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 42:1-4 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you, God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long people say to me,
“Where is your God?”
4 I remember this as I pour out my heart: how I walked with many, leading the festive procession to the house of God, with joyful and thankful shouts.
Read the Entire Psalm
Of all the things that you long for, could there be anyone more wonderful than God? An intimate close and caring friendship with the eternal God. Who could compare with him? Ask him to increase your longing for him. There is no one like him.
Scripture Reading & Reflection
Read: John 17:6-19
“I have revealed your name to the people you gave me from the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, because I have given them the words you gave me. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.
I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they are yours. Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine, and I am glorified in them. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them is lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture may be fulfilled. Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in them. I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
Pray:
Lord Jesus you have rescued me from the kingdom of darkness and death into your kingdom of light and life. I struggle to know how to be in the world and not of it. I don’t know how to live in the already/not yet of your kingdom. Help me to live faithfully in my home, in my place of work, on the roads I drive, and in my own mind and heart. Help me to live faithfully as a citizen of my city, state, and country though my citizenship is ultimately in heaven. Help me to deal with the social and political realities and differences all around me that can cause me stress and confusion. I want to be faithful in this world, and I want to be grateful that I am not of this world. Please help me.
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 Youth Horizons. Pray for mentors from River who are mentoring children in the Youth Horizons program. Pray that mentors would build strong relationships of trust, help children succeed, and introduce children to Christ.