Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
Psalm 107: 4-9
“4 Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. 5 They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. 6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. 7 He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. 8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men, 9 for He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”
Understand:
Here the psalmist is remembering how God rescued those who were lost in the desert. They were lost, hungry, thirsty, disheartened, and discouraged. They were at the point of perishing had God not provided for them, but…He rescued them! God hears the prayers of His people in trouble and He rescues them.
Not only did He rescue, but He supplied all they needed. He delivered them from all their distress. God is the One who manifests His unfailing love (hesed love) in His wonderful deeds.
Apply:
We have all the reasons in the world to do the same thing: to give thanks to the Lord continually, for His undying love and for His wonderful care He has shown to us through Christ. Jesus is the One who satisfies the thirsty and provides the finest food for the hungry. Jesus Himself tells us in John 4:14, “Those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” In Matthew 11:28, He encourages all who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, to come to Him and He will give them rest.
Jesus doesn’t want us to get lost in the desert of worry and fear, but instead He wants us to trust in Him completely. We’re not to put our ultimate hope in temporal things, but in eternal things. That’s why He reminds us in Luke 10 that a single sparrow doesn’t fall to the ground without God knowing it; He even knows the number of hairs on your head. If He knows all these things, then we don’t have to wander around lost, hungry, or fearful because you are so treasured by God. Our hope is eternal!
Maybe you feel like you’re in the desert right now. What causes you to lose your way? To wander? Will you look to Jesus to rescue you? You can trust Him.
“Give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men, for He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”
Live:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)
Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.