Abide: Prayer and Fasting (Family Devotional)ಮಾದರಿ
Day 2: The Word is Light
CONNECT
Spend some time talking and trying to come up with answers to the following questions. Do not search the Internet nor do any research elsewhere. Any answer you come up with is okay.
- How deep is the ocean?
- How much money is there in the world?
- Can a bee fly all the way to space?
- What is the largest number in the world? What happens when you add one to it?
- Why is water wet? If you dry the water, is it still water?
Feel free to add similar questions if you can think of more.
Do you have answers to the questions? Do you think your answers are correct? Or did the questions leave you even more confused than when you started? Sometimes, it is fun coming up with wacky answers to questions that seem to be unanswerable.
You know what? There are also times when we have unanswerable questions in our lives. Like, why do bad things happen to a person? These questions are definitely not fun to answer, but we have a Book that can shed light to some of our questions.
READ THE WORD
Let’s read Psalm 119:105–112.
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. I have suffered much; preserve my life, Lord, according to your word. Accept, Lord, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws. Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law. The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts. Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end. Psalm 119:105–112 (NIV)
In the last few months and years, many of us have experienced trying times and different challenges. Sadly, sometimes, our circumstances have brought us to the end of our wits. With clouds of darkness and uncertainty hanging over us, it seems that there is no end to this tunnel. But as we travel through this dark and unclear path, God’s word can be our light to guide us and to protect us. When we don’t know what to do, God’s word can give us wisdom. When we are tempted, it can steer us away from sin’s path. When we are in doubt, its truth will help us clear our vision and when we feel hopeless, its promises will point us to the One who is in control of the future. We can trust what it says because it is from God.
HUDDLE
Parents to Kids
4–6 years old
- What do you do when you are in the dark and you need to look at something?
7–12 years old
- Do you read the Bible every day? How has it encouraged you and given you wisdom and clarity in the past year? Share a specific situation with your family.
Kids to Parents
- How did God’s word help you through a difficult time in the past?
- How do you hide God’s word in your heart?
Just as light keeps us from stumbling in the dark, God’s word also keeps us from stumbling as we go through life. Let’s keep reading God’s word. Let’s learn to meditate on it and hide it in our hearts. Let’s do what it teaches us to do. As we do, God will use it to speak to us, to guide us, and to give us clarity in the midst of our circumstances.
PRAY
Dear God, thank You for Your word because it gives us light in these dark times. Thank You because it has the power to guide and protect us. Please help us to come to Your word whenever we feel doubt and uncertainty creeping in our hearts. Help us also to believe and to obey what it teaches. In Jesus’ name, amen!
DISCOVER
Today, when we say light, we normally think of the manmade sources of lights that we are so used to, like electric lights, flashlights, and other similar lights. But the first time light appeared was on the first day of creation when God created it. Light is so vital to life that it was the first thing God created! Without it, our world would be plunged in total darkness. Through the centuries, because of advancement in technology, we no longer just rely on natural light, which are the sun and the moon. Man has developed many different kinds of artificial light.
The following is a brief look at the different sources of light that man has used:
- Sun, when God created it
- Candles, around hundreds of years before Christ
- Gas lamps, invented around the 1700s
- Modern lights (light bulbs, fluorescent, etc.), around the 1800s up to the present
Scripture
About this Plan
Every year, we come together to pray and fast so we can hear from God and know what He is telling us to do. As we learn to depend on God, His word does not only feed, strengthen, encourage, comfort, and satisfy us, but it gives us life. This family devotional is designed to be used by parents with children from the ages of four to twelve.
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