“Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” So Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.” (Genesis 22: 1-8 NASB)
Every day before I write one of these daily meditations, I like to have at least a clear idea of what I am going to write. On my best days, I have already drafted the content for the upcoming day, and I merely need to fine tune it before sending it out and posting it on the Mark Writes blog. Call it writer’s block. Call it fatigue. Call it an effort by the enemy to have me break my streak as we approach 2022 which will mark four years of composing these daily meditations. I had nothing. And then this happened.
Obediently, I sat at my laptop. I checked my “Notes” written in my phone to see if there was anything I had written to get me started. I had nothing. I checked my messages from the night before, just minutes ago, and one of our Deaconesses had sent a message about the impact of God’s dialogue throughout the day, and how she concluded that she personally needed to pray more. Don’t we all? Next, I check my e-mail and I discovered that I had received my weekly edition of Indy Prayer, an electronic publication which focuses on prayer for the city in whichI reside. I started reading it, still feeling I had nothing and then this happened. After reading the suggested things to add to my prayer list, there was a section labeled “Prayer Resources & Info.” The first bullet under this section had this underlined, “Prayer Idea for the week: ‘In box Intercession.’” The idea was underlined in red, signifying that it was important. Suddenly I felt like Abraham must have felt in the verses above. Yet I realized not only will the Lord provide, but I recognized the Lord, Jehovah-Jireh, did provide! The “Inbox Intercession” idea is worth passing on! So now I’m doing just that, passing it on to you! I’m not taking any credit for this creative reminder to pray. Thank God for Indy Prayer. I am simply passing it on to you this morning, word for word from the message I received. “Each day this week pray for one person who sends you an e-mail: believer, non-believer or even a spam e-mailer.” Great suggestion! I might add to that suggestion to pray for more than one person a day this week. Many people are standing in the need of prayer.
I had nothing and then this happened! The Lord provided a message appropriate for all who believe that prayer works! Have a wonderful day to your week. Thank God for how He dialogues with us and how He provides just what we need, right on time! Personally, I thank God from moving me from a “blank” to a blessing! Be blessed!
“Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. And Abraham reached out with his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not reach out your hand against the boy, and do not do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”(Genesis 22:9-14 NASB)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King