21 Days of Fasting & Prayer

Day 4

Trust

BE STILL                 Spend 2 minutes in stillness and silence with God 

SCRIPTURE           27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand.  John 10:27-28 

DEVOTION 

As we seek, know, abide in, and submit to God there is a beautiful trust that develops and matures. We truly live our lives building up faith as we spend time with our Great Shepherd! We begin to resemble the sheep we are so often called in the Bible. Without trusting in God, we are sheep who get snatched by lions, fall off cliffs, get lost, and flock with others who also have no earthly idea what they are doing. We're honestly a bit of a hot mess, whether we realize it or not. 

Now when we trust in God, we trample lions and allow Jesus to guide us to and through the right paths. We allow God’s Word to be the light unto our feet and the lamp unto our path (Psalm 119: 105). We allow Holy Spirit to connect us to our “flock” of other believers, and we ideally will continue to grow that flock more and more as we share about the goodness of God. 

What exactly can we do to build our trust in God and live out this faith- filled life that He has for us? Continue seeking, continue abiding, and continue submitting. When we spend more time with Him, we begin to know Him better. As a result, we genuinely learn what His voice sounds like. Think about when we have spent ample amounts of time with someone. We can point out their unique laughs from across the room or we can recognize their voice even when our eyes are closed. We have spent enough time with them to be able to do so, and this is exactly what happens as we commune with God. In times of uncertainty, unexpected circumstances, and tough decision-making, we have ideally spent so much time with God that we know His voice and what He is saying. Not only do we know His voice, but we follow His voice, continually sub- mitting to Him. 

Seeking, abiding, and submitting build up our faith because our God is faithful. We see how time and time again we can put our trust in Him, and He comes through! We can see how He never fails and never leaves us alone to figure out our own problems. We can see how He forgives, loves, gives mercy, provides, and does so much more because He is that good. 

We can trust that He will never lead us astray and we will certainly never perish when we are in His will. Does this mean that bad things will never happen to us? Unfortunately, it doesn't. We live in a fallen world. What it does mean is that during storms, attacks from the enemy, or consequences of our own mistakes, we can know that God is making all things work together for our good. He will protect us. He will guide us through. He will remain faithful. All we must do is keep our minds stayed on Him and put our trust in Him. We will truly thrive with God, and He will keep us in perfect peace. 

WRITE IT OUT 

How well do you trust God for His plans, protection, provision, etc. in your life? Write down any areas where you're struggling to trust Him. 

How many times were you afraid or slow to trust God, yet He came through for you. If He did it before, He can do it again! 

PRAY IT OUT 

God, you are so faithful. I thank You for Your very nature that is filled with faithfulness. I thank You that I have no reason to worry nor fear because You are with me. I have no reason to be dismayed because You are my God. I put my trust in You that You will strengthen me and uphold me and help me with Your righteous right hand. You loved me enough to send Your only begotten Son into this world to save us all from our sins. Thank You for such love! 

Today, my heart trusts in You, and Your praises will continually be in my mouth. I choose to trust in Your Word. I choose to trust in Holy Spirit who lives inside of me. I choose to trust in the power of the blood of Jesus. I choose to believe that there is nothing - neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, [that] shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39). I will rest in Your love and in Your faithfulness today, and I release all places of doubt in the name of Jesus! Amen 

Scripture References

Psalm 34:1                                    Psalm 28:6-7 

John 3:16                        Romans 8:38-39 

Isaiah 41:10