A Year of Prayer: Season One Weekday Devotionalsنموونە

Have you seen a cat woken up from a nap by a loud noise, only for it to curl back up and return to sleep? What a picture of ‘return to rest’ we see, where they don’t have a care in the world beyond the warm sun and the next meal!

What an ideal we must imagine for ourselves. If only that’s all I have to care about. But the Psalmist today faced many serious threats of death, violence, pain, heartaches, and ostracisation. David is thought to have written the Psalms, and despite times of intimacy with the Lord, his lifetime was turbulent.

But ‘return to rest,’ he commands himself. We are not to fear. Why? For the Lord has been good to you. Has the Lord been good to you?

We can look outside, in the news, or our newsfeeds and think, ‘Where is the goodness of God in this?’

And it’s a mystery we must follow through instead of ignoring the disconnect. In a broken world, where is this good God who gives rest?

Ask God, we implore you! Scripture promises us that if we keep seeking God, he will answer. Matthew 7:7-8 says, ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.’

The verse continues on to say in Matthew 7:9-11, ‘Which of you if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!’

Jesus, encountering the woman at the well in John 4, reveals himself as the Saviour for the first time. She queries him about worship, wells, and water. Jesus tells her that he is the answer to all three. He gives her a good gift, saying, ‘“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”’ (John 4:10 NIV)

If you are waiting for God's goodness to be revealed in your life, seek God. Spend time each day asking God for fresh revelation, a fresh gift of God’s presence. Seek God’s will and ways. God longs to reveal the things of the kingdom and the ways for the future in your life today. Wait on God’s gift and God’s goodness.

Consider spending time fasting - ask a trusted friend about giving up something together to seek God.

Prayer: Jesus, I long to see your face. Holy God, I long to know you better. Help me to seek you. Help me to see the things that seem disjointed and unconnected in the light of your word, that draws all things to itself. Help me to pray.

Action: Find a quiet place in the sun to breathe and pray. Spend time in confession (telling God where you have gone wrong) and repentance (letting God teach you how to live rightly).