Hearing God’s Voice from His Word
James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Take a moment and turn your attention to God. Tell God that you desire to trust and obey Him. Ask God to speak to you from His word.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 43:3-5 Send your light and your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling place. Then I will come to the altar of God, to God, my greatest joy. I will praise you with the lyre, God, my God. Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.
Read the entire Psalm
Asking and Responding: Look at what the author of this Psalm is asking God to do. He is asking God to send light and truth so that he will be led. Ask God to do the same for you as you prepare to read. How does the author plan to respond to God? He responds in worship and praise. He responds by telling himself to put his hope in God.
Scripture Reading
1 Peter 1:3-9 – New International Version
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Having God’s Ear through Prayer
- Express thanks to God.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal sin to you.
- Confess your sin to Him and receive forgiveness.
(1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sin He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins.”) - Bring your personal requests to God.
(Psalm 62:8 “Pour out your heart before God”) - Pray for someone in your small group.
- Join with others from River and pray for Isaac and Suzanne Michaels. Ask God to encourage them and guide them as they serve at Black Forest Academy.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
It’s not wrong to wish something were not true. In fact, it is quite reasonable and normal to wish certain unhappy facts were not real. What is wrong is to refuse to submit to reality as it is. It’s wrong because it doesn’t work and because it is an affront to God, who is in charge of things. We, of all people, should be able to adjust to the facts because we know who is in control of all the facts. Again, this doesn’t mean we adjust easily or happily, but we can adjust hopefully. Our hope is a living thing. It is not just hope in facts, but in hope in God. It is a hope that grows over time as we learn to trust God more and more with our lives as they actually are. Jesus prayed for what he wanted in the garden, “If possible, I’d like another way.” Then he surrendered to the will of God, “Your will, not mine be done.” This combination of honest proactive obedience is what we want. We must not “surrender to fate” or “shake our fists at fate.” We don’t believe in fate; we believe in God. We bow to him in loving, hopeful faith.