From: August 9, 2024
“Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods” (Ezra 8:21 ESV).
As Ezra prepared to lead a remnant of the Israelites from the Ahava River near Babylon back to Jerusalem, he called for a time of prayer and fasting. The journey would be long and dangerous, especially since they carried the treasures of the Temple that the Babylonians had taken. Therefore they implored the Lord for protection and placed their trust in Him for the journey and He heard their prayer.
Do you pray before a trip? Packing the car, getting the kids strapped in, making sure you didn’t forget anything… things get pretty hectic before a journey. Taking time to pray before heading out is often overlooked. Yet might this be the most important preparation before leaving home?
One of the habits we began with our young children, and now have continued with our grandchildren, is to pray together before a trip. After everyone’s loaded into the car and we begin to leave our driveway, I always stop the car and say, “Wait a minute. What did we forget?” And the kids shout the answer, “The travel prayer.”
“Oh no!” I say. “We can’t forget that. Who wants to pray the travel prayer?” “Me! Me!” They shout from the back seats. We choose a different child on every trip. They’ve learned to pray for our protection and for everyone to have a good time together on the journey.
PRAYER: Dear Father, forgive us when we forget to pray and trust You for our journey through this life. We turn to You now. For You are our shield and our guide. Lead us Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: August 9, 2023
“I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul.” (Psalm 31:7 NLT).
This Psalm of David teaches us to choose gladness and worship, while giving our troubles to God. David wrote that God had seen his trouble. In other words David had stopped thinking about his affliction and had given it to God for His consideration. He entrusted himself to the unfailing love and care of the Lord.
The disciples prayed this way too, asking the Lord to see their trouble when the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem threatened them. They prayed, “Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness” (Acts 4:29).
We can ask the Lord to “look” at whatever threatens us, so we might focus on doing His will. When we continue to consider our own trouble it leads to discouragement and worry. But when we give our afflictions to God for His consideration, it opens the way to gladness and rejoicing.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we have lifted up our troubles to You in prayer today. We are Your children, so we know that You see our trouble as Your own. Knowing this, we will be glad and rejoice. Not because our troubles are gone, but because we choose to stop focusing on them ourselves. For we have given them to You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: August 9, 2022
GOD’S SPIRITUAL EKG
Our self-awareness is limited. And we rarely hold a mirror up to our own attitudes and actions. We tend to judge others harshly, but we always have an excuse for our own shortcomings and sins. In our hypocrisy, we often declare ourselves righteous in our own eyes.
Yet the Lord knows us better than we know ourselves. As God told the prophet Samuel, “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). He “examines” the human heart, which is the source of our attitudes and actions.
And what does the Lord report from His heart examination? According to the prophet Jeremiah, God says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9).
When we are honest with ourselves, feeling the conviction of the Spirit, we recognize our need for a new heart. So we cry out with David saying to God, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). When we sincerely confess our sins and bring them to the cross of Christ, trusting Him to forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness, then we receive the promise of God given through the prophet Ezekiel. For God has promised, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you” (Ez.36:26).
Isn’t that the secret of living the Christian life? Not only that we are forgiven, but that we have been given a new heart and a new life. That the Spirit of Christ lives in us!
PRAYER: Father, thank You for keeping Your promise in Christ Jesus. For through Him we have received a new heart. Today, examine our hearts afresh, so that we see ourselves as You do. Strengthen us by Your Spirit to live for You today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: August 9, 2016
It was reported to the apostle Paul that a man in the Corinthian church had taken his father’s wife and that the incestuous affair had not been addressed by the church. Paul instructed them to put the man out of the church for at least two reasons. One, the man was unrepentant and his ongoing sin was hurting the church. And two, the man needed to be corrected for the sake of his own sanctification. Paul used judicial language. They were to “deliver” the man outside the protection of the church where the Lord reigns, to the world for Satan to administer discipline of his flesh (his sin nature). Hopefully, the man would come to his senses after seeing the “destruction” that following the flesh would bring on him, and he would repent. Notice that Paul was not speaking of the man losing his salvation, but of losing his place in the fellowship of the church until he might repent, or until the Day of the Lord.
From: August 9, 2015
This Psalm of David teaches us to choose gladness and worship, while giving our troubles to God. David wrote that God had “considered” his trouble. In other words David had stopped thinking about his troubles and had given them to God for His consideration. This is how the disciples prayed too, “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness” (Acts 4:29). When we continue to consider our own trouble it leads to discouragement and worry. But when we give them to God, it opens the way to gladness and rejoicing.
From: August 9, 2014
When Ezra arrived in Jerusalem with offerings for the Temple, he discovered that many of the priests and leaders had led the people into sin. In response, he tore his clothes, pulled out his beard and prayed a prayer of repentance. In his prayer, he spoke of the reality that their “condition” of guilt prevented them from standing in God’s presence. This sad reality continued until the Lord Jesus offered Himself on the cross for our sins and the Temple curtain separating us from a holy God was rent. Our “condition” of sin, separation and death was placed upon Christ, while His righteousness, Sonship, and life were ascribed to us who believe.
From: August 9, 2012
Ezra led a remnant of Israelites back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. The journey itself would be long and dangerous, but they trusted God to protect them. Do you pray before a trip? Gather your family together before leaving your driveway and ask God to give you a safe journey.