Daily Devotional
DESIRE THE GIFTS — Five-Day Devotional
DAY 1
Monday, August 31st
Here I Am
“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.””
— Isaiah 6:8 (ESV)
Isaiah doesn’t volunteer because he’s certain of the assignment. He volunteers before he knows what it is. He hears a question hanging in the air of the throne room and answers it before the details arrive. That’s what desiring the gifts of the Spirit actually looks like at its root... not “tell me what I’m getting” but “here I am.” It helps to remember what happens right before this moment. Isaiah doesn’t walk into that throne room feeling qualified. He walks in undone, aware of his own uncleanness, certain he doesn’t belong in a room like that. It’s only after a seraphim touches a coal to his lips, only after grace does something to him, that he hears the question and answers it. His availability isn’t rooted in confidence. It’s rooted in having already been dealt with by God. We tend to want the assignment before we give the answer. Show me the gift, and then I’ll decide how available I want to be. But Isaiah’s posture runs the other direction. Availability comes first. The specifics come later. It’s worth noticing this isn’t an isolated moment in Scripture. It’s the same three words Samuel says in the middle of the night. The same three words Abraham says on the mountain. The same three words Mary says to Gabriel. Different centuries, different circumstances, same posture. God asks. Someone answers before they understand what they’re agreeing to. This week we’ve been talking about desiring spiritual gifts... about asking God for them, praying for them, expecting them. But underneath every one of those prayers is this simpler, older one. Here I am.
That’s what we’ve really been circling all week. Desiring the gifts of the Spirit isn’t ultimately about identifying your spiritual skill set. It’s about training yourself to answer before you fully understand the assignment.
Maybe that’s the place to actually start today. Not “God, give me a gift I can identify.” But “God, here I am, whatever You want to do.” You don’t need to know your assignment to say yes to the One giving it.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, before I know what You’re asking, my answer is yes. Here I am. Send me.
Today:
Before you open your phone this morning, say out loud: “Holy Spirit, here I am.” Then go into your day watching for where He might want to use that yes.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DAY 2
Tuesday, September 1st
Love Is the Engine
“Let love be genuine... Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
— Romans 12:9-10 (ESV)
Paul never separates gift from love. Not in Romans 12, not in 1 Corinthians 12 through 14. Whatever the Spirit gives us, it’s meant to run on love, not around it. The word Paul uses here for genuine literally means without hypocrisy... without playing a part. It’s stage language, borrowed from the theater. Paul is telling us love shouldn’t be something we perform for the people watching. It should be true whether anyone’s watching or not. It’s possible to be gifted and unloving at the same time. Anyone who’s spent time in church has seen it. Someone with real spiritual insight who uses it to win an argument instead of serve a person. Paul makes essentially the same point later, in 1 Corinthians 13. You can speak in tongues, prophesy, understand every mystery, and have not love, and none of it means anything. Same warning, different letter. Gift without genuine love is just noise, however impressive it sounds. That’s why Paul says let love be genuine before he ever gets around to describing what spiritual gifts should look like in practice. Genuine love isn’t a feeling you manufacture. It’s a decision you keep making about how you’ll treat the person in front of you. So it’s worth asking honestly. When you picture using whatever gift you have, who are you picturing benefiting... the other person, or how you’ll look doing it? That’s not always a comfortable question, but it’s the one Paul keeps circling back to. If you’re praying for the Spirit to use you this week, pray this alongside it: God, let love be genuine in me. Not performed. Not exaggerated. Real. Because the moment love becomes optional, the gift becomes a weapon instead of a grace.
Prayer:
Father, let love be genuine in me today... not something I perform, but something I actually feel and act on. Teach me to outdo others in honor rather than compete with them for attention.
Today:
Look for one person today you can honor rather than outshine. Say something true and specific about what you value in them.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DAY 3
Wednesday, September 2nd
Whatever You Have Received
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
— 1 Peter 4:10 (ESV)
Peter doesn’t say “as some have received a gift.” He says “as each.” No exceptions. No spiritual elite. If you belong to Jesus, something has already been given to you to steward. Notice the word he uses. Steward. Not owner. A steward manages something that belongs to someone else, for someone else’s purposes. Peter’s phrase for this is “God’s varied grace.” Not identical grace. Not a single template stamped onto every believer. Varied. That means your gift doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s to be real or valuable. That reframes the whole question. It’s not “what do I get to do with my gift.” It’s “what has God entrusted to me, and who is it for.” It’s the same logic behind the parable of the talents. The servant who buried what he was given wasn’t punished for using it badly. He was punished for not using it at all. Peter’s instruction carries the same weight. Use it. Most of us don’t refuse to serve because we’re rebellious. We refuse because we’ve quietly decided our particular gift isn’t impressive enough to count. But Peter never qualifies his instruction by how impressive the gift is. He just says use it. Sometimes we wait to serve until we feel qualified, until the gift feels obvious, until we’re sure. But Peter’s instruction is simpler than that. Use what you’ve received. Right now. For somebody. You may not be able to name your gift precisely. That’s fine. Start with what’s already in your hand.
Prayer:
Lord, show me what You’ve already placed in my hands. Make me a faithful steward of it, not for my own reputation, but for the people You’ve put around me.
Today:
Name one thing you’re naturally good at or drawn toward, however small. Ask God to show you one person this week who needs exactly that from you.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DAY 4
Thursday, September 3rd
Far More Than We Ask
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us...”
— Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV)
This is one of the most expectant sentences in the New Testament. Paul doesn’t say God can do what we ask. He says God is able to do far more than we ask or even think to ask. This verse doesn’t show up out of nowhere. It’s the doxology at the end of a prayer where Paul asks God to strengthen the church with power through the Spirit, to let Christ dwell in hearts through faith, to help believers grasp a love that actually surpasses knowledge. In other words, this is a prayer about exactly the kind of availability we’ve been talking about all week. That should shape the way we pray for the gifts of the Spirit. Not small, careful, hedge-your-bets prayers. Expectant ones. And notice where the power is. Not somewhere out beyond us. According to the power at work within us. Paul is talking about ordinary believers carrying something bigger than themselves. Notice, too, how the sentence ends. Not to our credit. To him be glory... forever and ever. Whatever power shows up in us was never going to end with us getting the applause. It resolves in worship, not reputation. It’s easy to let disappointment shrink our expectations over time. We ask for less because we’ve been let down before. But Paul’s prayer here refuses to shrink. What would it look like to pray today like you actually believed this verse? Not manipulating God into action, but simply believing He’s able for more than you’re picturing. Far more than we ask or think... according to the power already at work in us. That’s not a suggestion. It’s a promise worth praying like you mean it.
Prayer:
Father, You’re able to do far more than I ask or imagine. Forgive me for the ways I’ve shrunk my expectations of You. Grow my faith to match Your power, not my history of disappointment.
Today:
Write down one prayer you’ve stopped praying because it felt too big. Pray it again today.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DAY 5
Friday, September 4th
Power Made Perfect in Weakness
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
— 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)
Paul asked God three times to remove something that made him feel weak. God’s answer wasn’t the removal Paul wanted. It was a different kind of sufficiency. Paul doesn’t tell us exactly what the thorn was. People have guessed for centuries. What we do know is he asked three times for it to leave, and three times God answered the same way: not by removing it, but by promising to be enough in spite of it. That’s an uncomfortable answer if you’re hoping the Spirit’s gifts will finally make you feel capable on your own. They won’t. They’re not meant to. Paul’s response afterward is almost strange. He says he’ll boast all the more gladly about his weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on him. Not tolerate his weaknesses. Boast in them. That’s a hard sentence to actually believe if you’re waiting to feel strong enough to be used. God’s power doesn’t wait for our weakness to disappear. It’s made perfect inside it. That means you don’t have to feel ready, strong, or impressive for the Spirit to use you this week. In fact, your ordinary, unimpressive, weak places might be exactly where His power shows up most clearly... not despite you, but through you. That’s really been the whole argument this week, in one line. We don’t desire the gifts because we’ve become impressive enough to deserve them. We desire them because we know exactly how weak we are, and we’ve decided to ask anyway. So if you’ve spent this week thinking you’re not qualified to be used by God, that might be the whole point. He was never asking you to be enough on your own.
Prayer:
Lord, Your grace is sufficient for me. I don’t have to be strong for You to use me. Let Your power be made perfect in my weakness this week, and every week after.
Today:
Bring God the one weakness you’d rather hide, and ask Him to use it rather than remove it.
DAY 1
Monday, August 31st
Here I Am
“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.””
— Isaiah 6:8 (ESV)
Isaiah doesn’t volunteer because he’s certain of the assignment. He volunteers before he knows what it is. He hears a question hanging in the air of the throne room and answers it before the details arrive. That’s what desiring the gifts of the Spirit actually looks like at its root... not “tell me what I’m getting” but “here I am.” It helps to remember what happens right before this moment. Isaiah doesn’t walk into that throne room feeling qualified. He walks in undone, aware of his own uncleanness, certain he doesn’t belong in a room like that. It’s only after a seraphim touches a coal to his lips, only after grace does something to him, that he hears the question and answers it. His availability isn’t rooted in confidence. It’s rooted in having already been dealt with by God. We tend to want the assignment before we give the answer. Show me the gift, and then I’ll decide how available I want to be. But Isaiah’s posture runs the other direction. Availability comes first. The specifics come later. It’s worth noticing this isn’t an isolated moment in Scripture. It’s the same three words Samuel says in the middle of the night. The same three words Abraham says on the mountain. The same three words Mary says to Gabriel. Different centuries, different circumstances, same posture. God asks. Someone answers before they understand what they’re agreeing to. This week we’ve been talking about desiring spiritual gifts... about asking God for them, praying for them, expecting them. But underneath every one of those prayers is this simpler, older one. Here I am.
That’s what we’ve really been circling all week. Desiring the gifts of the Spirit isn’t ultimately about identifying your spiritual skill set. It’s about training yourself to answer before you fully understand the assignment.
Maybe that’s the place to actually start today. Not “God, give me a gift I can identify.” But “God, here I am, whatever You want to do.” You don’t need to know your assignment to say yes to the One giving it.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, before I know what You’re asking, my answer is yes. Here I am. Send me.
Today:
Before you open your phone this morning, say out loud: “Holy Spirit, here I am.” Then go into your day watching for where He might want to use that yes.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DAY 2
Tuesday, September 1st
Love Is the Engine
“Let love be genuine... Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
— Romans 12:9-10 (ESV)
Paul never separates gift from love. Not in Romans 12, not in 1 Corinthians 12 through 14. Whatever the Spirit gives us, it’s meant to run on love, not around it. The word Paul uses here for genuine literally means without hypocrisy... without playing a part. It’s stage language, borrowed from the theater. Paul is telling us love shouldn’t be something we perform for the people watching. It should be true whether anyone’s watching or not. It’s possible to be gifted and unloving at the same time. Anyone who’s spent time in church has seen it. Someone with real spiritual insight who uses it to win an argument instead of serve a person. Paul makes essentially the same point later, in 1 Corinthians 13. You can speak in tongues, prophesy, understand every mystery, and have not love, and none of it means anything. Same warning, different letter. Gift without genuine love is just noise, however impressive it sounds. That’s why Paul says let love be genuine before he ever gets around to describing what spiritual gifts should look like in practice. Genuine love isn’t a feeling you manufacture. It’s a decision you keep making about how you’ll treat the person in front of you. So it’s worth asking honestly. When you picture using whatever gift you have, who are you picturing benefiting... the other person, or how you’ll look doing it? That’s not always a comfortable question, but it’s the one Paul keeps circling back to. If you’re praying for the Spirit to use you this week, pray this alongside it: God, let love be genuine in me. Not performed. Not exaggerated. Real. Because the moment love becomes optional, the gift becomes a weapon instead of a grace.
Prayer:
Father, let love be genuine in me today... not something I perform, but something I actually feel and act on. Teach me to outdo others in honor rather than compete with them for attention.
Today:
Look for one person today you can honor rather than outshine. Say something true and specific about what you value in them.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DAY 3
Wednesday, September 2nd
Whatever You Have Received
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
— 1 Peter 4:10 (ESV)
Peter doesn’t say “as some have received a gift.” He says “as each.” No exceptions. No spiritual elite. If you belong to Jesus, something has already been given to you to steward. Notice the word he uses. Steward. Not owner. A steward manages something that belongs to someone else, for someone else’s purposes. Peter’s phrase for this is “God’s varied grace.” Not identical grace. Not a single template stamped onto every believer. Varied. That means your gift doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s to be real or valuable. That reframes the whole question. It’s not “what do I get to do with my gift.” It’s “what has God entrusted to me, and who is it for.” It’s the same logic behind the parable of the talents. The servant who buried what he was given wasn’t punished for using it badly. He was punished for not using it at all. Peter’s instruction carries the same weight. Use it. Most of us don’t refuse to serve because we’re rebellious. We refuse because we’ve quietly decided our particular gift isn’t impressive enough to count. But Peter never qualifies his instruction by how impressive the gift is. He just says use it. Sometimes we wait to serve until we feel qualified, until the gift feels obvious, until we’re sure. But Peter’s instruction is simpler than that. Use what you’ve received. Right now. For somebody. You may not be able to name your gift precisely. That’s fine. Start with what’s already in your hand.
Prayer:
Lord, show me what You’ve already placed in my hands. Make me a faithful steward of it, not for my own reputation, but for the people You’ve put around me.
Today:
Name one thing you’re naturally good at or drawn toward, however small. Ask God to show you one person this week who needs exactly that from you.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DAY 4
Thursday, September 3rd
Far More Than We Ask
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us...”
— Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV)
This is one of the most expectant sentences in the New Testament. Paul doesn’t say God can do what we ask. He says God is able to do far more than we ask or even think to ask. This verse doesn’t show up out of nowhere. It’s the doxology at the end of a prayer where Paul asks God to strengthen the church with power through the Spirit, to let Christ dwell in hearts through faith, to help believers grasp a love that actually surpasses knowledge. In other words, this is a prayer about exactly the kind of availability we’ve been talking about all week. That should shape the way we pray for the gifts of the Spirit. Not small, careful, hedge-your-bets prayers. Expectant ones. And notice where the power is. Not somewhere out beyond us. According to the power at work within us. Paul is talking about ordinary believers carrying something bigger than themselves. Notice, too, how the sentence ends. Not to our credit. To him be glory... forever and ever. Whatever power shows up in us was never going to end with us getting the applause. It resolves in worship, not reputation. It’s easy to let disappointment shrink our expectations over time. We ask for less because we’ve been let down before. But Paul’s prayer here refuses to shrink. What would it look like to pray today like you actually believed this verse? Not manipulating God into action, but simply believing He’s able for more than you’re picturing. Far more than we ask or think... according to the power already at work in us. That’s not a suggestion. It’s a promise worth praying like you mean it.
Prayer:
Father, You’re able to do far more than I ask or imagine. Forgive me for the ways I’ve shrunk my expectations of You. Grow my faith to match Your power, not my history of disappointment.
Today:
Write down one prayer you’ve stopped praying because it felt too big. Pray it again today.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DAY 5
Friday, September 4th
Power Made Perfect in Weakness
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
— 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)
Paul asked God three times to remove something that made him feel weak. God’s answer wasn’t the removal Paul wanted. It was a different kind of sufficiency. Paul doesn’t tell us exactly what the thorn was. People have guessed for centuries. What we do know is he asked three times for it to leave, and three times God answered the same way: not by removing it, but by promising to be enough in spite of it. That’s an uncomfortable answer if you’re hoping the Spirit’s gifts will finally make you feel capable on your own. They won’t. They’re not meant to. Paul’s response afterward is almost strange. He says he’ll boast all the more gladly about his weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on him. Not tolerate his weaknesses. Boast in them. That’s a hard sentence to actually believe if you’re waiting to feel strong enough to be used. God’s power doesn’t wait for our weakness to disappear. It’s made perfect inside it. That means you don’t have to feel ready, strong, or impressive for the Spirit to use you this week. In fact, your ordinary, unimpressive, weak places might be exactly where His power shows up most clearly... not despite you, but through you. That’s really been the whole argument this week, in one line. We don’t desire the gifts because we’ve become impressive enough to deserve them. We desire them because we know exactly how weak we are, and we’ve decided to ask anyway. So if you’ve spent this week thinking you’re not qualified to be used by God, that might be the whole point. He was never asking you to be enough on your own.
Prayer:
Lord, Your grace is sufficient for me. I don’t have to be strong for You to use me. Let Your power be made perfect in my weakness this week, and every week after.
Today:
Bring God the one weakness you’d rather hide, and ask Him to use it rather than remove it.