Today Daily Devotional

They were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. — Revelation 5:8 Did you know that our prayers are like a scented offering to the Lord? Imagine God sitting on his throne, inhaling all of our prayers. He is surrounded by four creatures that are beyond our imagining, and by 24 elders who represent all of his people redeemed by Jesus, the Lamb of God. The amazin...

“Far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you.” — 1 Samuel 12:23 When I was in my twenties and going through some hard times, I asked my mother to pray for me. She said, “Do you mean, in addition to the prayers that began before your birth and have not ceased to this day?” I hadn’t realized that my mom prayed so fervently for me, and that was humbling. Samuel pra...

“There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.” — Hosea 4:1 Teenagers will often verify that they “know.”• “Aiden, you need to be home by 11:00.” “I know.”• “Sophia, you can’t wear that skirt.” “I know.”• “Jack, that room of yours is a disaster.” “I know.”In situations like these, the facts are not in question. Both the parents and teens “know.” But like many teenagers,...

Whatever is true . . . noble . . . right . . . pure . . . lovely . . . admirable . . . excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. — Philippians 4:8 Is your mind filled with things that are true, pure, excellent, and praiseworthy? Or is it distracted by things that are false, polluted, ugly, and dishonorable? We likely have some amount of each, since we are all sinners. Let’s look first at...

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. — Philippians 4:6 The Bible urges us not to worry or be anxious. But that is not always easy. We may ask ourselves, “What if some disaster happens?” or, “What if I lose my job?” or, “What if my health fails?” Such questions show our concerns about a future we can’t con...

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” — John 8:32 Sometimes we use polite, little lies to try to be kind or avoid being rude. We might say, “Yes, I can tell you’ve lost some weight.” Or, “You have not aged a bit.” Or, “Wow, you almost scored a goal on that play.” But our passage here is talking about truth and lies at a more profound level than the social niceties we pra...

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” — John 14:6 Notice that in this passage Jesus does not just say he knows the truth or can teach the truth. He says, “I am the truth.”This means that to know Jesus is to know the truth. The truth is that there is one God, who can be found only through Jesus Christ. The truth is that the God who created the worl...

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? — James 4:1 Desires are thoughts. Sadly, they often begin with the words of our two-year-old selves: “I want that!” We can easily think, for example, “I want a car (or a house) like that.” Or, “I wanted the job he got.” I want, I want, I want. Not all of our desires are bad, but many are. If we wan...

Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. — Psalm 96:1 Whenever my Aunt Rosemary was working in the kitchen, she would sing. I don’t remember whether the songs were popular tunes, hymns, or made-up melodies, but they were lovely. Whenever I went there to play with my cousins, I could count on hearing her beautiful voice. Singing is a great way to engage the mind with goodness (...

God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. — Genesis 1:27 What do you think of yourself? One person might say, “I’m a guy who made millions selling cars.” Or “I was the first woman in my family to go to college.” Or “I’m just a hard worker who wants to take care of my family.” We all have a variety of abilities and callings. Ultimate...

[May] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. — Ephesians 1:17 True knowledge is a gift from God. When we know God for who he truly is, that is the most important and basic truth that anyone can accept. The apostle Paul prays that God will give his readers the spiritual powers of wisdom and revelation. Paul knows that Go...