“No weapon fashioned against you will prevail” (Isaiah 54:17).

This is a true statement. But, probably not in the way you are thinking.

This is a true statement because this has already happened. This is a true statement because this is already the reality.

When we read this statement, we hope that this is a true statement because we want our future to be successful, pain-free, trouble-free, suffering-free. We want our future to be filled with health and wealth.

But, that’s not what this verse promises. That’s not what the Bible promises.

This statement is true because of all that Jesus has already done for us on the cross. You see, the worst that could ever happen to us is not disease, failure, bankruptcy, or even death. The worst that could happen to us is eternal separation from God and his love.

But, because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, that can’t ever happen. Our status has already changed. We are no longer sinners. We are no longer separated from God and his love. We are already God’s sons and daughters. “Nothing can separate us from the love of God” (Romans 8:38).

Because this is already the reality for those who have received Jesus as Lord and Savior, nothing that happens today or in the days to come can change the truth of this statement.

God has already purchased the victory for us in his Son Jesus Christ. There is nothing the devil can do to separate us from this reality.

“No weapon fashioned against you will ever prevail.”

That is fantastic news. Thank God!

“Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).

There’s not a single record of the disciples asking Jesus to teach them how to grow the church, to do amazing miracles, to heal people, to evangelize.

What the disciples do ask Jesus is to teach them to pray.

There was a way in which Jesus communicated with God that compelled the disciples to ask Jesus to help them communicate with God in the same way.

The first thing about prayer is that prayer recognizes that God is God, and that the world as it is, is not what God intends. Prayer recognizes two things. First, that God is the only one with power to change the world. We cannot do it in our own power. Secondly, prayer recognizes that the world is not yet what God desires for it to be.

When Christians pray, it is not because we believe in the power of prayer. We believe in the power of God to make this world as it is in heaven. It is because we believe in God that we pray.

Finally, when Christians pray, the act of prayer confesses that God is at work to transform the world, and prayer and the one who is praying confesses the desire to be a part of God’s solution to the problems of our world. You cannot pray that God bless, love, forgive, and change the world without also praying your willingness to be a part of God’s answer to that prayer.

How is your prayer life coming along? Are you intentional about praying? Are you regularly investing your time in praying for God’s transforming work in our world through our church?

God is at work. Join God in his work. Be intentional about praying.

Love what John Bunyan said about prayer: “You can do more than pray after you have prayed. But you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).

It is said that people have three lives: a public life, a private life, and a secret life.

People of character are the same person in the three areas of their lives.

How can we live in such a way that we grow in character?

The verse of the day tells us in the three ways Jesus grew in character:

• in wisdom
• stature
• in favor with God and man

Today’s text refers to Jesus as he grew up as a child into the man and the Savior he became.

First, we are told that Jesus grew in wisdom. The more Jesus learned about the nature and the character of God, the more his life resembled the truth of scripture. That’s what wisdom means. That’s what separates wisdom from knowledge. Wisdom is putting into practice what we know to be true and right. Jesus lived out the truth and what he knew to be right.

Secondly, we are told that Jesus grew in stature. The Greek word for stature refers to age and maturity more than physical growth. What this means is that as Jesus grew older, he acted his age, he grew out of his childishness. Jesus lived a life that demonstrated a wisdom beyond his years.

Finally, we are told that Jesus grew in favor with God and man. As Jesus put into practice the truths of God, grew in maturity and wisdom, he grew in favor with God and man. People couldn’t help but notice the life Jesus lived. Jesus was consistent in how he conducted himself in the public life, private life, and his secret life.

Jesus was the same in public as he was in private. The people around him attest to that.

Jesus was the same in secret as he was in public. God attested to that.

How are you doing? Are you the same person in how you speak and act in private and in secret as you are in public?

Grow in wisdom – put into practice what you know to be true and right.
Grow in stature – act your age. Grow in maturity.
Grow in favor with God and man – consistency in the three areas of your life.