Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 92:9-15
Ps 92:9-15
For surely your enemies, O Lord, surely your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered. You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; fine oils have been poured upon me. My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries; my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes. The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, "The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."
Acts 12:12-15
When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!" "You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel."
Do we really believe in the power of prayer? James had been killed by Herod and Peter had been arrested and was in jail awaiting execution. The Christians were gathered to pray, so the inference is they were praying for Peter to be delivered and not be killed. God sent an angel and delivered him. He went to the house where they were praying but no one believed it was really Peter! They prayed. God answered. Peter was delivered and knocking. But they did not believe it.
We can just hear these people saying they believe, even though they really don’t. “We prayed for James and Herod killed him anyway. We will pray for Peter, but it probably won’t do any good.” Or “it has been all night and it hasn’t done any good so far.” “It must be God’s will for Peter to die too.” Do we do the same thing in our lives? Do we pray without doubting or do we just pray thinking it probably won’t do any good? When God answers our prayers and it is right in front of us and it is knocking, do we still deny that God did it for us? Prayer is powerful! Believe it!
O God, thank you for hearing my prayers. Thank you for answering them so many times over the years. Thank you for providing when it seemed there was no way. Thank you for making the answer clear, even when it seemed to me to be the wrong answer at the time. Thank you for giving me what was best instead of giving me what I asked for. I know you can and do heal cancer. I know you bring people out of things when there is no hope (as we see it). You send your Spirit to motivate, to give wisdom and to empower. In the name of Jesus, I pray.
Robert
