Today’s reading: Romans 2:12-24; Daniel 9:3

For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous

Romans 2:13

Where do our problems originate? Are we guilty of making mountains out of molehills? Sometimes. How do we handle these situations in life? We hear Jesus telling his disciples “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b).

Daniel knew that his situation could only be resolved when he “turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.” (Daniel 9:3) He was acknowledging his people’s sinfulness which resulted in their captivity because they had disobeyed God’s Word regarding covenant-keeping, the Sabbath years, and idolatry (Leviticus 25:1-7; 26:27-35).

Do we take our life’s battles to the Lord or do we at times try other means, then find out that what we thought would resolve this challenge didn’t work. And as a last resort, we go to our Lord in prayer as Daniel did.

We have a beautiful hymn, What a Friend We have in Jesus, to remind us that on this side of eternity He is always there to listen to our prayers because of his love for us. In the Book of Joshua, we read that he will never leave us or forsake us (Joshua 1:5).

Dear friends, let us encourage one another to be prayer warriors because He loves and cares for all of our everyday needs.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, may we turn to you when life’s challenges come.

Contributed by Ron Merritt