January 26, 2023

Passage Read: 1 Kings 6-9
Meditation Verses: 8:38-42

Thought

Whenever trouble comes and people pray to the Lord for deliverance, each man knowing his own heart and his own afflictions, then may the Lord forgive and deal with each one according to his deeds, that each man may fear the Lord all the time. Then foreigners will hear and come and pray to the Lord as well, so that all the peoples of the earth may know the Lord and fear Him. Trouble comes on us because of our sin and ignorance of God, but He welcomes the prayer of repentance and plea, He is willing to forgive and act on behalf of the people, so that His people would fear Him and He could make a name for Himself, and many more people would be drawn to seek Him out.

Application

I need to understand that trouble comes for many reasons, but ultimately it is to drive me to repentance and prayer, pleading for the Lord's help, so that He gets credit for the deliverance, people talk and word gets out that our God does wonders. But He expects repentance, He gladly forgives, the result being that more and more people come to fear and worship Him. That should be the goal and purpose of all my prayers and requests, knowing my own troubles and faults, repenting and asking for forgiveness, and giving God opportunity to make His name and power known.