Reading for today
Old Testament: Ruth 3, 4, 1Samuel 1
New Testament: John 11
Thoughts from today’s reading
1 Samuel 1:10-18. In the bitterness of her soul Hannah prayed when she had nothing but a hope of her future to trade with God. The thing she desired most was the thing that she promised to give away when her prayer would be answered. God responds to what we give to Him even if we don’t have it. He hears our intentions, he hears our vows and deals with us on that basis
John 11:49-54. The high priest spoke out of his desire to protect the position of the religious leaders against the threat of the truth that Jesus had awakened the people to. His solution was that they should kill Jesus, and he spoke those words. The bible describes his words as prophesy even though the high priest did not speak it with that intention.
Jesus was also sensitive enough to pick up words spoken against Him even though He did not hear them, but they still resounded in the spiritual realm.
Prayer
1. Lord, you said you weigh the heart of man and all our thoughts and ways are laid bare before you. Thank you that you hear us in our deepest despair and need and even if it seems that we do not have enough credit with you in the now, yet you are willing to allow us to borrow from the future so that you can answer us in the now. Thank you for the sacrifice of Jesus which took care of our past, takes care of our present and is waiting to take care of us in our future. Thank you that we have the Son of God as our promise to you and that is why we approach you in His name, and You hear us and answer us.
2. Heavenly Father, wherever words may have been spoken against us casually but have been heard in the spirit realm as prophesy, we come against such words and render them inoperative in the name of Jesus. Let your Spirit lead us and may our steps ever be guided out of evil and only into good in Jesus’ name. Amen.