5 Now behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen, and Saul said, “What is the matter with the people that they weep?” So they reported to him the words of the men of Jabesh. 6 Then the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and he became very angry. 7 He then took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, the same shall be done to his oxen.” Then the dread of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out as one person. 8 He counted them in Bezek; and the sons of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah, thirty thousand. 9 They said to the messengers who had come, “This is what you shall say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will be saved.’” So the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh; and they rejoiced. 10 Then the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.” 11 The next morning Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp at the morning watch, and struck and killed the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived scattered, so that no two of them were left together.
12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is he that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, so that we may put them to death!” 13 But Saul said, “Not a single person shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has brought about victory in Israel.”
14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, and let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they also offered sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
(1 Samuel 12:1-25) Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have listened to your voice for all that you said to me, and I have appointed a king over you. 2 Now, here is the king walking before you, but as for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. And I have walked before you since my youth to this day. 3 Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and His anointed. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I exploited? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to close my eyes with it? I will return it to you.” 4 And they said, “You have not exploited us or oppressed us, or taken anything from anyone’s hand.” 5 So he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that you have found nothing in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
6 Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. 7 Now then, take your stand, so that I may enter into judgment with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord that He did for you and your fathers. 8 When Jacob went into Egypt and your fathers cried out to the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. 9 But they forgot the Lord their God, so He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 10 They cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have abandoned the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now save us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’ 11 Then the Lord sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and saved you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security.
12 But when you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon was coming against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us!’ Yet the Lord your God was your king. 13 And now, behold, the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and behold, the Lord has put a king over you. 14 If you will fear the Lord and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. 15 But if you do not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the command of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, even as it was against your fathers. 16 Even now, take your stand and see this great thing which the Lord is going to do before your eyes. 17 Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to the Lord, that He will send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the Lord, by asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
19 Then all the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants, so that we do not die; for we have added to all our sins this evil, by asking for ourselves a king.” 20 Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 Indeed, you must not turn aside, for then you would go after useless things which cannot benefit or save, because they are useless. 22 For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. 23 Furthermore, as for me, far be it from me that I would sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. 24 Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. 25 But if you still do evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Praying helps! We know from scriptures that sin impedes prayer. For believers, when we confess our sins, God then hears our desires. And when believers pray in God's will, He answers those prayers. For example, we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, so if and when we ask God to help us love our neighbor, He will most certainly answer that prayer.
6 Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. 7 Now then, take your stand, so that I may enter into judgment with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord that He did for you and your fathers. 8 When Jacob went into Egypt and your fathers cried out to the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. 9 But they forgot the Lord their God, so He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 10 They cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have abandoned the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now save us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’ 11 Then the Lord sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and saved you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security.
12 But when you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon was coming against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us!’ Yet the Lord your God was your king. 13 And now, behold, the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and behold, the Lord has put a king over you. 14 If you will fear the Lord and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. 15 But if you do not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the command of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, even as it was against your fathers. 16 Even now, take your stand and see this great thing which the Lord is going to do before your eyes. 17 Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to the Lord, that He will send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the Lord, by asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
19 Then all the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants, so that we do not die; for we have added to all our sins this evil, by asking for ourselves a king.” 20 Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 Indeed, you must not turn aside, for then you would go after useless things which cannot benefit or save, because they are useless. 22 For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. 23 Furthermore, as for me, far be it from me that I would sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. 24 Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. 25 But if you still do evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Praying helps! We know from scriptures that sin impedes prayer. For believers, when we confess our sins, God then hears our desires. And when believers pray in God's will, He answers those prayers. For example, we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, so if and when we ask God to help us love our neighbor, He will most certainly answer that prayer.
Understand though, God DESIRES that all come to know Him. Therefore, we cannot ask and expect that God will make someone a believer. God never forces anyone to believe in Him. He doesn't even force believers to obey His will. BUT - we can pray and ask that God will work on someone to convict their hearts and lead them to see that it would benefit their lives to know Him personally and serve and follow Him. As well, we can and are to pray for our government leaders! As we see above, God will send His Holy Spirit to or "onto" even an unbeliever to influence their behavior.
I see this as being the same for both sides of spiritual warfare. A person can only be demon possessed if they are not a believer. But a person can become oppressed by demons, even if they are believers. So Satan can send out his demons to or "onto" anyone in order to tempt them to do something, or lure them away from God or away from doing the right thing. Just so, the Holy Spirit can convict a person's heart to turn away from doing wrong, or influence and inspire someone to do the right thing, or desire to seek further the kingdom of the Lord.
Therefore, when we pray for those in power, even if government leaders don't become believers, the Lord's Holy Spirit can go upon them to influence their decisions. Or if a child or any person is upset, we can pray for God's peace to go upon them. But this will only ever be temporary. It is up to each individual to accept the Lord Jesus into their hearts, and it is up to each individual believer to be obedient to His will, each step of the way.
Knowing all of this inspires me to pray for people! And it shows me and gives me confidence that my prayers are heard, and God will move. I know that God will move in my heart as I allow! There I have control of my own actions and decisions. Praying for others doesn't give me any control at all, but God will be there, working. I don't want to ever (in my mind) limit God's abilities. I trust and know that He still works miracles, so I'm not afraid to ask for "the ridiculous".
I have seen Him work miracles. I once prayed for an unbeliever, (I'd even go as far as to say they are an antichrist, as they are very against Christ!) So when they asked me to pray for a situation, I not only prayed for that situation, but I asked God to make it very obvious to them that He was the one who answered that prayer. Even though I wasn't expecting any feedback, this person got back to me and said, "Your prayers worked! God helped me get everything done!" Sadly, they still are against Christ. But - I will keep praying for them!!!
God is the God of the impossible! We do not have because we do not ask! This should inspire us to pray for absolutely everything and everyone. And we are told to "pray without ceasing". It is something I try to incorporate into my everyday life.
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