Read: 1 Thessalonians 5:16–24 | Bible in a Year: Numbers 26–27; Mark 8:1–21

Pray continually. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

One of the benefits of cell phones is that we now have virtually unlimited access to others. As a result, many people talk on the phone or text even while driving—sometimes resulting in terrible car crashes. To avoid such disasters, many areas of the world have made distracted driving illegal. In the United States, highway signs are popping up to remind drivers of special cell phone zones where they can pull off the road to safely talk and text to their heart’s delight.

While it is a good idea to restrict mobile phone communication for drivers, there is another kind of communication that has no restrictions: prayer. God invites us to call on Him whether we are coming, going, or sitting still. In the New Testament, Paul’s words advise each person who wants to communicate with God to “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Paul brackets this divine open-door policy by encouraging us to “rejoice always” (v. 16) and to “give thanks in all circumstances” (v. 18). God calls us to joy and thanksgiving—expressions of faith in God through Christ anchored in continual prayer.

God is available for a quick cry or for a lengthy conversation.

God is available for our quick cry or for a lengthy conversation. He welcomes us into a relationship with Him, a constant and endless sharing of our joys and gratitude, needs, questions, and concerns (Hebrews 4:15–16). We are always in the prayer zone.

I’m grateful, Lord, that You want to hear from me. I need You today.

Access to God’s throne is always open.

By Bill Crowder

INSIGHT

As in today’s text, we find helpful teaching on prayer in Luke 18:1–8. The parable of the persistent widow contrasts the widow’s plight and a believer’s privilege. In this parable, the widow perseveres in getting an unjust judge to give her the justice she needs.

Like the widow, we’re desperately helpless. But unlike the widow, who is a stranger to the judge, we’re God’s beloved children (Romans 8:16). The widow went to a court of law claiming man’s laws, but we approach the throne of grace claiming God’s promises (Hebrews 4:14–16). The callous judge didn’t care, but our heavenly Father cares deeply for us (1 Peter 5:7). She didn’t have easy access to the judge, but we have unhindered “access to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18). “Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence” to talk with our Father and to ask for His help any time (Ephesians 3:12 nlt).

How does knowing we can talk with God “face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (Exodus 33:11) encourage you in your prayers?

1. T. Sim

http://www.odb.org

Read: Matthew 6:25–34 | Bible in a Year: Numbers 23–25; Mark 7:14–37

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:27

As a native Californian and lover of all things sunny, I shy away from all things cold. I do, however, enjoy beautiful photos of snow. So I couldn’t help but smile when my friend from Illinois shared a winter picture of a sapling outside her window. Admiration turned to sadness when I noticed its bare, knotted branches bowing under the heavy fringe of sparkling icicles.

How long could those bending boughs endure before breaking under their icy burdens? The heaviness threatening to crack the tree’s limbs reminded me of my shoulders, hunched beneath the weight of worries.

We never have to worry, Lord, because You never fail to meet our deepest needs.

After Jesus affirms that the greatest treasures are not earthly or temporary, He encourages us to release our anxious thoughts. The Creator and Sustainer of the universe loves and provides for His children, so we don’t have to waste our precious time worrying. God knows our needs and will care for us (Matthew 6:19–32).

He also knows we’ll be tempted to succumb to worry. He tells us to come to Him first, trust His presence and provision in the present, and live by faith one day at a time (vv. 33–34).

In this life, we’ll face overwhelming troubles and uncertainties that can make our shoulders droop. We may temporarily bend under the weight of worrying. But when we trust God, we won’t break.

Thanks for assuring us that we never have to worry, Lord, because You never fail to meet our deepest needs.

Worry won’t break us when we trust the Giver of all good things.

By Xochitl Dixon

INSIGHT

We see God’s loving care and provision for His people throughout the Bible. A quick look at the Psalms confirms it. In Psalm 23, we read: “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (v. 4). And Psalm 55:22 tells us to “cast [our] cares on the Lord and he will sustain [us].” Likewise, Psalm 91 assures us that God is our refuge and even commands His angels to guard us (vv. 9–11). “He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care” (95:7).

What concern can you entrust to Him?

http://www.odb.org

Read: Luke 15:1–9 | Bible in a Year: Numbers 20–22; Mark 7:1–13

Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep. Luke 15:6

When we discovered that my mother-in-law had gone missing while shopping with a relative, my wife and I were frantic. Mom suffered from memory loss and confusion, and there was no telling what she might do. Would she wander the area, or hop onto any bus thinking it would take her home? Worst-case scenarios spun through our minds as we began to search for her, crying out to God, “Please find her.”

Hours later, my mother-in-law was spotted stumbling along a road, miles away. How God blessed us in being able to find her. Several months later, He blessed her: at eighty years of age, my mother-in-law turned to Jesus Christ for salvation.

Lord, You search for us and find us. Thank You for making us Your own.

Jesus, comparing humans to lost sheep, gives us this illustration: “Suppose [a shepherd] has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, . . . he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep” (Luke 15:4–6).

Shepherds counted their sheep to make sure every one was accounted for. In the same way, Jesus, who likens himself to that shepherd, values each of us, young and old. When we’re wandering in life, searching, wondering about our purpose, it’s never too late to turn to Christ. God wants us to experience His love and blessings.

Lord, You search for us and find us. Thank You for making us Your own.

Amazing grace! . . . I once was lost, but now am found. John Newton

By Leslie Koh

INSIGHT

In the Bible the word shepherd not only applies to the occupation of shepherd (Genesis 29:3; 46:32) but is also used to indicate a leader (2 Samuel 5:2; 2 Chronicles 18:16; Jeremiah 3:15) or spiritual overseer (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2). Being a shepherd of sheep required bravery, steadfast watchfulness, and tender care. Sheep are helpless without a shepherd and need guidance to food and water as well as protection from the elements and wild beasts (1 Samuel 17:34–36; Psalm 23; Luke 2:8).

Leading people is far more difficult! Thankfully Jesus is the Good Shepherd who cares for us so much that He “[lay] down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11–14). He is “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9) and rejoices over each lost person who repents and is found (Luke 15:3–7).

Have you received the salvation offered by Jesus, the Good Shepherd?

Alyson Kieda

http://www.odb.org