People of Light
A Light to All Nations – Part IV
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 42:6-17
Key Verse: Isaiah 42:6
“I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles.”
Let’s continue the discussion of how to remain or abide in Jesus. The reason this subject deserves much attention is because when we remain in Jesus, we are automatically fruitful. Jesus did not hold back on the consequences to those who do not abide in Him:
If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (John 15:6).
Theologians debate what Jesus meant by these words; however, I want to simply take these words at face value and do everything I can to abide in Jesus and be fruitful!
The safeguards to our faith mentioned in yesterday’s devotional are reading God’s Word daily and being faithful to attend the worship times in the church of your choice.
A third critical safeguard is praying:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)
Prayer is not only a safeguard to our faith, but also a safeguard from letting anxiety overcome us. May God help us to turn to prayer the moment we sense that we are anxious about something.
A verse that often comes to my mind, when it comes to prayer, is Luke 18:1:
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
For me, all I need is this one verse to convince me to never give up praying.
The parable that Jesus goes on to tell is good, but Jesus’s command to never give up praying is all that we believers need!
I imagine that, like me, you feel your prayers are very repetitive. Our prayers may repetitive, but the Bible teaches us to be persistent. Persistence results in repetitive prayers.
When God hears His people pray, even when we do not feel very effective in our prayers, He is pleased that we make the effort. The good news is, the Holy Spirit helps with our weak prayers:
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)
When we set aside time for prayer, the Holy Spirit makes our prayers powerful and effective.
Father, I need Your help in developing the right habits for growing my faith. Help me to remember how important prayer is, no matter how busy I am. In Jesus’s Name I prayer, amen.