Imagine looking up at the evening sky in the desert somewhere in the Middle East thousands of years ago. Think of all the brilliant stars you would have seen without the ambient lights of modern civilization. That’s the type of night sky Abraham would have seen when God told him, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. . . . So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5). Read Genesis 12:1-9. God made Abraham some amazing promises: “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3). But despite these great promises, the difficult reality for Abraham was that he was old, and his wife Sarah, barren. How could he possibly count the stars when all the odds were against him? In those days, Abraham did not have a Bible. He did not have a small group or discipleship program. He did not have a church. He did not have a preacher. All he had was the word of Almighty God, calling him as He calls each of us: “Come and follow Me. Leave your life of sin. Now trust My word and believe My promises.” God wants us to take Him at His word, even when our circumstances tell us otherwise. You may have been burned by the broken promises of a loved one, but God never goes back on His word. You can trust Him when He says, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it” (Luke 11:28); “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5); “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9); “I am working for your good” (see Romans 8:28). We, like Abraham, are waiting for God to fulfill all His promises. They are already ours, but like our spiritual father whom God called to the Promised Land those many years ago, we must contend in faith. We must continue to count stars, even when we see none. After all, God has given us His word, and that is enough. Prayer: Father, thank You for Your incredible promises found in Your Word. May my heart delight in them and my mind recall them in every situation. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Sadly, it is a common story in the Christian life that God calls us to something wonderful, but we settle for something mediocre along the way and run the risk of missing out on the great things God had planned for us. When God called Abraham, He told him, “Go . . . to the land I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). At the time, that land was called Canaan. But when Abraham first left Ur, the city of his birth, he only made it as far as Harran, which was a long way off from Canaan and far from God’s best for him. One of the reasons God called Abraham to leave his old life in Ur was that He wanted to free Abraham from his family’s idol worship. God told him, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household” (Genesis 12:1). He knew Abraham needed a clean break from his old way of life. But Abraham didn’t quite make the clean break God desired. Instead, he compromised by allowing Terah, his father, to travel with him (see Genesis 11:31-32). This first compromise allowed for additional compromises—an eventual landslide of them. The temptation to compromise and settle for less is something we all will face. When this temptation comes, we must stand strong in the promises of God. We miss out on God’s best when we compromise with the world or take matters into our own hands. In Abraham’s case, he believed he was honoring his father by settling in Harran. He also thought he was helping fulfill God’s promise when he slept with Hagar (see Genesis 16:1-4). But thank the Lord for His graciousness! He didn’t leave Abraham in his sin or forsake him because of his failures. The good news is that God will also do the same for us, no matter how we may have compromised. He stands ready to lead us to His perfect plan for our lives if only we will follow. Prayer: Lord, thank You that You will never forsake me and that You are working for my good and Your glory. Help me to obey Your will, remembering that You have great plans for my life. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Read John 4:46-53. In John 4, a royal official traveled a significant distance—probably 8-9 hours by donkey—to seek out Jesus. A father, he came to intercede on behalf of his fatally ill child. This man had everything this world could offer—money, security, and influence. And yet he recognized that he was powerless to help his son. So he sought Jesus, recognizing he needed divine intervention. He had crisis faith. But God doesn’t want us to come to Him only in these moments. In fact, when the royal official first arrived, Jesus was saying to the crowd, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, . . . you will never believe” (John 4:48). This determined, desperate father saw His words as the test of faith they were and refused to be put off. He pleaded with Jesus, “Sir, come down before my child dies” (v. 49). In other words, “My faith is in who You are. You are the only one who can help me.” He showed continuing faith—faith that endures. Jesus recognized this faith, but rather than going to the man’s home, He simply said, “Go, . . . your son will live” (v. 50). Jesus gave the royal official an opportunity to demonstrate confident faith, the kind of faith that trusts even without tangible proof. And this father took the Lord at His word. The next day the man’s confident faith became confirmed faith when, while still on his way home, one of his servants met him and shared that his son had recovered the day before (see vv. 52-53). The fever had left the boy precisely when Jesus had said he would live. Finally, this man’s faith became contagious faith—”his whole household believed” (v. 53). Because of his testimony about what Jesus had done, everyone in his household was inspired to have faith of their own. As we prepare to face discrimination and possibly even persecution, let us ask the Lord for contagious faith. As we trust and obey Him, He will empower us to model unwavering, tenacious faith in every trial so that the next generation will be thoroughly equipped for every spiritual battle. Prayer: Jesus, may I develop confident, contagious faith as I recall Your wondrous works, especially the transformation You are working in my heart. May I bear witness to Your trustworthiness and joy as I walk in Your way. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Read Psalm 129:1-8. While most nations would look back on their history and brag about their achievements, in Psalm 129, Israel reflects on all that they had to survive. “‘They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,’ let Israel say; ‘they have greatly oppressed me from my youth, . . .'” (Psalm 129:1-2). Israel became a nation while in slavery in Egypt. That was the oppression of her youth. Then, God sent Moses to be their deliverer, and eventually Israel made it to the Promised Land. But that wasn’t the end of their trouble. It seems there has always been someone attacking or subjugating the people of God. However, the Lord always defends His people, as the rest of verse 2 concludes: “. . . but they have not gained the victory over me.” God is faithful, and He will have the victory. You and I can have hope in times of trouble precisely because we know God will ultimately deliver us to glory. He will bring justice where only persecution exists. He will bring freedom where oppression currently reigns. He will not let the innocent suffer forever, nor will He let the guilty go unpunished. And we can pray to that end—just as in this imprecatory psalm, God’s people pray against their enemies (see vv. 5-8). Likewise, we pray that the wicked will not prosper in their wickedness, and we trust that because God rescued Israel time and again, in Christ, we too will have the victory over Satan and his schemes. With the psalmist we can proclaim, “But the Lord is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked” (v. 4). Because Christ has set us free, we can pray for our enemies as Jesus commanded us (see Matthew 5:44), specifically that they would repent and turn wholeheartedly to the Lord. We can experience peace even when we are wronged, trusting that God will avenge with perfect justice (see Romans 12:19). Finally, we can be emboldened to stand strong when the world tells us to wink at evil, for we know that it is never loving to condone sin. Prayer: Father, Your faithfulness is clear as I look at the story of Your people recorded in Scripture and history, culminating in the coming of the promised Savior—the Light of the World. As I face trials and even hostility for my faith in You, may I be bold to stand against evil and loving to pray for the salvation and repentance of the wicked. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Read Psalm 128:1-6. Throughout the Scriptures, God reveals that His design for the family is much more than a shield of protection for children. He created the Christian family to be a beachhead in the spiritual war, an elite force to retake areas of our culture lost to Satan and to bear witness to the Gospel for the Kingdom of God. Psalm 127 teaches us that children are a blessing from the Lord, “[l]ike arrows in the hands of a warrior” (v. 4). In Psalm 128, the theme expands: Not only are children arrows, but every member of the family is a sharp arrow for the Kingdom of God. Psalm 128 begins with a simple but profound promise: “Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him” (v. 1). When you raise up the next generation according to the commands of the Lord, “blessings and prosperity will be yours” (v. 2). Now, God isn’t limited in the blessings He can bestow. Our great God is infinite, so there is no limit to how many people He can bless or the ways He can dole out His favor. This kind of understanding will transform your prayer life—for yourself and the next generation. The key to receiving God’s blessing is fear of Him—obedience to Him (v. 1). But fear of the Lord is not a constant terror of Him; rather, fearing God means we live with profound reverence for our Creator. When we rightly see the Lord as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6), we will genuinely desire to obey Him out of adoration and gratitude. The Christian life flows out of a healthy fear of the Lord, for eternal life is found in knowing Him (see John 17:3). Once we have grasped these Truths—that fear of God yields blessings and that His blessings are infinite—then we can live out the kind of faith that will spur the next generation to seek God’s face. Prayer: Lord, may we remember that Your blessings are infinite so that we become bold in our prayer for the next generation. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Read Psalm 127:1-5. In Psalm 127, we read, “Children are a heritage from the Lord” (v. 3). Make no mistake. Children do not belong to society; they belong to the Lord. They are His, and we have been entrusted with the task of raising them to be mighty men and women of God. In fact, this same passage says, “Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth” (v. 4). The primary application of the psalm is for the family; the secondary application is for the church. The psalm begins by reminding us of the sovereignty of God and then hastens to declare our responsibility toward them (see vv. 1-2). So God’s Word makes it demonstrably clear that we cannot succeed in this crucial responsibility without God’s power and strength working in us. Now, I know parents who work very hard to provide for their children’s needs. That’s a wonderful thing, but it means very little if those parents are not also training and preparing their kids to be warriors for God’s Kingdom. We must not neglect the most important task in raising the next generation: to teach them to know and love God—that means to revere and obey His Word. We must consistently remind them of their potential in Christ to be used mightily for His name. This responsibility is not only for parents. It’s for the people of God. Every believer has a part to play in raising up the next generation. Whether you’re married or single—whether you have children or not—you must put your shoulder to the plow and become involved in passing on the whole counsel of God, modeling the Christian life for the next generation. Invite them to follow you as you follow Jesus. Unless God’s Word is at the center of our lives—at the center of our families, our communities, and the churches across our land—we can spend trillions of dollars on education and end up with a society in ruins. We need to show our children a life lived for Christ. Now is the time to lead by example! Prayer: Father, thank You for the gift of the next generation and the promise that You preserve a remnant for Yourself (Romans 11:5). May I serve to pass along Truth and godliness to the youth in my midst for the glory of Your name and their eternal joy. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.