Day: April 2, 2019

April 3, 2019

2 Kings 4:1-7 The Message (MSG)

Today is the twenty-fifth day of our 40-Day Lenten Series, “Praying for a Kingdom Heart.”  Lent should be a time of prayerful reflection, repentance, and restoration as we draw closer to the heart of God.  Today, we continue our prayers for a Kingdom heart as we look further into God’s plan to provide for us through righteous sowing and reaping.  He alone is the All-Sufficient One.  He is the Source of everything we need in life.  God resists the proud, but he gives Grace to the humble; he instigates supply when the humble cry out (1 Peter 5:5).  When we have problems, we need to get with people of deep faith to pray and gain wisdom. That level of transparency may be difficult for some of us; we might not want others to know where we find ourselves.  Yet, people of deep faith push our faith to produce big things in God’s Kingdom economy. We must sow a seed and activate our faith in order to reap divine supply.  Sometimes the Lord provides inspiration or places an idea on our hearts when we pray; then, he asks us to follow.  The idea may not always make sense to our natural mind; the idea is a seed that requires faith.  Have you found yourself praying for God to meet a need in your life only to find you have an idea as a seed? 

In our passage, we note a woman in need. Recently widowed, she approaches the prophet Elisha.  This woman’s husband was a godly man who served the Lord by serving others; he sowed seeds of goodness in his devotion to God. She tells of her husband’s faith, but never mentions her own.  Elisha sets her up to receive; he pushes her to use her faith.  He makes her identify a small seed of provision; oil is left in her house.  Elisha instructs her use her faith by collecting jugs.  I am sure she is thinking, “God, this is ridiculous! These empty jugs are not going to save my sons from becoming slaves!”  True enough, collecting jugs was a test of her faith.  How many jugs would she collect, because she believed God spoke through Elisha?   

During Lent, we will be using the acronym P.R.A.Y. as we pray for a Kingdom Heart.  P=praise, R=repent, A=ask, and Y=yield.  May God bless you as you spend time in God’s Word and in prayer today.

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April 2, 2019

Joshua 5:9-12 The Voice (VOICE)

Today is the twenty-fourth day of our 40-Day Lenten Series, “Praying for a Kingdom Heart.”  Lent should be a time of prayerful reflection, repentance, and restoration as we draw closer to the heart of God.  Our prayers connect our human lives with the loving provision of Creator God; it is a communication partnership to which God calls us. He loves working with us, as well as helping us see and enjoy his presence.  The Lord is our divine Provider and he is teaching us to be his sons and daughters of faith and love.  We are to be led by the Spirit to bear righteous fruit which brings forth more seeds. Therefore, we generously sow that which is good into the fertile ground of the Kingdom while we pray and wait; in so doing we are sowing to the work and will of our loving God.  While we are helping others, God multiplies that love seed to bring forth our harvest. “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary (Gal. 6:9).  Are you putting faith to your seed as you ask God to provide in your life?

In our passage today, Joshua has successfully led the Israelites into the Promised Land as directed by God. The wilderness wandering and God’s temporary provision of manna is history; the Jordan River has closed up behind them.  They must move forward if they are going to obey God.  It is time to grow up and put their hand to the plow.  Israel has been delivered into a land to call their own; they will now receive God’s provisions through sowing and reaping in obedience to God’s Word.

During Lent, we will be using the acronym P.R.A.Y. as we pray for a Kingdom Heart.  P=praise, R=repent, A=ask, and Y=yield.  May God bless you as you spend time in God’s Word and in prayer today.

Read more