I will rejoice in the Lord; I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my Strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to tread on the heights. [Habakkuk 3:18&19]
Holy Spirit, Your word says, “the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’ He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.” (Romans 4:16&17) Help me to understand that I am a spiritual child of Abraham because I believe in Your Son and in the Salvation You offered to me in place of my sins.
Holy Spirit I learned that Abraham’s father Terah, lost his son Haran, and decided to move his family to Canaan, but stopped short when he came to the city with the same name as the son he lost. He never left there. Help, me, as deeply hurt as I am for losing my son, not to stop short of the promise land. Finding my son dead is seared into my mind and will always be a part of who I am. All of the miracles and life of my son are also seared into my being. But this does not define who I am. It makes a part of my story and will always play heavy on my heart, yet I have other children and grandchildren who are alive and are also part of my heart. I die out to myself daily so that I can be a living sacrifice for You, my God, so that I can be open to Your will and renewing of my mind. Without this basic tenant to my life I would never keep the focus needed to follow You.
Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in a new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well. [Mark 13:33; Mark 16:15-18(NIV)] Help this be true in my life, and all those who come after me. In Jesus’ name, amen.