I decided to switch around the order of the 2-Year Bible reading, so I could read some New Testament in the weeks leading up to Resurrection Sunday. So, if you’re reading along with me, let’s do Mark, 1-2 Peter, and James between now and March 31.
So, today I read Mark 1, and I was struck by verse 35,
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
Mark 1:35 ESV
If Jesus needed His Heavenly Father’s help, so do I.
If Jesus had a packed day ahead and woke up early to pray first, so should I.
If Jesus needed to pray, so do I.
How about you?
Heavenly Father, I need You every day and every hour. I need You early in the morning before life gets crazy because life is crazy. My family needs me to pray. My friends need me to pray. The lost world and my persecuted brothers and sisters need me to pray. Help me, Father, to seek Your wisdom and to sit at Your feet. I love You, Lord. Lead me in Your love and grace. In the Name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 2 Kings 3:1-5:14
In 2 Kings chapters 3-5, we read about one miracle after another. God sends water into the desert. God fills vessel upon vessel with oil. God conceives a child in a barren woman’s womb. God brings a boy back from the dead. God makes pure a poisonous stew, and God heals a man of leprosy.
This is a light thing in the sight of the LORD.
2 Kings 3:18a ESV
Yet, to the Lord, all of these things are light. None of these incredible events are hard for him. God isn’t exhausted after doing them. He didn’t struggle or labor night after night to achieve these mighty feats. What is a few jars of oil or one little baby to a God who can speak the entire universe into existence by the sheer power of His voice?
In light of the truth (pun intended) that all things are easy for God, we need to remember that there is nothing too big for Him, but also there is nothing is too small for Him.
Out of work and need a job? No problem.
In a hurry and need a parking spot? Got it.
Struggling with discipling and disciplining your children? He can help.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, is impossible for Him. And nothing, absolutely nothing, is too little for His care.
I love it when my adult children ask for my advice and my help, no matter how big or how little it is. Likewise, our perfect Heavenly Father loves His children to seek His help in all areas of our lives.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Philippians 4:6 ESV
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
1 Peter 5:7 NLT
Heavenly Father, thank You for always being there for us. We know that nothing is impossible for you, that you are able to do all things. Help us to trust You and turn to You. Whether the thing to us looks too big or too small, may we entrust it into Your watchful, loving care. In the Name of Jesus Christ our Savior we pray. Amen.
Do you ever feel like you’re the only one who is still pursuing God with your whole heart? Well, you’re not alone in those feelings. Elijah felt that way, too.
[Elijah] said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”
1 Kings 19:14 ESV
The truth is that God preserved a remnant in Israel three thousand years ago and He has preserved a remnant today, too. Press on, friend, God is with you. Don’t lose heart. The Lord Almighty is on your side. And so are thousands of others around the globe.
Heavenly Father, I’m praying for my brothers and sisters around the world today who are despairing, feeling like they are the only ones holding fast to the hem of Your garment. Encourage them, Father. Strengthen them with Your Word and the comfort of Your Holy Spirit. Uphold them with Your righteous right hand and shelter them under Your wings. Please, Father, give them someone to fellowship with, a Christ-lover to walk with through the valleys and mountains of life. In the Name of Christ who sticks closer than a brother we pray. Amen.
Heavenly Father, please, increase my faith. Give me the faith of a mustard seed and then grow it. Multiply it. Make it spread and take over every aspect of my life. As I feed morning and evening, day after day, on Your Word, may it take root deep into my heart and bear the fruits of repentance and obedience and faith. I want to hear Your voice and obey. I want Your Spirit to guide me in what I say, what I do, and where I go. Make me Your faithful worker, a steadfast laborer in Your vineyard, for Your glory and fame. By the blood of Jesus Christ, poured out for me I pray. Amen.
Heavenly Father, Your Word warns us again and again about the importance of having a godly wife. I pray that my son will heed those warnings. Guard his heart from those who want to steal it away from You. Turn his eyes away from worthless things and focus them on Your commands. Help him to treasure Your Words that he will not be tempted to go astray. Give my son divine discernment and patience, that he will be led by Your Spirit around the pitfalls laid by the enemy of our soul who seeks to trap him in his clutches. Guide him to a woman who loves You with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength, that the two of them would be better together than they could be apart, that 1 + 1 would be 3 squared. Make the two of them a cord of three strands that cannot be easily broken with you that center strand of steel that they will both cling to through good times and bad, plenty and want, sickness and health, until their last day on earth. For Your glory and his good I pray in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen
Heavenly Father, please forgive us. Forgive us. We have gone astray. We have turned from Your ways. We have forgotten You and chased after false gods. We have worshipped the creature and forsaken the Creator. We have become friends of the world and enemies of the Word. Bring us back to You. Turn our hearts back to You. Hear from Heaven and heal our land. Pour out Your Spirit on us that our hearts might again burn for You. You are worthy and You are good and You are able. Grow our faith, Lord. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Heavenly Father, You are the giver of wisdom and justice for You are the source of them both. You are the fountain from which wisdom and justice flow. All Your ways are right. All Your ways are just and wise. Fill our nation with a love for justice and wisdom. Give our nation’s leaders a holy hunger for wisdom and justice, like You gave to king Solomon. Give our nation’s parents and pastors and teachers a desire for true wisdom and justice that they will lead our nation’s children in Your truth. We pray that as these men and women seek wisdom and justice that they would find it in You and in the pages of Your Word. Teach us, Lord, what justice and wisdom are. Show us what it means to be truly just, what true wisdom is. Grant us discernment to judge between right and wrong, truth and lies, justice and injustice. You are the standard, the plumb line, the truth by which all things and all laws, are measured, and give us a right understanding of who You are and what You have said. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, we pray. Amen.
David knows he is about to die, so he calls his son, Solomon, to him. What did David say to this son who will be the next king of Israel?
Be strong.
Show yourself a man.
Keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in His ways and keeping his commands as it is written in the Law of Moses.
Deal wisely and justly with Joab, Barzillai, and Shimei.
Now I’m not (and never will be) the king of a nation but I (like everyone else on the planet) will one day draw my last breath. If today were my last day, what final words would I want to share with my children?
What would I say to my children if today was my last day?
I love you. I’m proud of you. You are a gift to me. I’m so thankful you’re mine. God made YOU on purpose, and He has a purpose for your life. Fear not. He’s not finished yet. God is on His throne. He doesn’t save people because they’re good. They’re not. None of us are. He saves them because He is merciful and has a purpose for them. You are saved by your faith in Jesus Christ, not by your works. (Psalm 139:1-16; Romans 3:10-12; Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:3-8; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Romans 6:23)
Trust the Lord with all your heart. He is good. He is wise. Turn away from evil and do good. Choose to do the hard things out of love and trust for the Lord. (Proverbs 3:5-7; Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37)
Love is both an emotion and an action. Love others as God has loved you. Bear with others. Forgive them, remembering how much God has forgiven you. He loved you while you were yet a sinner, loving you even to the point of death, death on a cross. Remember that love is patient and kind. God is patient and kind with you, and He is calling you to be patient and kind with others. Love is not arrogant, rude, boastful, or envious. Love does not insist on its own way. The Lord of the Universe humbled Himself for you, and He is calling you to humble yourself for Him and His creation. Love never ends. Love endures. Love bears all things. He has loved you with a never-ending love. Love others like that. (Colossians 3:12-13; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8; Philippians 2:1-8; Romans 5:7-8)
Children are a blessing from the Lord. Fill your home with them. Pour into them. Enjoy them. Train them up in the way they should go. Teach them diligently that they, too, will know and love the Lord. (Psalm 127:1-5; Proverbs 22:6; Deuteronomy 6:6-9; Psalm 78:1-8)
So, how about you? If today were your last day, what final words would you want to say to your children and loved ones?
Heavenly Father, How thankful I am for the hope that I have in my Savior, Jesus, who poured out His blood for me. How thankful I am to have the assurance that my last breath here on Earth is just the beginning of eternity with You. I pray that my children and grandchildren will have that assurance. I pray that You will strengthen me to be the mother and grandmother that You want me to be. Give me Your wisdom and lead me in when to speak and when to be silent. Make my words, Your words. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Make me a beacon pointing my family and my community to Him. For His Honor and for His glory I pray. Amen.
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.”
Amos 8:11 ESV
Would I rather worship or wander through Wally World?
Would I rather scroll through the truth of the Word or the foolishness of Facebook?
Would I rather skip my daily dose of carbs or the daily bread of the Lord’s presence?
Would I rather sit in a pew or sit on a couch?
Would I rather be in the front row of a church or the front row of a concert?
Would I rather listen to the correction of a wise counselor or the consolation of a foolish friend?
Would I rather miss a dinner date with my BFF or a breakfast date with my Heavenly Father?
Would I rather miss my morning cup of java or my morning cup of living water?
Would I rather have an empty belly or an empty mind?
“Sabbath days and sabbath work are a burden to carnal hearts, that are always afraid of doing too much for God and eternity.
Can we spend our time better than in communication with God?
And how much time do we spend pleasantly with the world? Will not the sabbath be gone before we have done the work of it and reaped the gains of it? Why then should we be in such haste to part with it?
They were fond of market-days: they longed to be selling corn and setting forth wheat. When they were employed in religious services they were thinking of their marketings …
Those are strangers to God, and enemies to themselves, that love market days better than sabbath days, that would rather be selling corn than worshipping God.”
Matthew Henry, Commentary on Amos 8
Heavenly Father, Align our hearts with Yours. Make us love what You love. Break our hearts for what breaks Yours. Give us a holy hunger. Make us hunger for what is healthy and right, what is pure and true. Make us sick over what makes You sick. Give us discernment to recognize what is truly lovely and what is a joy stealer. Help us spot the counterfeits, the deceptions, those things that masquerade as beautiful and give us hearts that hunger and thirst for righteousness for Your Name’s sake. In the Name of Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, the One who meets our every need, the well that never runs dry, the unending source of living water and the eternal bread of Your living presence, we pray. Amen.
For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live;”
Amos 5:4 ESV
Heavenly Father, I lift up the house of Israel to You. I pray that You would remove the veil from their eyes that they would recognize Messiah Jesus who came once to save and who is coming again to judge. Oh, Father, open their ears that they would hear clearly the gospel of peace. Soften their hearts that the seeds of truth would fall deep and take root. Use Your rod to chasten and reprove that they would return quickly to Your open arms. Please, Father, send out laborers into the harvest in Jerusalem and all over Israel and the Middle East. We want to see the olive tree bear fruit again for Your kingdom. In the Name of Jesus Christ, the Only Way to You, the Only Savior of the world, we pray. Amen.
Teach What is Good 
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