DON’T
CLOSE YOUR MOUTH I
Memorise:
Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight
and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. James 4:2
Read:
Daniel 9:1-19, Bible in one year: 1st Kings 3-4, Luke 1:57-80
Our Bible reading shows Daniel, a great
man of prayer, interceding for his nation, Israel . In his prayer, he asked God
to remember His promise to restore the nation of Israel . He was determined to seek
the face of God for mercy, through prayers and supplications with fasting. He
mourned for the despicable condition of the Jews who were scattered all over
the world and for the ruins of Jerusalem .
There are great lessons of life we can profit from when we ponder on this
example of Daniel.
One of these lessons is from this
statement: “I Daniel understood by books” (Daniel 9:2). It was Daniel’s
discovery and understanding of what the Lord has said through Prophet Jeremiah
29:10, concerning the time of His visitation to restore Israel as a
nation that motivated him to intercede for his people. Recognise the fact that
in this period, there was no Bible collating all the writings of the Prophets
in one volume. The writing of the Prophets were on different scrolls spread
across various locations. Therefore, it must have been a lot of hard work for
Daniel to search for the relevant scrolls of the Prophets, and then read through
them to know what God had said about the situation he was bothered about.
Reading, studying and meditating on God’s word is hard work, but the extent to
which you know the Bible is the extent to which you will know the mind of God
concerning you. When you know the mind of God concerning a situation, it will
build your confidence as you approach your Heavenly Father in prayer.
Our Lord Jesus Christ assured us of
answers to our prayers in Matthew 7:8. He followed up this assurance by asking
this question in Matthew 7:9:
“Or
what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?”
In answer to Our Lord’s question, a
father indeed would not do that. How much more our Heavenly Father who is more
benevolent than our earthly fathers (Matthew 7:1)? I therefore encourage you to
study to know the mind of God, so as to pray aright at all times. This alone
can guarantee express answer to your needs. It will not be good for you to
engage in an exercise in futility. Pray according to God’s mind in His holy
word and you will be happy you did. Do not keep your mouth shut and suffer in
silence.
Prayer
Point
Father,
help the leaders of my country to be alive to their responsibilities in Jesus’
Name.
1 Comments
I gained a lot from this devotion and the most thing I gained is studying the bible in other to know God's mind, because most Christians pray and the prayer will not yield result just because they didn't pray according to God's mind.
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