2026 THEME — “SEEING LIFE FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE”
February – Seeing Giving from God’s Perspective
As you sincerely seek to understand biblical giving from God’s perspective, you discover that obedience matters more than abundance. Even when resources feel scarce, trusting the Lord with your tithe and Faith Promise reveals that giving is an act of faith, not surplus. What may seem risky becomes a tool God uses to reshape your heart and deepen your trust. Like the widow’s oil that didn’t run out until the jars ran out, what you place in God’s hands is sustained and multiplied by Him. You learn that when you give in faith, God uses it for purposes far greater than you can see.
SUNDAY’S SERMON SUMMARY
Over time, prayer stops feeling like something added to life and becomes the way life is lived. It is less about spoken moments and more about a constant awareness that God is near. That awareness begins to guide our choices, tone, and responses without effort. What once felt intentional grows natural and steady. Prayer becomes the atmosphere shaping every ordinary moment.
GO TO www.belmontbaptistchurch.com/sermons and listen to Sunday’s message.
Beats From Your Pastor’s Heart
Carry the Secret Place with You
“I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” — Psalm 16:8
The secret place was never meant to be a destination you visit and leave behind. It was designed to shape you and then move with you. What God forms in stillness is meant to govern how you live in motion. A prayed life is not marked by how often you retreat, but by how consistently you live aware of God’s presence. When the Lord is consciously set before us, life becomes steady, reactions soften, and decisions are filtered through surrender.
What Is Formed in Stillness Must Be Lived in Motion
The secret place is where God shapes the heart, but daily life is where that shaping is revealed. Time alone with Him is not meant to isolate us from responsibility, but to prepare us for it. If prayer only changes how we feel in quiet moments, it has not yet gone deep enough. When the Lord is carried with us, His presence steadies us in noise, pressure, and interruption, proving that intimacy was real and not just emotional.
Awareness Changes Reactions Before Words Are Spoken
Carrying the secret place means God becomes the first reference point, not the last resort. Awareness slows our responses and creates space for wisdom to rise. Instead of reacting from emotion or urgency, we respond from remembrance—the Lord is with me here. This awareness guards our speech, softens our tone, and keeps peace from being stolen in ordinary moments.
Others May Not See Where You’ve Been, But They Feel What You Carry
A life shaped in God’s presence leaves evidence without explanation. Like a fragrance, the residue of the secret place shows up as calm under pressure, gentleness in conflict, and clarity in confusion. People may never know the prayers you prayed or the tears you shed before the Lord, but they will sense something different about how you walk, speak, and endure. What is learned at God’s feet becomes strength in your steps.
A fragrance clings long after you leave the room where it was applied. Even when unseen, it influences the space around you. The secret place works the same way. When time with God is genuine, it leaves a residue—calm in tension, gentleness in conflict, and clarity in confusion. Others may not see where you have been, but they will sense what you carry.
The secret place is not left behind when the prayer ends—it is carried forward into the day. When God remains consciously before us, our lives begin to reflect His nearness in quiet, steady ways. Prayer matures from something we schedule into something that sustains us. As awareness deepens, life itself becomes an ongoing conversation with God, marked by peace, wisdom, and obedience.
Warfare Prayer: Father, in Jesus’ name, I choose to live aware of Your presence today. I resist every distraction, hurry, and emotional reaction that would pull my focus away from You. I renounce the enemy’s attempt to rush, agitate, or pressure me into responses that do not honor You. Teach me to pause, to listen, and to yield my reactions to Your Spirit. Let what was formed in the secret place govern how I live openly before You. Amen.
Daily Challenge: Intentionally slow your pace today. Choose one moment to respond gently instead of reacting quickly. In that pause, acknowledge God’s presence and thank Him—recognizing that restraint, obedience, and awareness are powerful expressions of prayer.
FRIDAY’S PRAYER REQUESTS
Jean Partee – Newton Medical
Aston Savage – Grady Hospital – Prayers Needed
Gloria Young – Hip Replacement
Amy Garner’s Dad
Bentley Smith – Broken Leg
Carol Lawhead – Riverside in Conyers
Joni Oberhage
Linda Mays
Myles Elliott
Rose Fuller – Pruitt-Monroe Nursing Home, Forsyth GA
Brando Echarte
Debbie Foskey
Don Franklin’s Daughter, Darlene, Son, David
Ed Adkins – Friend of Brian Edwards
Jake Jenkins
June Cronan
Jean Partee’s Sister
Kim McClain’s Daughter, Amanda
Deon Lotter
Doris Loyd
Nancy Brown
Annette Ford
Andrea Nix– Friend of the Shelnutt’s
Angela Bryan’s Sisters
Ann Stanley
Danny Jarrard
Darlene Wiggins
Doris Loyd
Dr. and Mrs. Davis
Eric Magnusson’s Mother
Eric Ward
Friend of Linda Hodge
Gayle Sparks
James Burnette
Jessica Headrick
John McClain’s Mother
June Cronan’s Sister
June Davis
Kailey Bateman
Kim McClain’s Mother
Kim’s Sisters – Ann & Brenda
Lee Cronan
Lillianna Magnusson’s Mom
Lonzo Christian
Lori Blount’s Mother
Mary Williams
Mary Williamson – Dana Jackson’s Mom
Mrs. Franklin
Nora Allison
Ron And Johnnie Barry – Friends Of Ashton & Glenda Bateman
Scott Lanier
Scotty Nix
Stephanie Seivers – Friend of the Shelnutt’s
Steve Michaels
Tom Witcher