Max Lucado Daily: WE MUST PRAY - October 1, 2025
Satan hates to see you pray. He does not scatter when you listen to a sermon. Demons do not backpedal when you perform acts of benevolence. The principalities of hell are not flustered when you open a Christian book. But the walls of hell shake when, with an honest heart and faithful confession, you bow your head and pray. Satan knows the power of prayer.
Do you long for peace? Then pray. “Prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long” (Ephesians 6:18 MSG). You cannot control events that are uncontrollable, so don’t try. You cannot change the future as long as the future is in the future, so don’t try. There is so much we cannot do. But there is one thing we must do. We must pray.
Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life
Numbers 9
Passover
1–3 9 God spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai in the first month of the second year after leaving Egypt: “Have the People of Israel celebrate Passover at the set time. Celebrate it on schedule, on the evening of the fourteenth day of this month, following all the rules and procedures.”
4–5 Moses told the People of Israel to celebrate the Passover and they did—in the Wilderness of Sinai at evening of the fourteenth day of the first month. The People of Israel did it all just as God had commanded Moses.
6–7 But some of them couldn’t celebrate the Passover on the assigned day because they were ritually unclean on account of a corpse. So they presented themselves before Moses and Aaron on Passover and told Moses, “We have become ritually unclean because of a corpse, but why should we be barred from bringing God’s offering along with other Israelites on the day set for Passover?”
8 Moses said, “Give me some time; I’ll find out what God says in your circumstances.”
9–12 God spoke to Moses: “Tell the People of Israel, If one or another of you is ritually unclean because of a corpse, or you happen to be off on a long trip, you may still celebrate God’s Passover. But celebrate it on the fourteenth day of the second month at evening. Eat the lamb together with unraised bread and bitter herbs. Don’t leave any of it until morning. Don’t break any of its bones. Follow all the procedures.
13 “But a man who is ritually clean and is not off on a trip and still fails to celebrate the Passover must be cut off from his people because he did not present God’s offering at the set time. That man will pay for his sin.
14 “Any foreigner living among you who wants to celebrate God’s Passover is welcome to do it, but he must follow all the rules and procedures. The same procedures go for both foreigner and native-born.”
The Cloud
15–16 The day The Dwelling was set up, the Cloud covered The Dwelling of the Tent of Testimony. From sunset until daybreak it was over The Dwelling. It looked like fire. It was like that all the time, the Cloud over The Dwelling and at night looking like fire.
17–23 When the Cloud lifted above the Tent, the People of Israel marched out; and when the Cloud descended the people camped. The People of Israel marched at God’s command and they camped at his command. As long as the Cloud was over The Dwelling, they camped. Even when the Cloud hovered over The Dwelling for many days, they honored God’s command and wouldn’t march. They stayed in camp, obedient to God’s command, as long as the Cloud was over The Dwelling, but the moment God issued orders they marched. If the Cloud stayed only from sunset to daybreak and then lifted at daybreak, they marched. Night or day, it made no difference—when the Cloud lifted, they marched. It made no difference whether the Cloud hovered over The Dwelling for two days or a month or a year, as long as the Cloud was there, they were there. And when the Cloud went up, they got up and marched. They camped at God’s command and they marched at God’s command. They lived obediently by God’s orders as delivered by Moses.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, October 01, 2025
by Winn Collier
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Isaiah 9:2-7
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
light! sunbursts of light!
You repopulated the nation,
you expanded its joy.
Oh, they’re so glad in your presence!
Festival joy!
The joy of a great celebration,
sharing rich gifts and warm greetings.
The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants—
all their whips and cudgels and curses—
Is gone, done away with, a deliverance
as surprising and sudden as Gideon’s old victory over Midian.
The boots of all those invading troops,
along with their shirts soaked with innocent blood,
Will be piled in a heap and burned,
a fire that will burn for days!
For a child has been born—for us!
the gift of a son—for us!
He’ll take over
the running of the world.
His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
Strong God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Wholeness.
His ruling authority will grow,
and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.
He’ll rule from the historic David throne
over that promised kingdom.
He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing
and keep it going
With fair dealing and right living,
beginning now and lasting always.
The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies
will do all this.
Today's Insights
Oppressed by an Aram-Israel alliance, King Ahaz of Judah turned to Assyria for help (2 Kings 16:7-9; Isaiah 7:1-6). God told Ahaz He’d use Assyria to defeat Israel and Aram (Isaiah 7:7-9; 8:4-7), and because of Ahaz’s unfaithfulness, Judah too would be punished (7:13-25; 8:8). The punishment would be so severe the Israelites would “be thrust into utter darkness” (8:22). But God promised deliverance and restoration, starting with Zebulun and Naphtali (9:1), lands in Israel’s far north that had been ravaged by the Assyrians. Isaiah prophesied that with the birth of the Messiah, “the people walking in darkness [would see] a great light” (v. 2).
Seven hundred years later, Jesus fulfilled this prophecy as He began His ministry in that region (Matthew 4:12-17). Christ, that “great light,” calls us to follow Him: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
Out from the Dark
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. Isaiah 9:2
The tugboat sank twenty miles off the coast of Nigeria, turning upside down as it fell to the sea floor. Eleven crew members drowned, but the ship’s cook, Harrison Odjegba Okene, found an air pocket and waited. He only had one bottle of Coke for provisions, and both of his flashlights died within the first twenty-four hours. For three terrifying days, Okene was trapped alone in darkness at the bottom of the ocean. He’d begun to give up hope when divers on a mission to recover dead bodies found him hunkered and shivering deep in the hull.
The image of Okene alone in the dark for sixty hours is unnerving. He told reporters he still suffers nightmares from the horrifying ordeal. But can you imagine what he felt when he saw the diver’s powerful lamp piercing the darkness? What joy and elation, what hope. The prophet Isaiah foretold how, when the Messiah came, all “the people walking in darkness” would see “a great light” (9:2). Left to our own devices, we live “in the land of deep darkness,” but in Jesus, “a light has dawned” (v. 2).
Christ is “the light of the world,” and in Him we need never again fear the darkness for we “have the light of life” (John 8:12). We may feel trapped or hopeless, alone or in despair, but God illuminates good news. Jesus carries us out of the dark and into His marvelous light.
Reflect & Pray
What darkness are you facing? How do you need Jesus to be your light and bring you out of it?
Dear God, I need Your light in my life. Please bring me out of my dark place.
For further study, read Deceived by Disappointment.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, October 01, 2025
The Sphere of Exaltation
After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain. — Mark 9:2
We’ve all had times on the mountain, when we’ve seen from God’s viewpoint and have wanted to stay on high. But God will never allow this. The test of our spiritual life lies in our ability to keep the vision God gives on the mountain in our sights as we descend. If we only have the power to rise, something is wrong.
It’s a great thing to be up on the mountain with our Lord, but he only takes us up with him for one reason—so that we may go down again into the valley and lift up those around us. We aren’t built for the mountains and the dawns and the breathtaking views; they are for moments of inspiration, nothing else. We’re built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff of daily life. That is where we have to prove our mettle.
Spiritual selfishness always wants to get back to the mountaintop. When we are spiritually selfish, we are always claiming that of course we’d live like angels—if we could stay on high. We have to learn that moments of exaltation are exceptional. They have meaning in our life with God, but we have to make sure that spiritual selfishness doesn’t cause us to want them all the time.
We tend to think that everything that happens is meant to teach us something. A mountaintop experience isn’t meant to teach us anything; it’s meant to make us something new. God wants our experiences to develop our character.
When it comes to spiritual matters, there’s a great trap in asking, “What’s the point of this?” It isn’t for us to know the point. The moments on the mountaintop are rare, and they are meant for something in God’s own purpose.
Isaiah 11-13; Ephesians 4
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
We never enter into the Kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment.
The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, October 01, 2025
THE MISSION RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU - #10103
When my wife and I were raising our three children, communication during the early morning shift at our house was, shall we say, non-verbal. There I was, getting ready for my day. The kids were getting ready for school, and my wife was doing her role of maid, chef, valet, chauffeur.
One morning I was shaving and thinking through an endless list of things I had to do on that particular Friday - all of it the Lord's work of course. I was mulling over a sermon I had coming up, and I was thinking about some radio programs, and about an appointment I had that day, and a couple of events I was planning. My son pops in.
Now, somehow I must have succeeded in letting him know - non-verbally - just how much I had on my mind, because he disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. I guess he got the message. Then as I was praying about all of the Lord's work I had to do that day, suddenly I remembered an important decision my son had to make that day; one that he probably needed to talk about. And the Lord woke me up in those early morning hours with what He told me, then, so I'm going to tell you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Mission Right In Front Of You."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 4, and I'm going to begin reading at verse 30. It takes place after the woman of Samaria, who met Jesus at the well, has gone back and said, "I met a man who told me all I ever did." And now the town is starting to come to Him. The disciples, who have missed all this, have just returned. It says, "The Samaritans came out of the town and made their way toward Jesus. Jesus says to the disciples, 'Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, 'Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.'" I think He was pointing at all those Samaritans streaming out of the village. "The harvest is here. Even now the reaper draws his wages," He said, "even now he harvests the crop for eternal life."
For the disciples, this town in Samaria was a pit stop. They're looking ahead to some great future ministry...four months till harvest. But they were missing the ministry right under their noses.
Sounds sort of like this man I heard about at the beginning of the program who was shaving, thinking about the ministry he had ahead, and missing a son who needed some ministry right there. You see, you don't have to leave your home to do the Lord's work. In fact, the Lord's work begins right in front of you, right at home. Interestingly enough, in the list of qualifications for leaders in 1 Timothy 3, it says, "Make sure you have somebody whose ministry at home is quality; who has his home under control."
So often we fill up our lives with ministry responsibilities, only to reach other people's kids while missing our own; to bring blessing to God's house while neglecting our first responsibility; the congregation at our house. Many husbands, and wives, and children, and parents, have been victims of a misguided view of God's work that you have to leave home before you start doing ministry.
That doesn't mean you withdraw from every responsibility, but it does mean you take care of the Lord's work at home first. Maybe your unbelieving family member would be better reached by you staying home and spending time with them than by you going to another prayer meeting to pray for them. Your mate, your child - they may need your ear, your encouragement, your counsel as much as anyone you're going to see at that meeting.
Look around your house for the needs that are right there before you. Before you go charging off somewhere else to find the Lord's work. Listen, it's right there in front of you.
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