[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] "Freedom of Choice" - Brenda Walsh Ministries Daily Devotion

Wed Oct 20 16:55:32 UTC 2021

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Freedom of Choice
The main reason for prayer is to have a personal relationship with our heavenly Father. Some people pray only when they are in trouble or when they want something, and if God doesn't answer just the way they think He should, they feel God isn't real, or He doesn't care, or that prayer "doesn't work!" But it doesn't mean that God didn't hear you or doesn't love you. Sometimes, no matter how hard we pray, things don't turn out the way we hoped! For instance, if we are praying for a loved one to give their heart to Jesus, we must remember that God will not change another person's will. He has given all of us "freedom of choice," and that person is free to choose whether to do right or wrong. No amount of praying will make God "force" His will on them! But we can continue praying intercessory prayers for the Holy Spirit to keep working on their heart! Never give up! Keep praying, and don't forget to trust God with His answers . . . for our God is trustworthy! Text: 1 Samuel 16:1-12, Jeremiah 31:16-17, John 16:8-11, 13

Bible Texts:
1 Samuel 16:1-12 NKJV - Now the LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons." And Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me." But the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' "Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you." So Samuel did what the LORD said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, "Do you come peaceably?" And he said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice." Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice. So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, "Surely the LORD's anointed is before Him!" But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one." Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one." Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen these." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all the young men here?" Then he said, "There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here." So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the LORD said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!" 

Jeremiah 31:16-17 NKJV - Thus says the LORD: "Refrain your voice from weeping, And your eyes from tears; For your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD, And they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope in your future, says the LORD, That your children shall come back to their own border. 

John 16:8-11, 13 NKJV - "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: "of sin, because they do not believe in Me; "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. ... "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

© Brenda Walsh Ministries www.brendawalsh.com

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