Who Will Provide for You?

A PRAYER BASED ON THE NAMES JIREH AND SHADDAI

Father God, I call upon you today in the name of Jehovah Jireh, who is my Provider and El-Shaddai, the Almighty. In the valley of my need and on the mountain of my testing, I pray that you will quiet my fearful thoughts and still my soul, that my foot might not fail the pathway of obedience. Thank you for the great revelation of yourself as Lord Almighty and God of the Mountain who is present in your promise to those who believe.

I know that the trying of my faith has a precious end which I desire to know. As I ascend to meet those trials I ask that your great power and might sustain me. Unfetter my mind that I might begin to comprehend your great majesty and know the surpassing riches of the kingdom. In my testing, bid me to trust without giving you counsel or directing your hand. In beholding you, I bow down to worship and serve your name. Allow the names of the God of Provision and Lord God Almighty to overshadow the weakness of my flesh and draw me heavenward in gaze.

I offer and present myself as a sacrifice, that I may know the power of your resurrection and the redemption of your powerful love. Thank you for your provision of grace and it’s sufficiency to meet my every need.

A Must Read for Today's Christ Follower!

 I am presently reading an inspiring biography on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer which is filled with implications for the present day church. I am reproducing below, a part of the forward written by Pastor Timothy Keller so you can understand why I believe it is such an important read for everyone.

"It is impossible to understand Bonhoeffer’s Nachfolge (Discipleship) without becoming acquainted with the shocking capitulation of the German Church to Hitler in the 1930’s. How could the “church of Luther,” that great teacher of the gospel, have ever come to such a place? The answer is that the true gospel, summed up by Bonhoeffer as costly grace, had been lost. On the one hand, the church had become marked by formalism. That meant going to church and hearing that God just loves and forgives everyone, so it doesn’t really matter much how you live. Bonhoffer called this cheap grace. On the other hand, there is legalism, or salvation by law and good works. Legalism meant that God loves you because you have pulled yourself together and are trying to live a good disciplined life. Both of these impulses made it possible for Hitler to come to power….Germany lost hold of the brilliant balance of the gospel that Luther so persistently expounded- “we are saved by faith alone, but not by faith which is alone.” That is, we are saved, not by anything we do, but by grace. Yet if we have truly believed the gospel, it will change what we do and how we live."

Bonhoeffer

Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

Eric Metaxas