Skip to main content

Praying Through God’s Word: Joel

JOEL 

1:1-2:17
‘Joel’ means ‘the Lord is God.’ We thank You, Lord, that You are our God. You are ‘gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love…’. Teach us to ‘return to You, the Lord our God.’ Help us to ‘return to You with all our heart.’ May we always look to You for Your ‘blessing’ (Joel 2:12-14). Alongside Your promise of blessing for those who return to You, there is Your Word of warning for those who take no notice of You and pay no attention to Your Word: ‘The Day of the Lord is near. It will come like destruction from the Almighty… Let all who live in the land tremble, for the Day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand – a Day of darkness and gloom…’ (Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1-2). We thank You, Lord, that You want to bless us. Help us to ‘cry out’ to You for Your blessing: ‘To You, O Lord, I call’ (Joel 1:14,19).
2:19-3:21
Show us, Lord, that each of us is ‘in the valley of decision.’ Help us to make sure that we are prepared for ‘the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord.’ We thank You, Lord, that You have given us Your promise: ‘Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved’ (Joel 2:31-32; Joel 3:14). You promise great blessing to those who call upon You. You ‘will pour out His Spirit’ upon us. You will do ‘great things’ for us. You will be our ‘Refuge’ and ‘Stronghold.’ You will fill us with ‘joy and gladness.’ You will fill our hearts with ‘praise’ (Joel 2:20-21,23,26,28-29; Joel 3:16). You’re calling on us to make sure that we ‘call on the Name of the Lord.’ May we make sure that we do not miss out on the great blessings that You, Lord, give to those who call on Your Name. Help us to make your decision now – ‘I will call on the Name of the Lord’ (1 Kings 18:24).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Help us, Lord, to become better people – not bitter people!

2 Chronicles 26:1-28:27 Help us, Lord, to learn from the failure of King Uzziah. He began well – “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord … He set himself to seek God” (2 Chronicles 26:4-5). He lost his way – “When he was strong, he grew proud, and he was false to the Lord his God” ( 2 Chronicles 26:16). Help us, Lord, to become better people – not bitter people!
Post a Comment
Read more

One Year Bible: Day 68 - Leviticus 19:1-20:27; Mark 14:43-72; Proverbs 6:30-35

Central to the teaching of Leviticus is its emphasis on the holiness of God and His purpose of making His people holy: “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep My decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy … You are to be holy to Me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own” ( Leviticus 20:7-8 , 26 ). We are commanded to “be holy.” We have the Lord’s promise that He will make us holy – holy to the Lord, different from those who live according to worldly standards. Jesus was perfectly holy, yet He did not defend Himself when He was falsely accused by evil men ( Mark 14:55-61 ). He “confessed our sin”, took our place, bearing the punishment for our sins. We must not be ashamed to confess Him – “Yes, I am with Jesus. Yes, I am His disciple” (contrast Peter’s denial in Mark 14:66-72 ). there is judgment for those who destroy themselves by going the world’s way rather th...
Post a Comment
Read more

What do we do when everything seems to go wrong?

2 Samuel 17:1-29 What do we do when everything seems to go wrong? Do we start complaining, blaming You for everything that's happening to us? or Do we start asking the question, 'Where is the Lord in all of this?' Help us to challenge our negative thinking - "Why are you discouraged, my soul?" (Psalm 43:5). Help us to rise above our negative thinking. Raise us up, Lord, for You alone can lift us out of our defeatism and into that special place with You where we know that we are truly blessed - because You love us, and will never stop loving us, even when our love for You is very weak.
Post a Comment
Read more