The Spirit Speaks
Read: Acts 13:1-3 After fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. (v. 3) I am suspicious whenever I hear someone say, “The Holy Spirit told me.” I’ve heard people use that phrase to add authority to their opinion. I wonder how they knew it was the Holy Spirit? Even […]
No God like You
Read: 2 Chronicles 6:12-7:3 . . . keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants. (v. 14) Of all Solomon’s accomplishments, the temple he built was the most magnificent, incomparable in many ways among the structures of the day. And despite all of his moral wanderings, Solomon knew God’s presence was central to all […]
Almighty God
Read: 1 Timothy 6:11-19 . . . the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. (v. 15) Words of Hope’s ministry leader in India gave his life to Christ while he was a veterinary student. Given that his father was a Buddhist missionary to India, his conversion was nearly as […]
Sovereign Lord
Read: Acts 4:23-31 Grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness. (v. 29) Praying with persecuted Christians and hearing their boldness grips my heart in ways I find hard to describe. Last year I met a woman from Bhutan who shares the hope of Jesus at great risk. As she […]
Gracious God and Heavenly Father
Read: Romans 8:31-39 If God is for us, who can be against us? (v. 31) Our Words of Hope staff gathers Monday mornings to pray together. I’ve noticed a few begin with “Our gracious God and heavenly Father . . .” It reminds me of so many prayers I heard in the Reformed church of […]
Father
Read: Matthew 6:5-15 Pray to your Father who is in secret. (v. 6) It had to be a stunning moment when the disciples received Jesus’s teaching to begin their prayer with “Our Father” (v. 9). While the Old Testament speaks of God in a fatherly way (see Deut. 32:6; Ps. 103:13), he is not addressed […]
The Gift of This Day
Read: Psalm 139 In your book were written . . . the days that were formed for me. (v. 16) Life expectancy in the United States is around 75 years. That’s 27,375 days. What day are you on? Only God knows how many you have. He knew each of your days before even one day […]
Lord God King of Glory
Read: Psalm 24 The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory! (v. 10) On the many occasions that I have prayed with the Words of Hope Uganda ministry leader, Titus Baraka, he almost always begins with, “Lord God, King of Glory . . .” When I asked why, he pointed out that Uganda […]
Most Merciful God
Read: Psalm 51 Cleanse me from my sin! (v. 2) David was the king by which all future kings of Israel would be compared. He foreshadows our eternal King, Jesus. And he sinned royally. In 2 Samuel 12, we read of his affair with a married woman who became pregnant. To cover up, David had […]