21 Days of Prayer
Key Verse:
"You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry." Psalm 10:17
Prompt:
This week's focus: Live by Faith
Today, praise God for being a Father who cares for His children. God sees us and hears our cries, and He won't abandon us. Thank Him for a specific time when you felt His help and comfort in your life. Then, ask God to help you live a life of faith, even in difficult seasons.
Have you seen others around you struggling with grief, depression, financial hardships, or illness? Lift them to the Father and ask Him to send the encouragement and help they need.
More:
Head: Know God's Word | Heart: Love God | Hands: Follow God's Way
Read Psalms 10-11
Head
Throughout Psalm 10, David describes how much evil there is going on around him. He sees proud, arrogant, and evil people threatening to do whatever it takes to succeed, and he is wondering where God is. Why is God allowing this? David feels threatened, scared, and probably hopeless.
In Psalm 11, David remembers an important truth - that our God is on His throne and in charge. Nothing gets past Him. He sees all the evil in this world, and in His perfect timing, He will bring justice. We need to remember no one can stop our God from protecting His children and bringing punishment to the unrighteous.
Heart
Do you ever feel like David wondering why evil seems to win over good? Have you ever had times when it seems that others are getting ahead even when they don’t try or don’t follow the rules? Maybe you’ve even seen good things happen to people who do bad things. For example, a classmate cheats and makes a good grade, while you study your hardest and barely pass. Or maybe you try your best to obey God, but you get left out because of it. In our broken world, we are constantly confronted with people whose hearts are set on evil. Have you ever asked, “Don’t you care God?” “Can’t you see me struggling?” “Do you see all this evil just taking over?”
Jesus’s disciples wondered the same thing. Read Luke 8:22-24. They were in the boat with Jesus and a very bad storm came over them while Jesus was asleep. They panicked and thought they were going to down; wondering if Jesus even cared about them. It turns out that Jesus cared about them so much that He calmed the storm with just His words. We can be comforted knowing that Jesus loves us and cares about us, in the same way!
Hand
So, what do we do when evil seems to be everywhere in our lives? We do what Psalm 11 reminds us to do. Keep our eyes on God. No matter what. Even when it feels like things are not getting better, we can remember no problem or person is bigger than our God. We need to do what the disciples forgot to do at that moment in the boat – trust in Jesus! We can walk by faith, not by sight! Remember God loves you and will take care of you even when things around you look scary, hopeless, or out of control. We have to put our faith in action and call on God to give us peace. God has your back!
Prayer: Heavenly Father, it is so hard to not feel hopeless or discouraged by our circumstances. Help us to be faith-filled followers who trust in Your goodness, wisdom, and power to set things right. Help us not to take them in our own hands and return evil for evil, but instead, turn to You with a heart that says I trust in You and You alone! Thank You for always being in control, and please help us grow our faith when we get weary. We love You and praise You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.