Prayer Journal
Friday, August 25, 2000
"The Lord says: These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." Isa 29:13a
I prepare devotions in a variety of ways. Sometimes I see something and am reminded of a passage in the Bible. Other times, an event has touched my life and I write about what scripture has to say about it. Then, there are times I randomly open the scripture and my finger does the walking, so to speak. Some evenings I select a passage and meditate on it through the night, into the next morning. The next morning I open the word, expecting God to show me something. He's never failed me yet!
There's nothing godly or ungodly about these methods. I don't have an inspired plan to work my way through all the Bible or teach solely on a single issue, though prayer often has focus. Last night I started meditating on Isa 29:13.
I speak from personal experience in relation to this verse because so much of my life is spent talking, I am aware of a tendency to merely talk, without any related action. This problem seems to plague Christians today where the appearance of good is considered as important as "action". I submit that the appearance of evil is important to avoid, but the appearance of good is "hypocrisy" and by any other name, is still "sin".
This morning I fanned pages of scripture till I landed on Mat 15:6. I read the words of Jesus, "Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of tradition." I stopped and pondered what He said. "You know, it seems related. Jesus is speaking about what I read last night - hypocrisy." This verse was the last verse before turning the page of my Bible. As I turned the page - there it was! Jesus referenced the Isaiah text on which I had been meditating. Amazing!
This is not evidence of inspiration or a sign and wonder. Rather, it's a "God thing". I've yet to see God fail to answer me when I go to him needing help. I sense that Jesus had the same experience. His Father never failed to do the same for Him. Do you know Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would do the same for us (Cp: John 14). Are you waiting for an answer from the Holy Spirit this morning?
To borrow an phrase from a popular song; "If we never have a need, then we'll never know He's the answer." Just Thinkin'.. WebServant
(1) Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society
(2) The images used herein were obtained from the Learning Company's ClickArt Christian Graphics Deluxe product, (c)1999 The Learning Company, Inc and its subsidiaries, 88 Roland Way, Novato, CA 94945 USA. All Rights Reserved.
