- Read Isaiah 40 incarnationally. Where do you find yourself in this text?
- Read Isaiah 9.1-7 how does this prophetic passage encourage you? How would it have encouraged the people of Israel
- In what ways would the people of Israel have believed they were a “lost cause?”
- The promise of Advent is “from lost cause to new hope.” What resonates most deeply in you when reflecting on this truth?
- In what ways do you speak “comfort” and “tenderness”? When was the last time someone spoke “comfort” to you? What difference did their words make in you and through you?
- Whom in your world needs to hear a comforting message of hope? How might God be calling you to share it?
- In what ways are you “making straight the way of the Lord?”
- Isaiah says, “God’s word endures forever.” What would that phrase mean to the people of Israel? In a world that is constantly changing how do you hold fast to the constant Word of God? How do you see the Word today differently than you did a year ago, five years ago?
- How do you see God at work, today?
- Scripture refers to God as our Shepherd, Jesus our Good Shepherd. How are you currently experiencing His shepherding? How might He be inviting you to shepherd others?
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 100.
Today we conclude our 40 Day Prayer journey. It’s fitting to end with this beautiful Psalm of praise. An unknown writer invited God’s people to approach the Lord with great joy in this well-known Psalm. Our God is good and faithful. His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations. As we approach this new day, let’s enter into this day in a posture of praise and thanksgiving.
As you pray prayers of praise, make note of specific attributes of God for which you are thankful. Take time to share those attributes and why they are important to you, with someone else today. Allow your thanksgiving to be a witness of the Good News.
Prayer Focus: Neighbors of Sanctuary
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:16)
John 3:16 is the life-source description of God’s saving work in our lives. 1 John 3:16 also offers a deep truth of the life we are saved to live.
Much of the Christian world has only experienced the first half of the gospel, the John 3:16 portion of Truth. 1 John 3:16 ushers us into the second half of the gospel, the transformation of being conformed to the image and character of Christ. As we are changed, so are those around us. J. D. Walt says, “The journey of awakening is the Spirit-empowered, hard-fought movement of John 3:16 to 1 John 3:16. Our calling is to press beyond adolescent faith and grow up into the maturity of love, which is nothing less than the fullness of Jesus Christ. When the people of God learn to live in 1 John 3:16, the watching world will begin to believe John 3:16. When one generation embraces the calling into the second half of the gospel, the next generation will risk the faith to trust the first half.”
Ask the Lord of the Harvest to lead you into the beautiful dimensions of the second half of the gospel.
Prayer Focus: Sanctuary Youth
Let us know how can we be praying for you here!
By wisdom, a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
4 through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures.
5 The wise prevail through great power
and those who have knowledge muster their strength.
6 Surely you need guidance to wage war,
and victory is won through many advisers. (Proverbs 24:3–6)
Solomon was the great poet of Proverbs, extolling the wisdom with which God had gifted him. The book of Proverbs speaks to how the God-fearing man should live instead of living for the world.
Men and women are tempted to envy those around them that appear to be most prosperous, the trap of comparison that leads to death. In this passage, we are reminded that the life of stability is one that seeks the Lord and is dependent upon God’s power. Here it is recommended that wisdom has the greatest influence on the prosperity of our life. Let us seek the wisdom on which we should build our lives and allow God to direct us according to His good ways.
What are you seeking to build today? Seek God’s wisdom first, relying on His ways. Find comfort in trusting God for His wisdom above anything offered by the world.
Prayer Focus: Blue Skies
Let us know how can we be praying for you here!
