Author: Bill Hall

Matthew 14:29
   This is one of those glorious moments in the life of the believer when we see the fruit of our faith. It does not always happen, nor does it happen often, yet it is a great encouragement to us. In spite of the fact that Peter wavered and had to call out for help, he could always look back to this day and be encouraged because he could see what was possible if he would only trust Christ.

Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles 21:1-24:27

Scripture Memory: 1 John 3:17  “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help us to trust You, because You are trustworthy. We can never thank You for all of Your blessings, but we will keep our mouths filled with Your praise. You are holy, just, pure, loving, gracious, merciful, patient, and kind. We could never overestimate Your greatness. Thank You for all that You do for us. Even if You never did anything for us, You would still be great, but it is such a blessing that You are so good to us. Thank You for Your love! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a man two men with health issues. Pray for a woman going to the doctor today.

Journal Entry #13240

Matthew 14:28
   Explaining why Peter did what he did would be nigh impossible. In many instances, Peter did or said something, just for the sake of doing it. He was quite impulsive, and his actions did not always make much sense. However, as we can see here, he was the leader, and had, though little, the most faith of all the disciples. His impulsive answer to Christ is bold enough that it wins him a chance to illustrate his faith, though he did falter. Though many might say it is better to stay in the boat, at least Peter was the only one to ever walk on water beside the Lord himself.

Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles 18:1-20:37

Scripture Memory: 1 John 3:16 “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for making our lives so much better through Your mercy and grace. You could take a far less interested view of us. You could stop working on our behalf. You could quit spending so much time with us. Yet You do all these things, and more. Thank You! We can depend upon You in spite of every storm. We can look to You no matter what may come our way. You are worthy of our trust, and of all our praise! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a man having trouble with his shoulder. Pray for a man with cancer. Pray for a man having treatments for lung cancer.

Journal Entry #13239

Matthew 14:26
   The Jews were, just as many other peoples in history, somewhat superstitious. The would avoid sneaking up on each other at night so as to avoid making their fellows think that a demon was about. They were very wary about what they might see at night.
   Thus, rather than thinking of Christ at all at this time, they, being exhausted and distracted, thought they were seeing a ghost. How else could the walking on water be explained? And so, faithlessness will lead us to many wrong conclusions. We must try not to be too hard on the disciples. Likely as not, had we been there, we would have been scared too.

Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles 9:1-12:16

Scripture Memory: 1 John 3:16 “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for this day. We often take for granted all of the opportunities we have to serve You. We think of our time as ours, and forget that it belongs to You. Yet spending time serving You is a great blessing to our lives. You are worthy of our service as well as our praise. Thank You for Your many blessings! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a family that just lost a loved one. Pray for a man having bypass surgery performed. Pray for a woman who is going to the doctor for her heart.

Journal Entry #13237

Matthew 14:25
   This particular miracle of Christ has always stuck out to our modern minds. Indeed, many even today use the idiom ‘he can walk on water’ to refer to someone that can do something remarkably well. This miracle impresses us greatly. Yet, it was quite unexpected, and not a common practice of Christ. We might have the idea that one who had the option to walk on the water would do so whenever he had the opportunity, but this was not at all the case.
   Indeed, the disciples did not expect this at all, which shows us that Jesus had not done such a thing before. We also have no record that he ever did it again. Thus, just as the disciples, we must not miss the lesson of the miracle for the grandeur of it. Jesus trusted the Father completely. He walked out to the disciples on the water to show them that he was in control of the situation, no matter what storm might come along. Thus, since Almighty God is in control, storms should cause no more fear than a calm sea might.

Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles 6:1-8:18

Scripture Memory: 1 John 3:16 “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your presence in our troubled seas. We are so thankful for Your role in our lives. The Lord Jesus makes us feel so reassured. The Spirit comforts our hearts in the middle of the worst conflicts. You always know how to help us get along better than we ever though possible. You are amazing and loving. How can we ever praise You enough? You are worthy of every breath. You are glorified above all. You are wonderful! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a team of missionaries who just returned from France. Pray for a young family who just found out they are pregnant. Pray for a man having several procedures done to help his body accept a new liver.

Journal Entry #13236

Matthew 14:23
   Prayer was very important in Jesus’ life here on earth. He takes the opportunity to pray after this amazing miracle. It seems that Jesus may have done this for several reasons. One of these may have been that he wanted to focus upon the task at hand, the goal of his coming. He surely wanted to talk to the Father about the events of the day and the future of his disciples.
   He spent a lot of time in prayer that night. Even if he did not get started praying until 11 pm, and likely he started long before that, he would have prayed at least four hours straight. Matthew tells us he finished around the fourth watch, so at least 3 am. Assuming he started much earlier and finished later, he may have spent as much as eight or nine hours in prayer.

Bible Reading: 1 Chronicles 27:1-29:30

Scripture Memory: 1 John 3:15 “Whosoever hateth his brother is a muderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.“

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we are so impressed with ourselves sometimes. We think we are so close to You, and know You so well. Help us to learn from Christ. He knows You, and we should follow his example. You are so wonderful, and so You are worth spending time with. If we know You, we may very well ned to talk to You about things at length. Father, the great thing about You is that You listen to us when we come to You with he right attitude. Our words mean something to You. You care for us. Oh, thank You for being the way You are! You are extremely holy, but You are also so merciful! Thank You for Jesus Christ. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a woman who has swollen legs. Pray for a man who is in a secular psychiatric facility. Pray for a man with kidney stones.

Journal Entry #13234

Matthew 14:22
   This verse is full of unexpected things. All of the Jews, the disciples included, failed to understand the goal of the first advent of Christ. They thought, especially after this miracle, that Jesus was surely the Messiah, and that he would be breaking the yoke of the Romans and setting up his kingdom. Thus, the focus was upon force. The Jews were ready and ripe for vengeance upon their enemies.
   Jesus, on the other hand, knew what he had come for. He had a time of getting the disciples to get into the boat, and then had the task of calming and dismissing the multitudes. Only his authority and their respect for it accomplished this. If he had not acted very decisively here, things would have gone much differently.

Bible Reading: 1 Chronicles 24:1-26:32

Scripture Memory: 1 John 3:15 “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for another day to sing Your praises. You are so wonderful to know. It is impossible to underestimate the impact You have upon our lives. Thank You for Your mercy and grace and love. You are so kind and good to us. Thank You! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a couple of women who are not feeling well. Pray for a man who will be seeing the doctor today about his prostate cancer.

Journal Entry #13233

Matthew 14:21
   This was quite a multitude! The low estimate for the total population of the crowd is in the neighborhood of eight thousand. The high estimate is as much as twenty thousand. It really depends upon how many of the men had wives with them, and how many children were present. Given Jesus’ popularity with children, and the presence of many persons who had been healed, ten thousand is probably a safe number. My guess is that the actual total was around thirteen or fourteen thousand.

Bible Reading: 1 Chronicles 21:1-23:32

Scripture Memory: 1 John 3:15 “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I just thank You so much for life. Life through Your Son is such a blessing! It is so wonderful to know that I have a limitless well of abundant life springing inside of my soul. I cannot ever thank You or praise You enough. You have changed life from being some kind of a sick joke to being a grand and glorious delight. Without You, nothing would make any sense, and I would be a very sad person. But, You make me something better. You give me hope and the ability to, through Your Son, be a very good person. Thank You! Though I cannot do it on my own, I really like being good. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for our missionaries as they proclaim the gospel all over the world. Pray for our national leaders as they direct our country. Pray for a missionary couple going on a survey trip to Guyana in October.

Journal Entry #13232

Matthew 14:20
   This miracle is, for many reasons, one of the most difficult for people to believe. Think of it. You have bread and fish instantly being produced out of thin air. There is no way to prove that there was some illusion to this. Indeed, many have claimed that the people had food with them all along, and that seeing Jesus try to feed everybody with such a small amount caused them to share. Of course, the fact that he had the whole group sit down first makes that hypothesis obviously false. If the disciples had not had enough food to go around, this would have been very apparent very quickly.
   Thus, this miracle is unarguably amazing. Some might ask about the twelve baskets of leftovers. They might try to say that the number twelve has some special significance, and that is thus why there were twelve left over. However, the answer is quite simple. There were twelve disciples! They gathered fragments until the baskets they had were full. There were possibly more left overs, but there were no more disciples! This is the most likely explanation for twelve baskets.
   Many may cry foul, asking where the disciples got baskets from in the middle of the desert. This is where sharing comes in. Though Jesus could have just as easily produced baskets out of thin air as much as food, this is not likely the case. The Jews would sometimes carry baskets with them when they were travelling, and among five thousand (plus women and children) you can be sure that there were at least twelve baskets to go around.

Bible Reading: 1 Chronicles 17:1-20:8

Scripture Memory: 1 John 3:15  “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your provision and Your leading. You know just what needs to be done, and just when to do it. May we always be ready for Your timing. Sometimes You do a lot of moving all at once. You move as You know is best. We always can be confident that You are the in control. Father, You are altogether wonderful. May Your praise be forever on our lips and in our hearts. Your Spirit fills us with a song of joy in spite of the problems of life. It is so much fun to see what You will do, and how You will do it. Thank You for providing just what is needed. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Requests: Pray for a man recovering from liver surgery. Pray for a woman who is not feeling well. Pray for an elderly woman who has serious health issues.

Journal Entry #13231