Christianity Oasis Forum

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OUR DAILY BREAD

June 29 | Bible in a Year: Job 14-16; Acts 9:22-43

Simply Ask


READ 2 KINGS 5:9–14
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Before they call I will answer.
Isaiah 65:24
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Her doctor said her detached retinas couldn’t be repaired. But after living without sight for fifteen years—learning Braille, and using a cane and service dog—a Montana woman’s life changed when her husband asked another eye doctor a simple question: could she be helped? The answer was yes. As the doctor discovered, the woman had a common eye condition, cataracts, which the doctor removed from her right eye. When the eye patch came off the next day, her vision was 20/20. A second surgery for her left eye met with equal success.

A simple question also changed the life of Naaman, a powerful military man with leprosy. But Naaman raged arrogantly at the prophet Elisha’s instructions to “wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored” (2 Kings 5:10). Naaman’s servants, however, asked the military leader a simple question: “If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?” (v. 13). Persuaded, Naaman washed “and his flesh was restored and became clean” (v. 14).
In our lives, sometimes we struggle with a problem because we won’t ask God. Will You help? Should I go? Will You lead? He doesn’t require complicated questions from us to help. “Before they call I will answer,” God promised His people (Isaiah 65:24). So today, simply ask Him.
By Patricia Raybon
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*REFLECT & PRAY
Dear heavenly Father, when life feels complicated and difficult,
thank You for Your promise to hear even my simple prayers.

How complex are your prayer requests? What life problem can
you offer to God in a simple prayer?


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>SCRIPTURE INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The Jordan River, where Naaman was told to “wash [himself] seven times” (2 Kings 5:10), was the primary source of water in the ancient Near East and is the most well-known river in the Bible. The melting snow of Mt. Hermon in the north is the main water source for the river that winds for 156 miles through the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea and has no outlet. Joshua 3 records the parting of the waters of the Jordan so the Israelites could enter the land of Promise. Twice the waters of the river were parted in 2 Kings 2 when they were struck with the cloak of Elijah (vv. 8, 14). In the New Testament, John the Baptist baptized believers in Jesus and even Christ Himself in the Jordan (Matthew 3:6, 13-17). Arthur Jackson