May 7

1 Samuel 1:1-2:21, John 5:1-23, Psalms 105:37-45, Proverbs 14:28-29

Pray: Lord, as another week starts, I must thank You for so many things. Last week was filled with many opportunities to see You at work in my life and in the lives of those around me and I pray that I didn’t miss anything. And while You have been so good to me, I am sure that I have, once again, fallen short of what You expect as a devoted follower of Christ. For those things I am sorry and ask for Your forgiveness. Today, I want to thank You for all the churches in our area and especially all the Christ Church campuses and the services we experienced. I thank You for Pastor Charles, Pastor Chip, Pastor Harley, Pastor Trent, and Pastor Mike and their leadership. Lord, thank You for Your Holy Spirit and the way You speak through Your mouthpieces. Help us be obedient to what You are calling us to believe and take action on.  Amen.

Read: Today we read of the miracle of Samuel’s birth and his mother’s desperate desire to have a child. Be careful what you promise in prayer because God may take you up on it. Hannah so desperately wanted a child that she was willing to strike a bargain with God. God took her up on her promise, and to Hannah’s credit, she did her part, even though it was painful. In the New Testament, we read of the miracle at the pools of Bethesda and Jesus confronting the Jewish leaders about His work on the Sabbath. It is in this conversation that Jesus makes the claim publicly that He is the Son of God much to the dismay of the Jewish leaders. Jesus’ response?… just wait and see.

Edify: I was fortunate enough to travel to the Holy Land with a group from our church. One of our stops was the pools of Bethesda, the place where Jesus healed a lame man. As powerful as the entire trip was, the reality that Jesus had once walked where I was walking and even had healed a man from his infirmities on that very ground wrecked me. We gathered our group and took the chance to pray over one another next to the very pools that Jesus prayed next to. The Jesus connection was strong in those moments. When have you had a strong Jesus connection? You haven’t or haven’t recently, you say?  Today is the day. It’s time to go into your “prayer closet” and ask Christ for an encounter that reminds you of His presence and His power in and over your life.

Practice: Take the time today to allow God to speak to your heart and give you an encounter with Jesus. Find a place where there are no distractions and spend time in prayer and meditation and wait on God. It may be uncomfortable if you have never done this but stay focused and “be still”. God is there!