April 4

Deuteronomy 26:1-27:26, Luke 10:38-11:13, Psalm 76:1-12, Proverbs 12:15-17



Pray: Ask God to allow it to inform and guide your personal prayer life, and then read aloud the prayer that Jesus taught us in Luke 11:2-4 to begin your devotion.

Read: Do you feel restless? Often our hearts become restless when we are first seeking things that are not God. We too often become “distracted” like Martha (Luke 10:40) as we seek to perform or do many things rather than first seeking the company of the Lord in our lives. This leads to exhaustion and burn out as we look for satisfaction and even strength to obey in our doing (performance) rather than God’s being (presence). In the reading, look for how valuable it is to first realize the truth of who God is and what He has done for you before we get to our doing and obeying.

Edify: Sometimes even in the midst of important religious activity and obedience to God in our giving, serving, and loving our neighbor; we need to hear Moses and the priests’ address. They say, O people of God “…be quiet and listen! Today you have become the people of the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 27:9). In other words, make no mistake in this moment who and whose you are. You aren’t doing activity for activity sake, however good that activity may be. All of your doing is as “unto the Lord.” In other words, our obedient activity must be deeply relational. So then knowing who you are, “you must obey the Lord your God by keeping all these commands and decrees that I am giving you today” (Deuteronomy 27:10). Compare these critical verses to the scene where Jesus is with both Mary and Martha. God’s people are not to get busy doing without the relationship with God. Jesus, the Messiah and Savior, was in the house, yet Martha was too busy doing good hospitable things to connect relationally. As Jesus’ teaching about prayer further reinforces, “There is only one thing worth being concerned about” (Luke 10:42), and that one thing is trusting and pursuing Jesus. When we have spent time at His feet and in His presence, obedience in your life flows out of joy and out of the strength of your relationship with Him.

Practice: In the quiet, in-between moments of the day where you routinely spend a couple minutes on your phone, instead start knocking and seeking God in prayer. Your heavenly Father will not withhold His presence, so never tire in persistently going to prayer to spend more time with Him!