Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Pray the Word of God

Deuteronomy 26

The final two commandments are given, followed by a reminder to keep all of the Lord’s commandments. When the sons of Israel come into the land and possess the land that the Lord is giving them; when they harvest from the land, they shall take some of the produce and put it in a basket. They shall bring the basket of produce to the place that the Lord has designated and give it to the priest. The priest will set it before the altar and the person who brought the fruit to the altar is to pray to the Lord the history of his people, worship the Lord and rejoice with others in all the good that the Lord has given his household. In the third year he is to give the tithe to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow that they may eat in the town near to his land. Then he is to pray to the Lord, the Lord’s commandments and ask for the Lord’s blessing on his people and the land on which they live. 

This taught the sons of Israel to pray, give, worship and rejoice. When they brought the first fruit produce and rejoiced before the Lord. They did not keep it for themselves but had a feast with the Levite and the alien. In the third year, the tithe wasn’t taken before the Lord for a feast but was given to the needy. In both instances a prayer of remembrances is given and the Lord is worshiped. In the first is a prayer of historical remembrance, which leads to worship and rejoicing for the good things that the Lord has done. In the second is a prayer of obligatory remembrance, which leads to giving to the needy and a prayer of supplication. 

It is good to preach to ourselves when praying. Do your preach to yourself when you are praying to the Lord? The Lord knows these things, so it is not like we are preaching to the Lord but acknowledging his greatness. I often pray historically in adoration of the Lord, confessing what I believe and the wrongs that I have done, thanking him for what he has done and supplication for myself and others. You can pray directly from the Scriptures or take the Scriptures to heart and pray the word of God.