I like the idea of praying for God’s favor in every part of our lives. I have often prayed that God would give my girls favor with their teachers at school and among their peers. I have even prayed for God’s favor on me as I entered into a situation that I was anxious over. But to pray it over every area of my life is another story and I have been challenged by that!
To be in a place where God can bless me and show me favor, I know I need to be in his presence. I find his presence thick within the walls of our church, but I also find it in His words. If I am not faithful in my church attendance or in my devotional time, I will find His presence waning. I am learning that He longs for us, but does not force himself. If we are lacking the sense of His presence, we need to be obedient to what He has already told us to do. We need to be in church and we need to be in His word. As believers, we are part of the body of Christ and we need to be an active part.
If God is speaking to you about involvement in ministry, see where you can plug in! If you are falling behind in your devotional time, make a commitment to begin again. I know I am often tempted to substitute other “good” things for my devotional time and to think that it’s good enough. But NOTHING beats actually being in the word!
For this reason, I am so in love with the ministry of Bible Quizzing! I cannot tell you enough how much God has challenged and changed me through it! What began simply as a program I was involved in as a kid, blossomed into learning and even memorizing sections of scripture as a teen and setting a foundation for more knowledge as I’ve grown into adulthood. I now have the privilege of teaching our kids within the same program I cut my spiritual teeth on. I love seeing them learn the word of God and beginning to understand how it can apply to them. It goes much deeper than a Sunday School lesson or a message in Kids.Christ. It is the very breath of God given to them! I hope each child that passes through the doors of this ministry develops a love for God and His word that time and trouble cannot take away. And that they too can learn to seek God’s favor in their lives as they grow.
If being in God’s word increases our faith and faith increases our obedience and obedience leads us into God’s presence where He can show us His favor, it seems to me that the most important thing we can do for our families, our friends and ourselves is to get grounded in God’s word. Make the reading and study of it a daily habit. Get involved in a small group Bible Study at church. Get your kids involved in learning it as well. There is no substitute for the Word and the blessings that go with it!
~Tara Hensel
