Luke 11: 11-13 ” Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 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 the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? “

We think we know what we want…but in our short-sightedness are we really asking for a stone from the Lord…when He wants to give us a loaf of bread?  We naively think we know what’s best for us…when we really don’t have a clue.  We have a good, good Father that wants to give us only the very best…so ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your petitions before the Lord…and pray God’s Will into your life, not yours.

We’ve got to live: Faithfully in His Word

In James it says to not merely listen to the Word…but do It.   In order to put your trust in the Lord,  you must take what you hear and apply it to your life.  You need to take that head knowledge and internalize it into heart knowledge.  The Word of God is powerful and alive, but if it goes in one ear and out the other, it’s of no use to you.  For just hearing God’s voice will never cause change within… unless you do something with it.

Psalm 145: 13 “…the Lord is faithful to all His promises.”

There’s no one else we can trust…no one else that we can believe in .  For it says in Joshua 23:14, ” God is faithful, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.”   We then can stand firmly on that promise…for God keeps His word.

Hebrews 10: 37-38 ” For in just a very little while, ‘He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.’ “

The writer of Hebrews is paraphrasing  Habakkuk 2:3-4 in this passage.  He’s stressing that our spiritual walk is made up of  constant, focused, decisions to trust and obey the Lord…even when we can’t see change.  He warns us against retreating or drawing back from trials simply out of  fear.  If you’re in the middle of a storm today,  don’t allow fear to rule your life…don’t hesitate when apprehension rises in your throat…rather make a conscious decision to listen to that still small voice of the Holy Spirit and walk by faith.

Isaiah 25:1 ” O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You and praise Your name, for in perfect faithfulness You have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.”

Elsewhere in Isaiah it says, “The Lord Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely, as I have planned, so it will be,  and as I have purposed, so it will stand.’ ”  Lord, I give You thanks and trust that everything, both big and small,  that happens in my life has been prepared long ago.  Each wonderful, miraculous, and extraordinary thing that has and will happen to me  You have planned out far before I was even born.   And I know you have much more for me to be doing, and I look with eager anticipation to the future and Your plans for me.     And everyone said,   Amen.

Psalm 52: 8 ” But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever. “

I am planted like a thriving tree in Your presence Lord…grafted securely to the root of Jesse…my dependence is on You and You alone.  I praise You Lord  for Your never-ending  mercy and kindness.  I thank You for Your everlasting and eternal love.  Amen.

Nehemiah 6: 15-16 ” So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God. “

In only 52 days the wall around Jerusalem was rebuilt, securing it from enemy attack.  Despite everything their enemies attempted to do to dissuade and intimidate them, the wall was made strong.  In less than 2 months time,  the people of Jerusalem had done something of super-human ability… and their enemies realized this.  Nothing will ever stand in the way of God’s plan…not people…not circumstances…not anything.  And this will render the enemy fearful and  in awe of God’s great power.

John 2: 25 ” He did not need man’s testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.”

We seldom do something for others totally out of unselfish motives…for usually we have some hidden agenda, whether good or bad.   We’ll do some kind gesture,  with the inner thought of,  “what’s in this for me?”  Or we’ll go out of our way for someone, hoping others will see our sacrifice and praise us for all our hard work.  The Lord knows our thoughts and examines our hearts and will immediately  show us when our motivation is wrong.  For God can bear witness to what lies within all humans…every self-seeking, egocentric, greedy fiber and part.

Ezekiel 37:3 ” He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ “

The Lord had brought Ezekiel to a valley full of dry bones and asked him this question.  The only appropriate answer Ezekiel could give is, “O Lord God, You know.”  Rather running ahead of God “doing something”, Ezekiel was waiting on the Lord’s direction and working within His Will.  Many times it’s so much easier to “do something” rather than to just trust in the Lord and wait on His timetable.  What we see as good works and “helping” God is more panic than inspiration.

Psalm 44: 6-7 ” I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but You give us victory over our enemies, You put our adversaries to shame.”

We can’t put our trust in others.  Our security can’t be found in our  shrewdness or the most noblest of acts.  For the confident expectation we seek can only be found in God.   Zechariah 4:6 states, ” Not by might nor power, but by My spirit, says the Lord Almighty.”  Our victory can only be in and by the Lord.