Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Effective prayer”
Our Bible verse for today: “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord.” Isaiah 31:1 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “Our help comes from the Lord.”
In Isaiah 31:1 the prophet was warning his readers to avoid the mistake so many other Jews had made down throughout the history of God’s people and that is, looking to the world for solutions to their problems. As a nation, the leaders and the people had often turned to powerful allies for protection. At other times we read of individuals such as King Saul who did things like going to the witch of Endor for wisdom and advice rather than seeking it from God.
In the case we’re reading about here in Isaiah, Isaiah was warning the people not to look to their powerful neighbor Egypt for physical protection instead of trusting in the protection and provision of God.
As we read this it seems like a no-brainer. Of course those people in the Bible should have been looking to God for protection, provision, and counsel rather than to powerful neighbors, or to worldly wealth, or to military arms, or to the wisdom of the world. They knew better than to rely on such things rather than on God. But aren’t we guilty of doing the same thing?
Granted, often God will use other people or the resources of this world to achieve His purposes in our lives, but do we look directly to them or to God? Sometimes our deliverance from a dangerous situation will come from a Police Officer responding to an emergency call; or the healing will come through the skilled care of a medical doctor; or the financial relief will come from a generous friend; but who is the true source of those blessings and who do we look to first, to them or to God?
If we are going to be truly effective pray-ers, we must come to God in prayer with the understanding that He is our Protector, our Provider, and our Counselor. He is the source of every good blessing. It all comes from Him and it all begins with Him.
In the rest of Isaiah chapter 31 the prophet goes on to assure his readers that anything the world could do for them, God can do better. God’s protection is more complete, His provisions are more abundant, His blessings more amazing, and His victory more certain.
That was true for them and it’s equally true for us. Anything the world can do for you, God can do better.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 