Honest Reflections

Two-minute read.

In Billy Graham’s book, Angels: God’s Secret Agents, he shares a story about missionaries threatened by bandits.[1] Planning to attack the mission compound at night, they suddenly fled. Later, one of the bandits gave his life to Christ. After his conversion, the bandit confessed that they left because they had seen 26 armed soldiers guarding the building. However, the missionaries had no soldiers with them. Even more astounding, when the missionaries shared their story back home, they counted 26 people praying for them.

Angels do exist. Prayer does matter. God protects His people.

In the story of Elisha, when they find themselves surrounded by the enemy, God’s army far outnumbers them. Speaking to the prophet, Elisha asks the Lord to open his eyes to see the spiritual army surrounding them, and He does. We can’t always see the angels that protect us, but it doesn’t mean they don’t exist. One of my favorite Christian fiction books, “In This Present Darkness” by Frank E. Peretti, details spiritual warfare in a realistic, easy-to-understand way.

In Peretti’s book, a small town becomes the center of the devil’s attack. As the people pray and God’s army comes to their defense, the story unfolds. Angels protect the Lord’s people, and demons meet their fate as the battle unfolds, culminating in an unforgettable showdown. Written in 1986, the book remains relevant because spiritual battles rage around us.

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

Hebrews 13:2

In Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, he tells them to remember that they never know when they entertain angels. Scripture mentions angels close to 300 times, 108 times in the Old Testament and 186 times in the New Testament. Testimony after testimony testifies to their presence on earth. When we ask the Lord to open our eyes, sometimes He gives us a peek into the spiritual world around us.

Whatever challenges we face, we don’t face them alone. The Holy Spirit strengthens us from within, and the Lord’s angels do His will. We can live boldly, knowing God protects His people and has His heavenly army at the ready. Ask the Lord to open your eyes to the unseen, as Elisha did.

The spiritual battle rages on around us. When we pray, we tap into divine help, often unseen, but still present. Let the Lord lead the fight and trust Him for the victory, however He chooses to do it.

Journal Questions:

What do you know about angels?

Have you ever had an angelic encounter?

In what ways does knowing God’s army fights for you give you courage?

Application:

Ask God to show you unseen support or progress.

---

[1] Graham, Billy. Angels: God’s Secret Agents. Word Publishing, 1975

Two-minute read.

Victory comes from the Lord. Often, we think we did something, but in truth, God grants us success. Nothing Joshua and the Israelites could do in their power could bring down the walls of Jericho; they needed divine help. Can you imagine how ridiculous it must have felt to march around the city walls playing trumpets? What did the people inside the walls think? They never imagined their marches would lead to the townsfolk’s destruction. People probably made fun of the men as they marched around blowing their horns.

But then God.

When the army shouted on the seventh day, without lifting a weapon, the walls collapsed, the Israelites charged the city, and captured it. Obedience and perseverance paid off exactly as God said it would. Hope lived out. Trust exemplified. Faith rewarded. When the Lord leads the way, we will have victory.

In January, my pastor gave a message that set the tone for the year. Studying the book of Acts, we’re learning about the Holy Spirit and its power in our lives. During that message, I had a vision of the walls around my heart falling, like the walls of Jericho.

For the past few years, the Lord has led me on a transformation from the scared little girl, afraid of everything, to a woman walking by faith, trusting God. Ingrained behaviors had taught me how to keep people at arm’s length with words and actions. What my mother called a “mean streak.” Letting go of those protective mechanisms requires an act of the Lord. What I saw, and where I feel God leading me through worship and praise, will cause the remaining walls to fall.

And I want them to fall.

When we try to control the world and the events around us, we wear ourselves out. The Lord never meant for us to do the heavy lifting; He wants to do it for us. Complete surrender trusts God that whatever happens, He will get you through it. And you know what, He does. I’ve witnessed the Creator’s work time and again in my life. God doesn’t do things the way I would, and we should all praise Him for it. The Lord’s way works so much better than anything I could ever dream.

Identify the walls that need to come down in your life. Spend time in prayer, seeking God’s help. March around the walls with prayer and praise and watch them fall.

Journal Questions:

What “walls” need marching around in obedience?

When have you witnessed walls fall?

How has God done things differently than you would have done them?

Application:

Stay faithful in repetition — do the obedient thing again.

Two-minute read.

Hope saves, faith rooted in God’s promises. Our salvation doesn’t come from something fixed already, or because suffering has disappeared, but because of the hope Jesus gave us when He walked out of the tomb. If you can see the results, you don’t need hope for it. Hope lives in the in-between. In my book, Love Remains, I explored 1 Cor. 13:13, which says, “these three remain, faith, hope, and love.” When we get to heaven, we’ll no longer need faith and hope because we will live in the Lord’s glory with Him in unfathomable love. But while we live on earth, faith and hope sustain us as we wait for our eternal rewards.

Hope only exists when we wait. If you already have a healed body, you don’t hope for healing. Or if you have a restored relationship, you no longer hope for reconciliation. In the same way, if we already stood in heaven, we wouldn’t hope for it. Paul doesn’t shame the waiting in today’s verse; he normalizes it, as we should. We all wait for something, and will until the Lord calls us home.

How we wait matters. God wants us to wait patiently and persevere steadily under pressure. Not passive or defeated, the Lord wants us to anchor ourselves to Him and trust. When we adopt this posture, we become people who believe in God’s faithfulness, even before we receive the answer. I don’t always know the Savior’s will for my life, but I live in hope because I know He will answer my prayers and reveal it to me in His time.

Seasons where prayers don’t feel answered, healing hasn’t come, promises feel delayed, and you long for restoration don’t mean your faith failed. You live in hope during times like these, trusting God that what hasn’t yet happened will happen, either here on earth or in heaven. One day, when the Lord calls us home, all will become right. We will have complete healing, answers to the unknown, promises fulfilled, and relationships restored. Living in the hope of the Savior means trusting that God will keep His word… the word on which we place our faith.

Live in hope today. Focus your eyes on Jesus, and trust Him completely. Intertwine your life with His, depend on Him completely, and enjoy the abundant life God has for you.

Journal Questions:

How does hope sustain waiting?

Describe a waiting period that drew you closer to God?

How can you wait patiently today?

Application:

Replace one anxious thought with a spoken promise.

Two-minute read.

Recently, I listened to an interview with Taya Kyle, the widow of US Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, known as the American Sniper, a military hero shot and killed at a shooting range in Texas after returning from duty. Talking about faith, she described how God told her to take the step, and He would provide the parachute. Repeatedly, she felt situations arise where she had to take the step into the unknown and trust the Lord to provide the parachute.

After several times of taking the step and God giving her the parachute, she felt she had learned the lesson and didn’t know why God kept bringing situations into her life that required her to do it again. So she asked the Lord, and heard His still small voice say, “Until it’s fun.” To me, her experience exemplifies taking steps of faith.

Every time we walk by faith, and not by sight, the Lord provides the parachute. He wants us to live dependent on Him, not independent from Him. We will never reach a point in our lives where we will know everything. But God wants us to keep moving forward, trusting Him to light the path and show us the way. And the Lord wants us to enjoy it.

Working with the owner of one of my shops, she requested “Blind Dates with God.” Wrapping books and decorating them with a tag that gives brief clues about the book, people buy them, not knowing what they will find. Since I had never done anything like this before, I hesitated but knew I must. Taking the step of faith, I learned how to wrap, decorate, and tag books, now available in my shops. The first full day in her store, I sold six copies, almost the entire stock I had put out. And I had fun doing it, once I got over my initial anxiety and took the step.

Obviously, some faith steps take much more effort than learning how to wrap a book. But wherever the Lord takes us, He will provide the parachute we need to take the necessary steps. The more we depend on Him, the more we will want to follow the Savior wherever He takes us, and we can have fun doing it. We walk by faith, not sight, following the sovereign Lord who won’t let us fall.

Take the step, let the Lord provide the parachute, and enjoy the ride!

Journal Questions:

What would walking by faith look like today?

When has God provided a parachute for you in the past?

What step of faith have you hesitated to take?

Application:

Take one small action that reflects trust.

Two-minute read.

Today’s verse opens the doorway to the “Hall of Faith,” a list of people throughout scripture who demonstrated how faith functions by putting it into action. Pistis, the original Greek word for faith, means trust, conviction, and faithful reliance.[1] Only God knows the true author of Hebrews; some say Paul, others Barnabas, Luke, or Apollos. Whoever wrote the letter describes something solid and active, not vague optimism. Faith causes action:

• Abel worshiped in faith
• Noah built the ark.
• Abraham moved without a destination and lived as a foreigner
• Sarah gave birth in her old age.
• Jacob blessed his sons.
• Moses defied Pharaoh.
• The Israelites walked through the Red Sea, and caused the walls of Jericho to fall.

These people, and many others mentioned in chapter eleven, had confidence rooted in their relationship with God. Their faith had substance and foundation, trusting the Lord’s promises for the future. Hope, grounded in God’s faithfulness, fosters a confident expectation, making future realities feel anchored in the present. The Hall of Faith heroes didn’t require visible evidence: Abel worshiped by faith, Noah built before rain existed, and Abraham left without a map.

Hebrews teaches us that faith rests so deeply in God’s trustworthiness that it moves before proof appears. The author doesn’t say faith creates reality, or that strong belief guarantees personal outcomes. Faith doesn’t mean mental positivity; it means an abiding trust in the Savior and His promises.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.”

Hebrews 10:23

We ground our faith in God’s character, not our circumstances. Faith trusts in a future promise, having an inner certainty about unseen realities. And because of our faith, we take obedient action rooted in the Lord’s character. As we take steps of faith and experience the Creator’s provision, it will grow. We will become more confident in the Lord’s promises and live more boldly as our trust in the Savior grows.

If you think of faith as spiritual eyesight, we see with trust before seeing with our eyes. Salvation through Christ begins the journey as we trust Him for eternal life. Each day, as we apply the Lord’s teachings to our lives, our faith will grow. We will learn to live dependently on the Creator, allowing Him to guide our steps and help us fulfill our destiny, just as the faith heroes did.

Journal Questions:

What unseen hope am I clinging to?

How has your trust in God’s character grown?

When did you take your last faith step?

Application:

Journal what life looks like if this prayer is answered.

---

[1] James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville: Abingdon, 1890), G4102.

Two-minute read.

Matthew also records the withering of the fig tree we talked about in the first week. Our heart posture matters, and if we don’t believe, the Greek word pisteuo, meaning to trust, to rely upon, to have confidence in[1]; we won’t receive. Again, Jesus doesn’t teach a “name it and claim it” message, but a heart rooted in God, with confidence in Him. When I pray for the lost, asking the Lord for their salvation, I do so with conviction because I know the Lord wants that too. He makes it clear that the Creator wants no one to perish. So, I’m praying in agreement with His desires, and can do so confidently.

When we allow scripture to interpret scripture, it helps us understand this verse more deeply.

“If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us…”

1 John 5:14–15

“You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives…”

James 4:3

John and James help us understand the heart posture Jesus wants us to have. When we ask according to God’s will, we do receive it, but if we ask with the wrong motives, we don’t. And the Lord does know our motives better than we do.

So what prayer are you afraid to pray?

We should talk to the Savior about our hearts’ desires. The Lord wants us to live dependent on Him for our wants and needs. And He also wants us to trust Him to guide our paths. So when we pray for things, not sure of God’s will in the situation, we can do what Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane, submit our will to the Lord’s:

“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Matt. 26:39

In His humanity, Jesus wanted the cup he had to bear taken from Him. And He asked His Father to take it. But then He showed His heart posture with nine words: “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Those words give us the key to praying boldly. By submitting our requests to God and then surrendering our will to His decision, we will receive an answer, not always the one we hope for, but the one that God wills.

Don’t let fear stop you from praying. Instead, approach God’s throne with boldness, sharing your requests, then submitting them to His will. The Lord will answer according to His will.

Journal Questions:

What specific prayer am I bringing before God?

How can I check my heart’s motives?

When have you not received because of wrong motives?

Application:

Write down the bold prayer you’ve hesitated to pray.

---

[1] James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville: Abingdon, 1890), G4100.

Two-minute read.

Jesus gave us a model for prayer, inviting ordinary people to address God as Father, indicating His intimate relationship with us—more than a sovereign ruler, not distant or abstract, but our Father. When we pray, it places us in a family, dismantles self-centered spirituality, and draws us into a relationship with other believers through our heavenly Father. The Lord hears our prayers, near but also transcendent, loving and sovereign at the same time. “Hallowed be Your name” sets the Lord apart as holy. We want to honor God’s character, and before asking anything, center our thoughts on His holiness.

Next, Jesus shows us how to surrender our will to God’s. We can ask the Lord to bless our plans easily enough, but asking Him to replace them takes more effort. When we ask the Creator to replace our agenda with His, we surrender control to the Lord’s reign. In heaven, we will obey immediately, joyfully, and completely. Asking God for His will on earth desires the same reality here, starting with us.

After aligning our hearts with our Father’s, we then ask for our daily bread, the provision we need for the day. Notice, Jesus doesn’t tell us to ask for enough to last our lifetime, only for the next 24 hours. Trusting the Lord for today, without anxiety for tomorrow, having gratitude for His provision, knowing it will come. Forgiving us our debts as we forgive our debtors confronts us with our need for mercy, while committing to extend it. Unforgiveness blocks our relational intimacy with the Savior, not because He withholds grace, but because resentment hardens the heart. Forgiven people forgive.

And lastly, Jesus tells us to ask for protection from the temptations of this world. Realizing that anyone can succumb to evil reveals our humility as we admit we need help. Spiritual maturity doesn’t pretend immunity to temptation, but recognizes our vulnerability to it and asks for divine help.

Praying as Jesus taught us to pray forms us by developing intimacy with the Father and reverence for His holy name. We learn submission as we seek His will over ours, and dependence as we wait for God’s provision. The Lord teaches us mercy as we learn to forgive, and humbles us as only He can deliver us from the evil of this world. Christ teaches us an entire theology of relationship with God through this prayer, not long and flashy, but full of depth. More than teaching us what to say, the Savior, through this prayer, trains our hearts to trust. In Him, we have all we need.

Journal Questions:

Which line of the Lord’s Prayer stands out most today?

In what ways do you struggle submitting to God’s will?

How does this prayer teach your heart to trust?

Application:

Slowly pray the Lord’s Prayer, pausing after each line.

Two-minute read.

After David spends the entire Psalm illustrating how intimately the Lord knows us, having knit us together in our mother’s womb, he asks God to search him. Haqar, the Hebrew word for search, means to search thoroughly, examine carefully, investigate deeply, explore, or probe.[1] David’s asking the Lord to dig deeply, like a miner mining for gold, exposing what the king cannot see in himself, revealing what lies beneath.

Then the Psalmist asks God to test his anxious thoughts, revealing the inner turbulence David feels. With vulnerability, the author shows the ugly parts of himself to the Lord for review, knowing it will lead to divine peace. Only when David identifies his offensive ways can he get rid of them. We can’t always see when pride or bitterness begins to blossom in our hearts, but the Lord can. Having God reveal our negative emotions to us helps us defeat them and not let them take hold in our lives.

After searching his heart and testing his thoughts, David wants God to lead him in the way everlasting. In other words, David wants the Lord not only to point out the sin in his life but also to lead him away from it, on the path of righteousness to something better. A man after God’s own heart, David wants to align his character with the Savior’s, becoming more like Him, and living abundantly for the Creator.

David models humility, trust, repentance, and transformation in these verses. Praying this prayer seems dangerous, but the holy request helps us draw nearer to our Maker. With God’s help, we can reach our full potential and achieve His purposes for our lives. We must let the Lord search our hearts, identifying the dark areas, and shedding His light into the deep recesses of our souls. If we allow the Lord complete access to our hearts, He will transform us, one day at a time. God not only gives us insight, but direction.

Ask God to search your heart and know your anxious thoughts. Let Him remove anything that offends Him. Once you know the issues, repent of them and let your heavenly Father transform you, freeing you from past sins. You have nothing to fear; the Lord corrects us with gentleness. God wants the best for you, and only He truly knows what that means for your life.

Journal Questions:

What hidden attitudes need surrender?

How does asking God search your heart make you feel?

What has God revealed to you?

Application:

Ask the Spirit to reveal hidden attitudes. Confess honestly.

---

[1] חָקַר (ḥāqar), “to search, examine, investigate,” BDB 344; HALOT 1:344–45; Strong’s H2713.

Two-minute read.

Recently, I started walking along a new path in a park close to our home. The first time we went, I took Ron with me. Within minutes of starting on our trek, we came to a fork in the road. “Left or right, which way do we go?” I asked Ron, who shrugged

“Alright, Lord, you direct our paths,” I said, half jokingly. However, just as I said the words, a woman came around the bend from the path on the right. Dressed in a white winter ski jacket, her greyish-white schnauzer started barking as soon as he saw us. Without hesitation, I asked her for directions.

“It’s beautiful that way, it just loops around, but it’s worth it.” Her response decided for us, and we enjoyed the beauty of the water that peeped through the woods. God directed our paths and led us on a peaceful walk through His creation.

Life comes with crossroads, and often we don’t know which direction to take. But if we stay connected to the Savior, He’ll show us the way. People make their best guess when faced with difficult decisions, hoping for a good outcome. But when we lean into Jesus, we don’t have to guess; we need to trust. As we talked about yesterday, when we abide in Him, He gives us all we need to flourish, including direction. Following the Savior gives us direction, and He will guide our steps.

All my life, I have found these verses comforting. Long ago, I gave up the notion that I needed to know everything. Because God does, I can trust in Him. We don’t have to figure out every step forward; we must keep trusting. Like when we first placed our faith in Jesus, each day, we must decide again to follow Him. And even though we don’t understand everything happening around us, we can trust that He does. Everything works to the good for those who believe and trust Him, called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).

If you’re in a season of uncertainty, God’s not telling you to pretend to understand. He’s inviting you to lean into Him, who does. Freedom comes when we submit our paths to the Savior and allow Him to guide us. The Lord doesn’t promise we will always have easy journeys, but He does promise to make the path straight. We will know which way to go, and we can trust the Lord to provide us with all the tools we’ll need for the journey. Let God become your travel agent, trust in His understanding, and lean into His ways.

Journal Questions:

Where am I leaning on my own understanding?

How has God proven His trustworthiness in your life?

What path has God made straight for you?

Application:

Release your need to know “how” God will answer.

Two-minute read.

Jesus uses the vine and the branch to illustrate His point. Palestinian life understood the connection from their agricultural lifestyle. For a vineyard to produce luscious grapes, the branch must abide in the vine, receiving nutrients from it that cause fruit to grow. In the same way, we must abide in Christ to produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Just like the branch can’t thrive without the vine, we can’t thrive without a connection to Jesus. From the Lord, we receive the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us, guiding our words and actions. The more we abide in Christ, the more attentive we become to His Spirit, and the more fruit we produce.

Our ongoing relationship with the Savior helps us remain in Him. By prioritizing time with the Lord, we will receive the nourishment we need to fulfill His purpose for our lives. As we apply God’s teachings to our daily activities, His words will shape our thoughts, and our desires will become His desires. When these two things happen, our life shifts, our prayers change, not because God bends to our will, but because we allow Jesus to form our will.

Abiding in Christ, our hearts become aligned with His, and we begin praying for what He already longs to accomplish. Prayer becomes a partnership with Him, not a form of persuasion. Already, since I began writing this six-week devotional, my prayers have begun to change. I’m thinking about what the Lord wants and desiring it as well. I know God wants none to perish, and all to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Every person I meet, the Lord loves. As C.S. Lewis says in The Weight of Glory:

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.”

Everyone has an immortal soul, one that God created to love. As we begin to see others through His eyes, we will want them to know Jesus. And if they do know the Savior, we’ll desire for them to grow in their relationship with Him and experience the abundant life He offers in this world, and the glory that comes in the next.

We must abide in Christ to fulfill His will for our lives, produce spiritual fruit, and live the abundant life He died to give us. Only when we stay firmly rooted in the Savior will we experience life to the fullest, align our hearts with His, and discover the purpose He has for our lives. Abide in Christ and let Him guide your life.

Journal Questions:

Am I abiding, or just asking?

What does remaining in Christ look like practically?

How can I create a firmer attachment to Jesus today?

Application:

Sit quietly with Scripture before bringing requests.