Pray Thru the Bible

God Speaks

“Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors. ² Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. ³ Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. ⁴ For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell. ⁵ Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.

⁶ “So obey the commands of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and fearing him. ⁷ For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills. ⁸ It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey. ⁹ It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills. ¹⁰ When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

¹¹ “But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. ¹² For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, ¹³ and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! ¹⁴ Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. ¹⁵ Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! ¹⁶ He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. ¹⁷ He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ ¹⁸ Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.

¹⁹ “But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed. ²⁰ Just as the Lord has destroyed other nations in your path, you also will be destroyed if you refuse to obey the Lord your God.

Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com

We Respond

Reflection: Consider the following questions regarding each chapter of Deuteronomy 8: 

1. What does this chapter tell me about God?

2. What does this chapter tell me about the human beings He created?

Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.  

1. Because the LORD God wants people to enjoy life and to prosper, He promised the Israelites a land that was richly supplied with resources and instructions as to how to live and worship Him there.

2. If people want to be happy, they must be careful to obey Him and be grateful to the LORD God for all He has done for them.

Prayer:

3. How might I pray regarding Deuteronomy 8?

Thank You, gracious Father God, that You are a good parent who disciplines His children. You don’t just shower people with things, but You allow circumstances, good and bad, in our lives to prove our character and to strengthen our trust in You. Your treatment of the Israelites is a perfect example of Your parenting style. You freed them from slavery in Egypt (like adopting them), protected them from recapture by Pharoah and his army, laid out Your rules to live by, tested their obedience, gave them a “time out” when they refused to obey, made sure that they had food, clothing and clear direction, enabled them to secure a well-supplied new home, and warned them against becoming disobedient, ungrateful, and arrogant. LORD, You have done many of these same things for me and my nation. Please forgive our rebellion, ingratitude, arrogance, and following other gods. We have even set ourselves, our desires, and our ideologies up as gods. Our only hope is to turn back to You and receive the forgiveness that Jesus Christ made available to us through His suffering, death, and resurrection. May He be glorified. AMEN 

Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)

4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to Deuteronomy 8?

• I will take time to thank God for the ways He has led and provided for me throughout my life.
• I will study the scriptures so that I will know God’s commands that I may obey them.
• I will work on developing an attitude of gratitude toward both God and other people.
• I will be careful that I don’t become arrogant and too self-reliant, especially when things are going well for me.

Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.