The Upper Room Devotional for 18th November 2022
Welcome!!! The word of God is food to the spirit man. As you read The Upper Room Devotional Today, may the word of the Lord powerfully impact on you.
Topic: “Even When”
Steve Wakefield (Alabama, USA)
TODAY’S READING
Matthew 17:14-20
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
I have faith today that God is present in my life.
The Upper Room Devotional For 17th November 2022
Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” – Matthew 17:20 (NIV)
The following was written on a wall during the Holocaust by an unknown author: “I believe in the sun even when it is not shining, I believe in love even when I cannot feel it, I believe in God even when he is silent.” The writer describes faith so well — believing in the unseen. The first time I read the inscription, I contemplated how someone could have such faith during such a horrific time. Who was this person? What happened to them?
In the scripture reading for today, the disciples wanted to know why they could not heal someone the way Jesus did. Jesus replied that it was because they lacked faith. They did not believe they could heal, so they were unable to. Jesus goes on to say that you only need a little faith, the size of a mustard seed, to do great things like move mountains. Sometimes our faith is tested; sometimes God seems silent; sometimes our prayers seem to go unanswered. But just as the sun still exists when we cannot see it, God is still with us even when God seems silent.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Dear God, help us to know you are with us even when you seem silent. Strengthen our faith when we feel abandoned. Amen.
PRAYER FOCUS
People facing persecution
