Relax: God omnipotently controls all of history as He pleases. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 1 We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God— eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; completely wise, just, and good, and the overflowing source of all good. Summary Most of the book of Isaiah was written to warn God's rebellious people that if they did not repent God would send them into exile, which of course did happen when God used the Babylonians to defeat Israel. But this final section of the book is written to be an encouragement to the people once the exile has occurred. God tells His people of their coming salvation, even before their exile had begun! History records that one of the most powerful men to ever live, King Cyrus, would be the one to defeat the Babylonians and subsequently return Israel's remnant back home seventy years after they had been taken away. God reminds His people - both then, and now - that He is omnipotently controlling history (Cyrus is the "bird of prey" from the east that God has summoned in v11 to "fulfill His purpose"). God calls His people to two specific actions in today's passage: First He calls the "rebels" to remember who He is (v9): to know He is God and there is none other like Him, and that He will "do all that [He] pleases (v10)." Secondly, He demands the "stubborn hearted" must "listen to me" (v12). Of course all of God's Word is worth listening to, but the next few words that come in v13 are key to understanding the message of the gospel. God is not coming to bring salvation just to make life a little better for His people. Rather, He's bringing salvation to those "far from [His] righteousness" by "bringing [His] righteousness near" (v12-13). In the immediate context, God would use mighty King Cyrus to bring salvation to Israel, but it's not hard to see how this passage illustrates that all of God's omnipotence is focused on one goal: restoring the righteousness of His rebellious, stubborn people (us) through His Son so that we can once again be in a right relationship with Him. Dig Deeper The Latin-based word, omnipotence, literally means all-power. So it's not really wrong for you to understand that your omnipotent Father can do all things. But that's not really technically correct when it comes down to it. Every kid has pondered the age old question: can God make a rock so big that He can't lift it? The paradoxical question is silly for sure, but it does help us understand God's omnipotence correctly. There are limits to what God can do: God constrains Himself by Himself. In other words, God can not do that which violate His own attributes. He can not show anger in a way that violates His love, just as He cannot show mercy in a way that infringes His justice. God explains exactly how you ought to understand His omnipotence in v10 when He says, "I will do all that I please." As you begin a new year, find peace by keeping these two commands God gives you in Isaiah 46: Remember who God is and that He has an unblemished record in controlling history in the way that He pleases, and, listen to Him as He builds you up in the righteousness won for you by Christ. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our omnipotent Father, who will do all that He pleases; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that in this new year you will remember who God is and listen to His Word; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 7

The only constant is change, except when it comes to God. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 1 We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God— eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; completely wise, just, and good, and the overflowing source of all good. Summary You can feel the pain being expressed in Psalm 102. The writer is crushed in anguish and it seems like the end of his life is near as his days "vanish like smoke." Yet this person is doing exactly as one ought to do in such a situation - cry out to God for help. It's often been said that there are no atheists in foxholes, meaning that when push comes to shove, and people have no other hope, most people will pray to God, even if it's been decades since they last prayed. But it doesn't appear here that the author is throwing up a last minute prayer just in case there does happen to be a God that's listening. Although we don't know who wrote this psalm, it seems likely that the psalmist knew who he was praying to. This psalmist prays confidently and hopefully because he has a rock solid theology. He doesn't just have a 'relationship' with God, he knows who and what God is, what He's done, and why He can help in this situation. The final stanza make this clear: v25 - God laid the foundations of the earth and formed the heavens; v26 - Although the world will "wear out like a garment," God will "remain the same, and His years will never end." It's interesting how this Psalm ends with this praise of God, leaving the fate of the author unresolved. Did God answer this beautiful prayer, or did death prevail? One of the big points of Psalm 102 is that for those whose hope is grounded in God's unchangeable character, it really doesn't matter how various crises in our lives play out. Dig Deeper It's what we read in v26 that grabs our attention today: that God is immutable. This simply means that God will "remain the same, and His years will never end." This means that the descriptions of God we read in Psalm 102 are just as accurate today as they were thousands of years ago when first written. This means that the God who made covenant promises to Adam, Abraham, Moses, David and others is the same God that will listen to your prayer today. You're mutable - you change over time, and that's a good thing. You probably don't want to be the same person you were in high school. But the fact that God's unchangeable is one of the most comforting things you can know about Him. His always perfect love for you "remains the same, yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)." AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our unchanging Father, who will not hide His face from your distress (v2); ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God that although everything else in this world constantly changes, that He always remains the same; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 6

Jesus gives the deepest theological insights to people just like you. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 1 We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God— eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; completely wise, just, and good, and the overflowing source of all good. Summary One of the beefiest books I have on my shelf is called Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof. It weighs in at nearly 1,100 pages of very small type, and as its title implies, it explains in significant detail what the Bible says about God. Yet, when it comes right down to it, Berkhof is forced to admit that "the Bible does not give us a definition of God." The Bible certainly explains quite a bit about God's attributes, character and the things He's done, but nowhere does it provide a stand alone description of exactly what God is. So when Jesus says in v24 that "God is spirit," it ought to get your attention. This is the fullest definition you'll find for God anywhere. Notice here exactly what Jesus said and what He didn't say. He didn't say that God is a spirit, He just said that God is spirit. This makes sense in light of the name God gave Himself: I AM. Just like He does with His other attributes, God defines that which He is. Dig Deeper The format in which Jesus explains what God is adds to our understanding. Jesus doesn't give a speech at a theological conference attended by religious elites, or package His explanation in an 1,100 page book, or even post a series of binge-worthy podcasts. It's not that those formats aren't good and even necessary things, it's just that the context of this conversation deepens the meaning of the one word definition Jesus gives of God. Jesus speaks these invaluable words to a fallen, broken, outcast woman - a Samaritan woman at that! And He does so right after calling her out for her sin and deception. Do you see what this means? It means that knowing God is not just a lofty ideal, attainable only by self righteous monks who climb the religious mountain, so to speak. Theology - knowing what God is and what He has done and is doing - is for common, ordinary, sinful folks; people just like you and me. Nor is theology an optional thing for Christians. You can't just hold onto the Bible's warm fuzzies like love, joy and peace without a firm grasp of the Bible's dogmatic claims. In fact, the very next thing that Jesus says here is that those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and truth. The Christ has come - the one which this sinful woman knew would be able to explain everything to us (v25). He's given us His Word, that we might fully know Him and worship Him in that truth. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God, who is spirit; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for giving us the truth in His Word, and pray that you would know it well so you can fulfill your purpose of worshipping Him; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 5

God is invisible, but there is a way you can see Him! Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 1 We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God— eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; completely wise, just, and good, and the overflowing source of all good. Summary The Bible doesn't explain theology in a dull, clinical way detached from the rest of life. Quite the opposite, in fact. If you've read John 1 before, and you likely have, you know that the primary purpose of this passage isn't to catalog just a few more of God's esoteric attributes. Rather, the point of this amazing chapter is to proclaim the good news that God Almighty has become Immanuel and has come to live amongst us! But it's exactly in contexts just like this one that we learn so much about our God and Father! Theology is more than tedious explanations of the divine or a fancy skill that will help you win at Bible trivia; theology is the language and knowledge we use to understand our salvation and then apply it to our daily lives. Near the close of what's come to be known as the prologue to John's gospel, John drops a huge theological nugget, writing that "no one has ever seen God." In other words, God is invisible. 'But wait a second,' you might be thinking, 'what about guys like Abraham and Moses; didn't they encounter God in a way that they could see with their own eyes?' Yes, they did! These encounters are called theophanies, and there's actually lots of examples in the Bible of people seeing a limited aspect of God's presence. But just as Moses couldn't see God's face and live (Exodus 33:20), no one had fully seen God until that first Christmas, when "the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in the closest relationship with the Father, made Him known. This means that if you truly want to see and know the invisible God, you must know Him through the Word made flesh - Jesus. Dig Deeper Most people have packed up and moved on past Christmas by now. The discarded wrapping paper has been picked up, the gifts already forgotten, and the brief spiritual highs experienced at Christmas church services has faded away. To most, God remains invisible, and will stay so until they stand before Him in judgment. They can't see the beauty of how His law guides our lives, and they certainly don't know how His salvation frees us from our slavery to sin. Maybe they saw a momentary glimpse of the light during Christmas, but their lives are already dark again. Don't be one of these people! Do the hard work of knowing Christ each and every day of the year. Keep reading the Bible; keep making time during the day to disconnect from the noise to pray and think; keep gathering with God's people on the Lord's Day to hear His Word proclaimed. This is theology: living in the light of God's presence made visible through the Word. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, invisible to most, but made known through the grace and truth of His Word; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the strength and energy to do the hard work necessary to see God everyday this year as you read & listen to His Word; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 4

God's infinite nature isn't meant to confuse you, but to bring you comfort. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 1 We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God— eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; completely wise, just, and good, and the overflowing source of all good. Summary Thinking about the transcendence of God - that is, His overarching control, authority and presence over all things - can seem quite intimidating, but that's not the way Moses approaches the subject. Moses sees the overwhelming attributes of God as being the source of our comfort: that God is "our dwelling place (literally our refuge/assistance) from generation to generation." Moses is uniquely qualified to write a Psalm like this, describing God's eternal infiniteness. Moses isn't writing abstract, theoretical theology here; he's writing from experience! Moses spent time in the direct presence of God; so much so that when he came down from the mountain, his face glowed! This is one of the reasons the introduction to Psalm 90 calls Moses "the man of God." Our words quickly become inadequate when describing God's eternal nature. We can say along with Moses here that God existed before the mountains were born, and that He was the one who brought for the whole world (meaning all created things), but to say that God existed before time is incongruent, since terms like before and after are terms that require time to exist in order to make sense. Time itself is part of God's creation, and because God exists outside of the time He created, then temporal descriptions don't apply to Him. This is why Moses writes that "from everlasting to everlasting, you are God." Moses goes on to explain that "A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by," to which Peter will add that "With the Lord... a day is like a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8)." Dig Deeper As we spend the next few days being reminded of not just who God is, but what He is, you might notice that most of the terms we use to describe Him are negative. This certainly doesn't mean we have a dim view of God, but rather that ultimately all we can do in detailing some aspects of His character is to say what He is not. Such is the case with the two attributes we're concentrating on today. It's easy to see how the word infinite is a negative term; it simply means not-finite. There is no end to God's divinity. It can not be contained, or even fully described. But even the word eternal is a negative term, in that we can only describe what it isn't, not what it is. To be eternal is to have no beginning and no ending. Trying to think about concepts that exceed out linguistic capacities may be giving you a headache by now. But remember, the Bible doesn't describe God's eternal and infinite nature to confuse or intimidate you, but rather so that you can find peace in Him, your indescribable Dwelling Place. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the one who brought forth the whole word and everything in it; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for being your dwelling place, and pray that you will do the hard & sometimes confusing work of knowing Him as the Bible describes Him; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 3

Understanding God's simplicity is the key to understanding this complex world. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 1 We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God— eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; completely wise, just, and good, and the overflowing source of all good. Summary One of the first pieces of information we learn about a person we've just met is their name. It's likely that prior to this encounter at the burning bush, Moses had a vague concept of God, but he comes to know Him up close and personal here, and unsurprisingly, the first thing Moses wants to know is the name behind the mysterious voice. You might expect God to have a long and complex name, similar to the official titles European kings sometimes have - names that sometimes take up a whole paragraph! But the LORD God Almighty, who is referred to by a number of names throughout scripture, refers to Himself with a name that is both surprisingly simple, yet massively profound. God instructs Moses to call Him: I AM who I AM. God continues, "This is my name forever, the name you should call me from generation to generation." The simplicity of this name is quite apparent: two single syllable words, repeated twice. It's even simpler in Hebrew: YWHW. This name is often referred to by its simplicity. Theologians call it the Divine Tetragrammaton, meaning the four letter word. But don't let the simplicity of this name fool you! The name God chooses to call Himself sets Him apart from from anything else in creation. Dig Deeper One of the first things our Confession says about God is that He's simple. Often in our culture, that's not a flattering description for a person, but it certainly is in theology, and God is the only one who can be described as such. On the other hand, you are a complex creature. You are both physical and spiritual. You have days when you're pleasant, and other days when you're cranky. Since you're made in God's image, you, like Him, have thoughts, emotions and a will, but most of the time it's hard for us to keep all three of those things aligned. So we feel differently from what we know is right, and do things that don't really match the way we think or feel. In His simplicity, God exists as the fullness of His attributes, all at once. God is merciful all of the time, but at the same time His mercy never restricts His justice. His thoughts, emotions, and will are never in conflict. Another way of expressing God's name of I AM is to say that God Is. He defines Himself. He's not just a good God, He is good; He defines the very concept of goodness itself, as well as all of His other attributes. Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck puts it this way: God is the real, the true being, the fullness of being, the sum total of all reality and perfection, the totality of being, from which all other being owes its existence. Simple, right? AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The LORD, the God of your fathers and the only one who simply exists in Himself; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will be able to give God the reverence and respect that His simple holiness demands; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Mark 2

Everyone wants to enjoy long life, but few people truly know how. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 1 We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God— eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; completely wise, just, and good, and the overflowing source of all good. Summary What a perfect passage to begin a another year of reading through the Bible with! Moses spoke these words to Israel just as they were about to cross the Jordan river to posess the Promised Land. In these words, God speaking through Moses gives His people (both Israel and us) the key to enjoying long life: that you, your children, and their children "may fear the LORD your God... by keeping all of His decrees and commands (v2)." These promises of enjoying a long life in which things "go well" and in which "you may increase greatly" clearly are made in general terms. Normally, blessings will follow obedience, but not in every specific situation. Sometimes faithful saints will experience long periods of frustration or even early death, while other times those who have no fear for God will seem to prosper. What's really interesting about these words is that the key to enjoying the good life doesn't just involve blindly following commands, but rather the good life is rooted in theology. Truly successful people must fear God; that is, they must know both who and what God is, as well as how we as people relate to Him. Today we begin our year long study of theology with this basic truth that God's people have been reciting since they stood on the banks of the Jordan: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Dig Deeper You may not be on the cusp of settling into a new land, but we are beginning a new year, so it's a good time to take stock and reset your course where needed. Notice here that as Moses prepares Israel to move in that he mentions nothing about the hard work or logistics that will be needed to feed and house all of the people. Certainly these things are important and necessary - in fact, if you keep reading this passage, God promises to provide these things (v10-12) - but housing and food production are not the top priorities. The priority God gives us, His people, is to first of all know Him (which is a lifelong endeavor). This priority is the one which must "be on your hearts." The second priority then is to teach this theology to the subsequent generations. How will your new year reflect these top priorities? This first, foundational theological lesson - that God is one - doesn't seem complicated or even profound, but understanding this is critical. Sin seeks a multiplicity of gods, all of which have the intent to derail you from these top priorities of knowing the true God and helping the coming generations to know Him. Sin wants to dominate all of your heart, soul and strength. The best way to stay focused is to do what you're doing right now - learning theology directly from God's Word as you study it throughout the week and hear it preached on the Lord's Day. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that as you end 2023 and begin 2024, that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

Your entire faith can be expressed in one simple word! Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 129 Q. What does that little word “Amen” express? A. “Amen” means, This is sure to be! It is even more sure that God listens to my prayer, than that I really desire what I pray for. Summary Faith is fundamental to Christianity. In fact, as Reformed Christians, we hold it to be on of the five core doctrines of our salvation (We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, all of which we learn through Scripture alone, to which we give God alone all of the glory. These tenants are often referred to as The Five Solas (alones) of the Reformation). As critical as what faith is to your salvation, it's the object of your faith - the thing you believe in - that makes it effective. Many Christians would reply that they have their faith in Christ alone, and that certainly would be a correct answer! But Psalm 145 helps remind us that there's more to the answer; our faith is not just in Christ alone, but in the Triune God that Christ is part of! Our God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - "is righteous in all of His ways and faithful in all He does (v17)." The LORD is the one who "hears our cries and saves us (v19)." In other words, while your salvation is secured because of the work of Christ alone, your faith must be rooted just as much in your loving Father, who is "gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love (v8)," and in the Holy Spirit who "is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth (v18)." Dig Deeper The simple little word, "Amen," one which you've likely said thousands of times in your life, is one of the few words that all of God's people throughout all of history have in common. It is spelled and pronounced the same way in the Biblical languages that it is in English: Hebrew: אָמֵן (ʾā·mēn) Greek: ἀμήν (amēn) The word amen means much more than 'the prayer is over and you can open your eyes now.' When you finish your prayers with this powerful little word, you are grounding both your prayer and your faith in the certainty and truth that your Triune God will "fulfill the desires of those who fear Him," because you know that "He hears your cries and saves you (v19)." AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the LORD, who is near to all who call on Him in truth (v18); ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that as you end 2023 and begin 2024, that your mouth will speak in praise of the LORD (v21); ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 22

Jesus began teaching us how to pray 1,000 years before He was born! Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 128 Q. What does your conclusion to this prayer mean? A. “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever” means, We have made all these requests of you because, as our all-powerful king, you not only want to, but are able to give us all that is good; and because your holy name, and not we ourselves, should receive all the praise, forever. Summary It's so easy to short circuit our prayers by bypassing the first two steps Jesus taught us - acknowledging who God is and then aligning our lives with His will - and jumping right to the matter that likely drove us to pray in the first place: asking God for what we need. One thing that seems to be missing from this AAA prayer pattern is any sort of thanksgiving or even confession of sin. It's not that those components aren't important; they're critical! But King David here demonstrates that when we acknowledge and align well, the elements of thanksgiving and confession will naturally be included. As David extols God's attributes, he quickly concludes that since "everything in heaven and earth is yours (v11)," and that "wealth and honor come from you... you give strength to all (v12)," then it's fitting to "give you thanks, and praise your glorious name (v13)." Dig Deeper It might surprise you when you go to read the Lord's Prayer in the accounts where Jesus first taught it, which are recorded in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. It seems like a big chunk of what we've come to call the Lord's Prayer isn't even mentioned by Jesus! The words "For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory" are missing from the gospels. What's going on here? Is this the result of some big conspiracy to add words to the Bible that were never there in the first place? Of course not. Jesus did speak these words, just not in the instances where he taught His disciples (that's us) to pray. This past year, we've been unpacking our only comfort, that we belong body and soul, in life and in death, to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. Our journey has taken us through 259 (we'll finish up at 260 tomorrow!) passages. We've read from at least 47 different books of the Bible, spending just slightly more time in the New Testament than what we did in the Old Testament. Of course all of these words we've read are the words of God Himself. The comfort Jesus speaks to you comes through the entire Bible, not just in the red letters of the gospels! Remember, in teaching you this prayer, Jesus isn't commanding you to simply mutter the same words over and over as if they're a magic spell. Rather, He taught a pattern in which your prayers should ordinarily conform to. So it's fitting that we end the prayer Jesus taught us in the gospels with the words He spoke through His Holy Spirit in inspiring David to pray 1,000 years before Jesus came to Earth: Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor... Yours, LORD is the kingdom; you are exalted over all (v11). AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Praise be to you, LORD, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Since wealth and honor comes from God, and He is the ruler of all things, pray that you will use the blessings He's given you in a way that honors and glorifies Him; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 21

Extend the blessing you get at the beginning of the week by praying as Jesus taught you throughout the week. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 127 Q. What does the sixth request mean? A. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” means, By ourselves we are too weak to hold our own even for a moment. And our sworn enemies— the devil, the world, and our own flesh— never stop attacking us. And so, Lord, uphold us and make us strong with the strength of your Holy Spirit, so that we may not go down to defeat in this spiritual struggle, but may firmly resist our enemies until we finally win the complete victory. Summary Yesterday we read Peter's aweseome benediction (the word benediction literally means "good speech." They're words of that often get used to pronouce God's blessing upon His people at the close of our worship services). Today we're focusing on one of the many benedictions Paul wrote. Just like many of the prayers we read in the Bible, this benediction fits the AAA pattern! It begins by acknowledging who God is: the God of peace. What a tremenendous relationship you have with God! So many people, both historically and today, only know of God's wrath and anger at their sin, but because of Christ, you know your Father as the God of peace! The benediction goes on to align your life with God's will. But notice who it is that's aligning you: God Himself is sanctifying you, making your life reflect who He's declared you to be, so that your whole spirit, soul and body will be kept blameless when Christ comes again. You're also promised here that the One who has called you to this salvation will be faithful and will do it! This is why Jesus could promise that He will give you anything you ask for in His name! Dig Deeper A benediction is usually something that pronounced over you. It's not a team effort that you help implement. You sit with your head bowed or your hands outsretched as these words are spoken, and you passively receive the blessing they convey. How else could it possibly be? After all, our Father is omnipotent and holy, whereas we are weak and fallen. But you don't often stay in the place where you receive benedictions. You go back to your world, so to speak; to the chores, tasks, work and relationships that never seem to go as they should. The busyness creeps back in and before you know it, you're completely distracted and overwhelmed by life. Instead of experiencing blessing and peace, somehow you drifted far away and find yourself surrounded by temptation. That's why Jesus commanded you to pray often that you would not be lead into temptation, but instead, delivered from the evil one. He doesn't order you to pray these words because the Father needs a reminder to keep leading you down the straight and narrow, but because you need continual reminders to be led. Praying these simple words, that you'll be led away from temptation, is a benediction-extender. It takes that blessing you often receive at the beginning of the week and extends it over you, shielding you from the assaults daily life comes at you with. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the God of peace; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'll not be led into temptation, but instead that your whole spirit, soul and body will be kept blameless until the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 20