Scripture and Prayer Focus for September 9, 2026

 September 9 -- John 7: 8-13 "'You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.' After saying this, he remained in Galilee. But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, 'Where is he?' And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, 'He is a good man.' others said, 'No, he is leading the people astray.' Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him."

Prayer focus for today:  How often have you allowed the people around you or situations you are in to dictate how you respond in a situation?   We all speak more openly with "like-minded people" than with those in authority over us. We form our thoughts and opinions and often do not speak them out if we have any fear of ramifications from someone who might hear.  The people who were seeing Jesus and hearing about all He had done had formed opinions, yet were afraid to speak out because they feared the Jewish leadership. 

Pray today for wisdom to know when to speak and when to be still and let God work. Pray for confident discernment to speak the truth about what Jesus has done in your life -- YOU could be the reason someone accepts Jesus today!  Pray for those trapped in situations where they cannot speak the truth about Christ -- that the word may still go out to those around them and lives changed for eternity.

Scripture and Prayer Focus for September 8, 2026

 September 8 -- John 7: 1-7 "After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, 'Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.' For not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus said to them, 'My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.'"

Prayer focus for today: Once again, Jesus clearly explains his mission ... and that of his followers, yet they didn't understand exactly what He was meaning with His words. Today, we're often the same. We read the Bible, we say we believe (and actually believe we believe), yet we want Jesus to act in accordance with what we THINK and KNOW. We tell Him to "do this" or "do that", often forgetting to simply ask Him to do what HE wants done and use us however He sees fit.  We expect Jesus to fix problems we brought on ourselves, when He just wanted us to obey Him in the first place. Just as Jesus said in verse 6 ... 'your time is always here', we each need to be about testifying about all Jesus has done and can do, according to His word and what we have witnessed, yet trusting Him with all the details. 

Pray today for faith to simply let Christ lead out. Pray for faith to follow right now and trust Him to fill in the details as the plan unfolds. 

Scripture and Prayer Focus for September 7, 2026

 September 7 -- John 6: 65-71 "And he said, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.' After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, 'Do you want to go away as well?' Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have beleived, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.' Jesus answered them, 'Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.' He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him." 

Prayer focus for today: Pray today for discernment to know who you follow and why. We are have so many choices to make today; pray for wisdom to make the right choice in the things that matter. Pray for true understanding of God's Word and courage to choose Christ NO MATTER WHAT. Satan will try to pull you away little by little through the choices you make ... pray we will all choose Christ and nothing less. If you or someone you know is struggling in this area, pray for wisdom, courage, and strength to resist the temptation to turn away from Jesus and know with all confidence that HE is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. 

Scripture and Prayer Focus for September 6, 2026

 September 6 -- John 6: 58-64  "'This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.' Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, 'This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?' But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, 'Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.' (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not belive, and who it was who would betray him.)"

Prayer focus for today: When we were young, we never liked being around the kid who was  "know-it-all". They were annoying and overbearing. However, Jesus is one know-it-all who can wear that title proudly!  While sometimes we do get annoyed at all He knows, deep down, we know it is the truth!  If we say we believe in Jesus, but still believe there are things in our lives we are hiding from Him, we are just listening to the lies of Satan who helps us to fool ourselves. 

Pray today for Jesus to be KING in your life. He already knows ALL and knows every aspect of YOU better than you know yourself. Pray for healing for the areas of your life you keep bottled up - thinking NO ONE knows. He knows, He forgives, He cares, and He wants you to trust Him to heal. And lastly, pray today that you will be willing to allow Jesus to be the voice of truth THROUGH you. Until you listen to King Knows It All ... you haven't found true freedom. Let others hear about Him and see Him through you.

Scripture and Prayer Focus for September 5, 2026

 September 5 -- John 6: 50-57 "'This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.'  The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.'"

Prayer focus for today:  These verses are some that often turn people away from Christianity, because they are looking at the literal words Jesus said instead of looking at all the ways/times He used parables to teach. Jesus is talking about himself as food and drink, knowing that this is what we humans know as essential for life. Jesus is NOT suggesting we take up a cannibalistic life. He is teaching that HE is all we need to survive. HE is to be our sustenance when we can't go on. HE is to be our life-giving all-in-all. 

Pray today for a mind to understand the Bible the way God intended it. Pray for wisdom and time to study the original text (even Google can help with that); even a brief tidbit can open our understanding in great ways. Pray that Christ will give you the words to say to help someone who has misunderstood Scripture see clearly today and choose to follow Christ alone. 

Scripture and Prayer Focus for September 4, 2026

 September 4 -- John 6: 41-49 (*My apologies for yesterday. I stated our Scripture was through verse 42, but I only gave you through 40.)

"So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, 'I am the bread that came down from heaven.' They said, 'Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?' Jesus answered them, 'Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me -- not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.'"

Prayer focus for today: Today it seems people believe something just because a celebrity endorsed it or a social media ad sounded convincing.  When was the last time you believed something to be true, even a news story, only to find it was fake, maybe even just something AI generated?  The Jews had trouble believing Jesus was the Son of God, because they knew him as the son of Joseph and Mary. They had watched him grow up. Even if we had been in their shoes, we probably would have had the same doubting minds. 

Pray today for minds to discern God's truth from all else that is false in the world. Pray for eyes to see God's TRUTH above all else. Pray for the ability and desire to turn off what is "false" whether on your tablet, phone, or television, and spend more time in God's Word. If we would all do that, there would be much more TRUTH than FALSE.

Scripture and Prayer Focus for September 3, 2026

 September 3 -- John 6: 36-42 "But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but  raise it up on the last day. For this is  the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.' 

Prayer focus for today:  If you've been with us for the past several day, walking through Jesus' discussions with others might seem like a broken record. (Imagine how He feels still today telling the same message to we humans and getting the same response.....if you've had children, you know what I mean.)  :-) Continue to pray today for all of us who call ourselves Christians to REALLY understand what that means and humbly submit ourselves to Christ's commands and God's WILL today. 

Pray also for those who are in persecuted nations where taking a stand and following Christ can cost them everything. Pray for safety, but also patient endurance for each one currently undergoing persecution. Pray for strength to endure that Christ may be seen in each believers' actions and words. Pray for their lives to make and eternal difference, even when their stories go untold.