Welcome to Week 24 of A 2020 Prayer Life!
What follows is a series of daily meditations and exercises to help us develop our individual prayer lives. This represents a one-day-at-a-time process. Don't short-circuit the process by reading ahead. Simply read and do each day what is offered for that day.
What follows is a series of daily meditations and exercises to help us develop our individual prayer lives. This represents a one-day-at-a-time process. Don't short-circuit the process by reading ahead. Simply read and do each day what is offered for that day.
June 10
Near the end of Moses' farewell speech to the children of Israel (which is recorded for us in the Book of Deuteronomy), he suddenly and enthusiastically introduces a new image for God. As he exclaims his praise for the Lord, Moses declares, "The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He." (Deuteronomy 32:4 NASB)
This week, we turn our attention to God as "Rock."
That verse from Deuteronomy is not an anomaly. In fact, the Bible features roughly two dozen references to the Lord as a rock. Deuteronomy 32:4 is only a beginning.
As you begin to meditate on God as your Rock, call Him your Rock in prayer, and talk to Him about these questions:
(1) What does "Rock" reveal about You?
(2) What does "Rock" reveal about my relationship with You?
(3) How could my calling you "Rock" impact and influence my relationship with You?
This week, we turn our attention to God as "Rock."
That verse from Deuteronomy is not an anomaly. In fact, the Bible features roughly two dozen references to the Lord as a rock. Deuteronomy 32:4 is only a beginning.
As you begin to meditate on God as your Rock, call Him your Rock in prayer, and talk to Him about these questions:
(1) What does "Rock" reveal about You?
(2) What does "Rock" reveal about my relationship with You?
(3) How could my calling you "Rock" impact and influence my relationship with You?
June 11
The image of God as "Rock," as we noted yesterday, is a rather common one in Scripture. And we should note that the term used suggests a large rock, a boulder, or a cliff. This "rock" is not to be confused with the sort of stone that one could easily pick up and throw.
Invest several moments just now in thinking about great rocks. Perhaps close your eyes and let your memory or imagination picture what comes to mind when you think of this sort of rock. Then write down what the attributes of such a rock are.
Now, in your prayer time, talk with the Lord about the attributes of a great rock. Walk through the list one by one and ask Him which of those attributes apply to Him. And then ask Him what the resulting list of attributes means for you.
Invest several moments just now in thinking about great rocks. Perhaps close your eyes and let your memory or imagination picture what comes to mind when you think of this sort of rock. Then write down what the attributes of such a rock are.
Now, in your prayer time, talk with the Lord about the attributes of a great rock. Walk through the list one by one and ask Him which of those attributes apply to Him. And then ask Him what the resulting list of attributes means for you.
June 12
In the part of his address that we find in Deuteronomy 32, Moses continues to speak of the virtues of God's character and the wonders of His deeds. He recalls what the Lord had done for the people's ancestors and His faithfulness toward them. But then Moses turns to the people's unfaithfulness to God, saying, that they "forsook God who made (them), and scorned the Rock of (their) salvation." (Deuteronomy 32:15 NASB)
And then, later, he spoke directly to the people in his audience, saying, "You neglected the Rock who begot you, and forgot the God who gave you birth." (Deuteronomy 32:18 NASB)
In your prayer time just now, meditate on what it means to forget, to neglect, and to scorn God. And, specifically, what is meaningful about Moses using the title of "Rock" in these passages? Why do you think Moses employed that particular image?
Then, with that understanding before you, talk to the Lord about your own experience along the way of forgetting, neglecting, or scorning your Rock.
And then, later, he spoke directly to the people in his audience, saying, "You neglected the Rock who begot you, and forgot the God who gave you birth." (Deuteronomy 32:18 NASB)
In your prayer time just now, meditate on what it means to forget, to neglect, and to scorn God. And, specifically, what is meaningful about Moses using the title of "Rock" in these passages? Why do you think Moses employed that particular image?
Then, with that understanding before you, talk to the Lord about your own experience along the way of forgetting, neglecting, or scorning your Rock.
June 13
Later in that same passage from Deuteronomy, Moses explained to the people that the Lord had said, "They have made Me jealous with what is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their idols." (Deuteronomy 32:21 NASB)
And so, as chastening for His wayward people, the Lord allowed the enemies of His people to defeat them. "How could one chase a thousand," Moses asked, "and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had given them up?" (Deuteronomy 32:30 NASB)
Finally, of those enemies, he says, "Indeed their rock is not like our Rock, even our enemies themselves judge this." (Deuteronomy 32:31 NASB)
In your prayer time, contemplate what these passages reveal about the Lord as Rock. Ask Him:
And so, as chastening for His wayward people, the Lord allowed the enemies of His people to defeat them. "How could one chase a thousand," Moses asked, "and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had given them up?" (Deuteronomy 32:30 NASB)
Finally, of those enemies, he says, "Indeed their rock is not like our Rock, even our enemies themselves judge this." (Deuteronomy 32:31 NASB)
In your prayer time, contemplate what these passages reveal about the Lord as Rock. Ask Him:
- What difference does it make if our Rock has given up on us or not?
- What is "their rock"?
- How is "their rock" different from "our Rock"?
June 14
In Psalm 18, the Psalmist bears witness about the Lord as "rock" in these ways:
"The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold... For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God." (Psalm 18:2, 31 NASB)
Ask these questions before the Lord in prayer:
"The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold... For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God." (Psalm 18:2, 31 NASB)
Ask these questions before the Lord in prayer:
- What is my experience of You being "my rock and my fortress and my deliverer"?
- What is the connection between You being "my God" and being "my rock"? Is that connection essential?
- What is my experience of You being the rock "in whom I take refuge"?
- Why is it important for me to affirm that "who is a rock, except our God"?
June 15
In Psalm 31, David prays, "Incline Thine ear to me, rescue me quickly; be Thou to me a rock of strength, a stronghold to save me." (Psalm 31:2 NASB)
This prayer gets at, in a more visceral way, the real idea behind the Lord as "rock." David beseeches the Lord to "be Thou to me a rock of strength, a stronghold to save me." To call Him our Rock is to depend upon Him for help. We look to Him for attributes that the ancient Psalmist associated with a great rock -- strength, protection, and safety.
In your prayer time, talk to the Lord about what it is in your life just now that makes you feel a need for some strength outside of yourself. What is it that makes you feel the need for protection? What is it that makes you crave safety?
Call Him your Rock. Make the line from David's prayer your own.
This prayer gets at, in a more visceral way, the real idea behind the Lord as "rock." David beseeches the Lord to "be Thou to me a rock of strength, a stronghold to save me." To call Him our Rock is to depend upon Him for help. We look to Him for attributes that the ancient Psalmist associated with a great rock -- strength, protection, and safety.
In your prayer time, talk to the Lord about what it is in your life just now that makes you feel a need for some strength outside of yourself. What is it that makes you feel the need for protection? What is it that makes you crave safety?
Call Him your Rock. Make the line from David's prayer your own.
June 16
As we conclude Week 24, we want to meditate on Edward Mote's familiar refrain:
"On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand."
In your prayer time, talk to the Lord about what "other ground" you have discovered to be "sinking sand." What has given way? What has not proven reliable? What have you depended upon only to be disappointed by it?
Then make Edward Mote's phrase a statement of your resolve born out of experience. Confess before the Lord the other ground that you have discovered to be sinking sand. Affirm before Him that you believe Christ to be "the solid rock." And pledge yourself to learning how to retract from depending so much on "other ground" and leaning entirely on the One who is your Rock.
"On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand."
In your prayer time, talk to the Lord about what "other ground" you have discovered to be "sinking sand." What has given way? What has not proven reliable? What have you depended upon only to be disappointed by it?
Then make Edward Mote's phrase a statement of your resolve born out of experience. Confess before the Lord the other ground that you have discovered to be sinking sand. Affirm before Him that you believe Christ to be "the solid rock." And pledge yourself to learning how to retract from depending so much on "other ground" and leaning entirely on the One who is your Rock.