5 This is what the LORD says:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
8 He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."
Do you trust him with your everything? What about when "the heat" comes- when it gets hard- do you dig your roots deep into God and his word or do you topple over like a tree after a bad storm that does not have a deep root system?
Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
You were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience (based on Ephesians 2:1-2).
Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind. Now pause to pray this affirmation to the Lord:
We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).
As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:
greater courage in evangelism,
the work of missions in Europe,
your activities for the day.
Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
Since I am surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, . . . let me run with endurance the race that is set before me (based on Hebrews 12:1).
