fill me with your love and your Spirit. Push all the fear out. Push all the pain out. Fill me with a new sense of hope. I don’t want to live in prison anymore. I want to walk through the doors of opportunity that you have planned for me. I’m asking you today to save me and to accept me into your family. I ask this in your name. Amen.”
If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at Rick@PastorRick.com and let me know about it. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick
Talk It Over

Why is it so easy to choose fear over faith when you’re facing trials?
How can God’s Word help you remember how much he loves you?
What areas of your life might make you question the goodness of God’s plan? Ask God to help you trust him in those specific areas.

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.

Illinoisans have been hearing their state is shrinking for five years now. But new figures released Thursday say something they’ve never heard.

Here’s a link to the editorial at Illinois News Network.

The rural City of Marengo is located in western McHenry County, about 60 miles northwest of Chicago.
Here’s a link to the editorial at Illinois News Network.

Critics are correct: President Trump was wrong when he threatened to release tens of thousands of asylum seekers into sanctuary cities.

Here’s a link to the story at Fox News.

You Are Called to Be Free
by Rick Warren

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free” (Galatians 5:13 NIV).

God wants you to live in freedom. Let that sink in for a bit.

In fact, the Bible says, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free” (Galatians 5:13 NIV). Freedom is your calling. God doesn’t want you to live a buttoned-down, constrained life. He wants you to have an abundant life.
Jesus says, “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10 NLT).
If you’re not living a full and satisfying life, it’s not because God doesn’t want you to have it. He wants to set you free from:
The pain from your past. This is the regret or resentment that keeps you from being all God wants you to be.
The pressures of your present. This is the stress or exhaustion you face trying to manage the complexities of everyday life.
The pessimism about tomorrow. These are the worries about your future or the futures of those you love.
God wants you to be free of all of that.
To do so, plug in to the power of Easter. God has made available to you the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead 2,000 years ago.
The Bible says, “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead” (Ephesians 1:19-20 NLT).
The same power that blew the door off Jesus’ tomb will blow open the prison doors that hold you back.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick
Talk It Over

What past regrets and resentment have kept you from knowing God’s best for your life?
What worries and stress do you want Jesus to free you from today?
How do you plug in to the power of the Resurrection?

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.

The cornerstone of J.B. Pritzker’s political career has arrived. A graduated income tax is moving.

Here’s a link to the story at Illinois News Network.