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turtle30cshell Daily Devotions For December 22, 2021
God's Story: Lesson 22
12/22/2021

Daily Devotions:
by Christina Farris

Luke 2:36-40 KJV
36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
38 And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
39 And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.
40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

A woman who found sanctuary in God's house, since the untimely death of her husband, who she was married to for seven year until his death, was now about 108 years of age, who fasted and prayed night and day, prayed and looked for the redemption of Israel. Immediately she came gave thanks to God upon seeing Jesus. The hope of Israel, and the Gentiles was before her and she gave thanks. She knew in her heart when she seen the baby. She knew that her wait and prayers had been answer. One has to wonder how long do we pray for God's response. We want to go through a drive through prayer line get the answer and it be done. If the answer seems to be no we move on, either not think the prayer warrior can't do the work required for the prayer need, or that God is just not answer the way we want. With that mentally we need to fall to our knees and fast and pray until we get the response that is according to the will of God and we know it, even if it takes 84 years for it to occur.

Our diligency to prayer is important over the things of great importance to our own life. Yet are we willing to wait for a long time. Her age being 104 is based on marrying age of young women, and then how long she was married to how long she been in the temple. However we know she been fasting and praying 84 years. Prayer warriors that is dedication. If God is the God of both Old and New Testament, it tells two things, God's timing is essential and the need to pray for what God has spoken to both come to pass, but for the events surrounding that time to be in preparation for the coming event. How many Israelites prayed for the redeemption of Israel and not the king that would be in power. Then we must remember all according to the will of God. Jesus would heal a blind man who was fifty years of age, and waited on his healing. How many of us will wait for healing, or just say it not happening, I just rely on the doctors God sends me. Then we realize those doctors are still only man and our deliverance still may come in time, but we need to be ready to receive what God will do if it is in our lifetime to experience deliverance.

Let me tell you it is a lot easier to preach it then to do it with the diligency of Prophetess Anna. Most of us will never fast and pray for our own deliverance of an issues in our life the way Prophetess Anna did, because we see our situation of not impossible but possible and we walk away never praying, never asking, being more and more like the atheist, never realizing our unbelief in the need to pray is more important then us just letting go and allowing what may come will come. Is our hearts harden to the need to pray? It is something easy to be guity of, but faith is a strange thing, praying and leaving it in God's hands to a person that worries is more needed, then that struggle of praying daily for a situation of deliverance, redemption, hope, mercy, and grace to come. Why because prayer can be like the drive up window line, we pray, we ask, and we receive not because we were not persistant in prayer? Perhaps. I will always remember that lady with a boo boo that asked for prayer without seeing that healing was already coming in time. She wanted the instant even over her boo boos. She wanted the prayer line even over simple little things in her life. Yet she was not willing to just leave the boo boo in the Lord's hand herself, because it was something that healing would come either way. That my point, can we pray for the little things ourselves, or before two or three that are gather, or should we be in prayer corporately in unison over the things God literally going to have to provide for, because there is no other way.

I decide the boo boo of the woman was not really a boo boo, but something spiritual manifested in the flesh of her heart, something she could not wait for healing, but sought for the response. However to the average person it look trivial. Pastors and prayer warriors, we need to pray for those boo boos you can't see, or seem not to exist, that God will penetrate the heart of the boo boo, the soul of the infliction, because God knows the need, even when we do not. That boo boo, only takes one time to Jesus for him to hear, but it may take many weeks, months, years for healing, because God's timing is best. We can not understand the child that every night complains of a tummy ache, and there no real tummy ache. We can only understand that child is hurt in some way, for some reason at bedtime. Maybe a fear of the dark, or a place of unfamiliar sounds, and yet the wound maybe even deeper then that, but we are not able to see it. A minister that refuses to pray for the boo boo, is failing to see the deeper meaning of the charade, the act. The ones that act are putting on a show for the crowd, not understanding their meaning maybe lost by those that never taught the meaning of it. Those of us that become wise to it, only know that God still able to intercede, but some of it only clowning. One has to know the person and not the charalatan act to know the difference.

It is the parables, it is the stories of the pulpit, the newspaper, the writer of mysteries, and so forth with a flourish pen, that tells something and it truly a riddle to understand. The book Of the prophets just that. Yet the Prophetess Anna that day spoke with no riddles, no hesitation for she knew by God's Spirit that she had seen her Messiah, the answer for Israel. The answer for a nation. I look around at the nation's of the world without Christ not understanding this type of hope for one nation, and the world, yet it simple it is about forgiveness. Our nation sending our children in the olympics to China, where this pandemic started. Yet we need to be in prayer, our diplomats are not going, not afraid they say, but demonstrate of protest because of Chinesse policies. Yet the olympians are saying do not worry, we go in peace, the games are peaceful only to forget South Korean games. The truth is forgiveness might be ours, but did they repent, the answer is yes. Then our question is are we going to show forgiveness. Our Olympic teams are going to China. Pray for them, and the nations of our world as they meet for simple competition that takes years of practice to be able to do things with precision. I was walking the other day, my foot went one way and I the other, didn't fall, but my thoughts were I know my foot was going in the right direction, what happened? It fail to do that precise step to keep from almost coming to injury. The point being prayer is like that, we have to learn to be precise in our request to God. To mention the reason of our heart ache, because he knows it before we ask. He just waiting for the sincerity of heart, and not the charade, the mask, he wants us in the prayer closet of faith, kneeling at the altar of faith, whether it physical or not it needs to be mentally there.

Joseph with Mary and Jesus would return to Nazareth and return every year to Jerusalem to the temple, yet Jesus would not be present until age twelve. What we need to know is Luke does not carry the flight of Mary and Joseph to Egypt, but Matthew does. What we need to know is the Jewish people needed to know because of prophesy. The gentiles understood not the prophesies, and so little is given in writing in Luke. Those that grew up with the richness of Matthew understand the prophesies were Old Testament that came to pass. However Jesus would not be in Nazareth til a few more years until King Herod has passed away. Yet he would be Nazarene because that was his homeland, of his parents, despite their heritage being Bethlehem, or a place of birth. Christ protected and prophesy proven time and time again. Yet God's own son was prayed for, as well as answered.

Let us thank God for Jesus this Christmas season. Let us pray for his coming return, no matter the distance of that prayer might take. Pray for the nations of the world to hear the gospel and redemption is in Christ Jesus. Let us hold to the word of God that Christ second coming draws nigh. Let us whole to the hope of faith, of answer prayers even if not answer immediately in the drive through. Let God do things in his timing, and let us be viligant to pray, even if it longer then 84 years.

Dear Heavenly Father, help us to wait on your responses to our prayers, knowing even your response tarrying is according to your will for our life and the life of those in the world that bare witness of the response. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Continual Scripture Study: Jeremiah 42:1-7 KJV
1 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,
2 And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)
3 That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.
4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.
5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
6 Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.
7 And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.

Philippians 4:6-7 KJV
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

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