John 1 - Praying God's Word

Please read John 1.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/jhn/1/1/s_998001

Meditate on verse 1.

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

“Jesus, who are You?” When Christ lived on earth and in the years following His resurrection and ascension, many asked this question. God had the disciple John write the Gospel of John to answer it. You have the joy of starting this new year reading and praying the book of John. As you do, you will observe Jesus and the signs He performed, “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).

Who is Jesus? John wasted no time in answering the question. Jesus is:

·      The Word (v. 1)

·      God (v. 1)

·      The Beginning (v. 2)

·      The Creator (v. 3)

·      Life (v. 4)

·      The Light (v. 4-5)

·      The Glory of the Father (v. 14)

·      The Lamb of God (v. 29)

·      The Messiah (v. 41)

Commit this year to contemplate and attentively observe Jesus Christ. Pray John 1:14 and 17 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“Word of God, You became flesh and dwelt among us. 

Help _________ and me see Your glory,

Your glory as of the only begotten from the Father,

full of grace and truth.

May we know Your grace and truth,

Which is realized through You, Jesus Christ.

In Your name~”

The Watchman on the Wall 3 – Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Genesis 50 - Praying God's Word

Please read Genesis 50.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/gen/50/1/s_50001

Meditate on this sentence from verse 17.

Please forgive, I beg you,

the transgression of your brothers

 and their sin, for they did you wrong. 

And now, please forgive the transgression

 of the servants of the God of your father.

After their father Jacob died, Joseph’s brothers feared retaliation from Joseph. They sent a message to him saying their father asked, before he died, for Joseph to forgive them their sins. The message was delivered; then the brothers themselves asked Joseph to forgive them. Interestingly, Genesis 50:17 is the first time God recorded the brothers actually asking Joseph for forgiveness. The brothers sold Joseph into slavery 39 years before this act of contrition; they had lived with Joseph in Egypt for the past 17 years. Joseph cried when his brothers asked him to forgive them.

Joseph forgave his brothers. He reminded them God had used their evil for good. He told them not to be afraid; he would provide for them and their little ones. “He comforted them and spoke kindly to them” (Genesis 50:21).

Today you celebrate the end of a year and the start of something new. Spend this day asking God to forgive you of sins from this past year. Perhaps you even have sins from 39 years ago that you need to confess. Is there somebody you need to call or go see and ask their forgiveness? Is there somebody who needs you to forgive them and who needs you to stop withholding comfort and kindness to them? End this year humbly before your God ready to receive His blessings for the new year.

Pray Genesis 50:17 and 20-21 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“God, my Father, please forgive my transgressions.

 Help me to forgive the transgression
and sin of ___________;


even though they did me wrong.


God, use for good what was meant for evil.

 Let them not be afraid of me.


Help me provide for them and their little ones.

 Help me comfort them and speak kindly to them.

In Your name, Jesus~”

The WATCHMAN on the WALL ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Genesis 49 - Praying God's Word

Please read Genesis 49.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/gen/49/1/s_49001

Meditate on verse 28b.

He blessed them,

every one with the blessing appropriate to him.

Before Jacob died, he called his twelve sons to him to give them individual blessings. Five of the brothers’ blessings are noteworthy.

Reuben, the firstborn, should have received the greatest blessings. He forfeited those blessings because of immorality (Genesis 35:22).

Simeon and Levi were cursed rather than blessed because of their violence, self-will, anger, and wrath (Genesis 34:25-30).

Judah was blessed. He was described as a lion, and the scepter would never be taken from his family. Jesus Christ, the Lion of Judah, is descended from this son of Israel (Revelation 5:5). Despite Judah’s immoral, violent, and self-willed past, he was blessed because he repented and became a man of God (Genesis 37-38; 44).

Joseph was blessed with abundant, surpassing blessings from God Almighty because in the midst of attacks and affliction, he bore the fruit of righteousness. He entrusted himself to the hands of the Mighty One (Genesis 37-48). In the middle of Jacob pronouncing blessing on Joseph, he prophesied Jesus’ coming: “From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel)” (Genesis 49:24b).

Which son are you? Have you robbed yourself and your family of God’s blessings because of sin in your life? Is your life marked by immorality, violence, self-will, anger, and wrath? If so, do not let your story end as a Reuben, Simeon, or Levi. Become a Judah! Repent and become a person of God! Act like Joseph! No matter the circumstances, entrust yourself to the hands of the Mighty One. Live a fruitful life for the LORD.

Pray Genesis 49:22 and 24-25 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“God Almighty, help and bless _________ and me.

Bless us with the blessings of heaven above


and the deep that lies beneath.


Make us a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring;

let our branches run over a wall.


In Your name Shepherd, the Stone of
Israel, Jesus Christ our LORD~”

The WATCHMAN on the WALL ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Genesis 48 - Praying God's Word

Please read Genesis 48.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/gen/48/1/s_48001

Meditate on verse 15b.

The God who has been my Shepherd all my life to this day …

Israel (Jacob) was about to die. He called for Joseph to come to his deathbed and bring his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh with him. Joseph, came at his father’s bidding and humbly bowed before him. Israel adopted these two sons of Joseph and gave them an inheritance in the land of Israel, along with Joseph’s brothers; thus, giving Joseph a double portion of Israel’s inheritance (Genesis 48:5, 22).

As Israel blessed Joseph and his sons, he gave his testimony: God Almighty appeared to him and blessed him and had been his Shepherd all of his life (Genesis 48:3, 15).

Recall some of the events of Israel’s life. He fled to another country because his mother was afraid his brother would kill him (Genesis 27:41-45). He worked 20 years for a deceptive uncle (Genesis 29-31). His favorite son, Joseph, was sold into slavery, and for 22 years Israel thought he was dead (Genesis 37). Jacob’s beloved wife, Rachel, died in childbirth (Genesis 36:16-20).

Jacob’s faith in God Almighty caused him to be able to say God was the Shepherd of his life in the good times and the bad.

Is that your testimony? Pray Genesis 48:3 and 15 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“God Almighty, appear to __________ and

 me and bless us. Let us walk with You.

You have been our Shepherd

all of our lives to this day.


Because of Your name, Jesus~”

The WATCHMAN on the WALL ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Genesis 47 - Praying God's Word

Please read Genesis 47.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/gen/47/1/s_47001

Meditate on verse 31b.

Then Israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed.

Genesis 46 records Israel (Jacob) worshipping God before he journeyed to Egypt to be with Joseph. By the end of Genesis 47, Jacob was seventeen years older and about to die. The chapter ends with Jacob bowed in worship. Jacob described his 130 years of life as unpleasant (v. 9). Yet, despite the unpleasantness, Jacob worshipped God.

Genesis 47 also portrays a respectful son. Joseph was the second most powerful man in the world. His wisdom and management skills saved the people from death during the famine and amassed all the money, livestock, and land in Egypt and Canaan for Pharaoh (vs. 13-20). Yet when an old man called for him, Joseph went to his father and swore to do everything as he said.

God’s command to honor your father and mother does not come with an age clause, but it does come with a promise: “that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you” (Exodus 20:12).

No matter how young or old you are, God commands you to honor your parents. If you have children, they are learning how to treat you by the way they see you treat their grandparents. Learn from God’s Word how to honor your parents.

Pray Genesis 47:29-31 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“LORD, may ________ and I deal with our


parents in kindness and faithfulness.


Let us honor their requests, even in respect


to where they will be buried.


May we find favor in Your sight, LORD,


as we bow in worship of You by

the way we treat our parents.

 In Your name, Jesus~”

The WATCHMAN on the WALL ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Genesis 46 - Praying God's Word

Please read Genesis 46.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/gen/46/1/s_46001

Meditate on verses 1.

So Israel set out with all that he had, and came to Beersheba,

 and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

Israel (Jacob) had not seen his beloved Joseph for 22 years. Jacob thought he was dead, but miraculously, after 22 years, Jacob was told Joseph was alive. He would see his precious son. As he traveled to be reunited with Joseph, Jacob made a stop. When he came to Beersheba, the place where his grandfather Abraham had called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God, and where Jacob had grown up, he stopped and offered sacrifices to God (Genesis 21:33; 28:10).

Jacob worshipped God first! Following the pattern of his grandfather Abraham, worshipping God took precedence over his son (Genesis 22). God honored Jacob’s sacrifice of time, and He spoke these words to him:

“I am God, the God of your father; 

do not be afraid to go down to Egypt,


for I will make you a great nation there.

I will go down with you to Egypt, 

and I will also surely bring you up again;

 and Joseph will close your eyes.”

—Genesis 46:3-4

These were words from the Everlasting God to an old man taking a long journey with his family of 66 people to a land that was not theirs. The words of the prophecy made to his grandfather 213 years earlier must have been in the back of his mind:

Know for certain that your descendants 

will be strangers in a land that is not theirs,


where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.

—Genesis 15:13

Would this journey be the beginning of the fulfillment of that prophecy? Jacob needed to spend time with his God. God knew his fears; His were the words Jacob needed to hear.

Where are you about to journey? Whether it is to the other side of the world or to your place of work, stop and worship God. Hear the words He wants to whisper into your ears today.

Pray Genesis 46:2 in response to God as you hear Him call your name.

“LORD, I hear you calling me.

 ‘____________, ____________ .’

Here I am, LORD.”

The WATCHMAN on the WALL ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Genesis 45 - Praying God's Word

Please read Genesis 45.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/gen/45/1/s_45001

Meditate on this phrase from verse 8.

It was not you who sent me here, but God …

Joseph saw life from God’s perspective. God used the evil done by his brothers to get Joseph where He needed him. Joseph chose not to be jaded by 22 years of family separation. He saw clearly and stated with confidence, “God sent me before you to preserve life” (Genesis 45:5).

Joseph’s forgiving response of “do not be grieved or angry with yourselves” (Genesis 45:5) foreshadowed the forgiveness Christ extends to you. God sent Christ to the cross to preserve your life. With His forgiveness comes His provision and promise to be near you and take care of you (Genesis 45:10-11).

What a glorious gift from God! With God’s forgiveness, provision, and protection, comes the ability for you to have a Joseph perspective on life. No matter where you are or how you got there, God wants you to see with His eyes. God put you where you are, and He has a purpose for you being there. God has sent you to preserve life. As you choose to live for Jesus Christ and others, ask God how you can preserve and protect the people God has given you.

As a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7), you are protecting those God wants you to guard. Pray Genesis 45:7 over them.

“LORD, make ________ to be a remnant in the earth for You.

Keep them alive by Your great deliverance.


For the sake of Your name, Jesus~”

The WATCHMAN on the WALL ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Genesis 44 - Praying God's Word

Please read Genesis 44.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/gen/44/1/s_44001

Meditate on verse 16.

So Judah said, “What can we say to my lord?

What can we speak?  And how can we justify ourselves?

God has found out the iniquity of your servants;

behold, we are my lord’s slaves,

both we and the one in whose possession the cup has been found.

Recall Judah devised the plan to sell Joseph into slavery and lie that an animal killed him (Genesis 37:26). Judah slept with his daughter- in-law, Tamar, thinking she was a prostitute. She and Judah became the parents of twin sons (Genesis 38). Time changed Judah and over the course of twenty-two years, Judah became a different man. He promised his father to protect Benjamin with his life when Benjamin went to Egypt (Genesis 43:8-9). When Joseph’s silver cup was discovered in Benjamin’s sack of grain, Judah begged Joseph to let him take the punishment for Benjamin’s apparent crime. Judah was willing to give his life for his brother.

This sacrificial act on the part of Judah, brought the Joseph story to its climax, (Joseph revealed his true identity in Genesis 45:1), and it sealed Judah’s place in history for the coming of Messiah. The Judah of Genesis 44 is a picture of Jesus Christ. He was willing to be the substitutionary sacrifice for the life of Benjamin. He was the lion protecting his little brother. He is the father of the tribe from which King David and Jesus descended (Luke 2:1-7; 3:31-33).

Behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David,

 has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.

And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures)

and the elders
a Lamb standing, as if slain ...

 —Revelation 5:5-6

The baby you celebrate today is the Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)!

As a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7), pray Genesis 44:16 as a prayer of confession to your LORD.

“What can I say, my LORD? What can I
speak? How can I justify myself?


You know my iniquities. Behold, I am Your bond-slave.

You give me Your cup of salvation.


Thank You, Lion of Judah, Lamb of God.


In Your name, Jesus~”

The WATCHMAN on the WALL ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Genesis 43 - Praying God's Word

Please read Genesis 43.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/gen/43/1/s_43001

Meditate on verse 26.

When Joseph came home,

they brought into the house to him the present

 which was in their hand and bowed to the ground before him.

After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother;

 and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. 

Then opening their treasure,

 they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

—Matthew 2:11

Cleopas and his friend on the road to Emmaus with Jesus must have smiled when Christ explained this part of Genesis to them (Luke 24:18, 27). The brothers bringing presents and bowing to Joseph foreshadowed the wise men coming to worship Christ.

Every part of the Bible is perfectly written by God Himself in order to reveal Himself as Jesus Christ, the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life. Jesus explained Himself as revealed in ALL the Old Testament Scriptures (Luke 24:27). Philip began with the Old Testament passage the Ethiopian was reading and preached Jesus (Acts 8:35). Paul reasoned with people from the Old Testament Scriptures explaining and giving evidence that Jesus is the Messiah (Acts 17:2-3).

If you are not already a studier of the Bible, the entire Bible, I hope this year long treasure hunt of God’s Word has given you a hunger to dig deeper and know God’s Word better. Knowing Jesus through the revelation of Himself on every page of the Bible will make you a wise person. In that God-given wisdom, you, too, will bow before your Savior giving Him the gift of your life.

Merry Christmas! Worship your Immanuel, God with us!

Pray Genesis 43:26 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“LORD, I give You everything I am holding in my hand.

Please let _________ do the same.


I bow before You, Jesus, today and for the rest of eternity.

Because of Your name, Jesus~”

The WATCHMAN on the WALL ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Genesis 42 - Praying God's Word

Please read Genesis 42.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/gen/42/1/s_42001

Meditate on this phrase from verse 19.

Confined in your prison …

The last time Joseph’s brothers saw and heard him was over 20 years ago. They had thrown him into a pit then sat down to eat a meal. Their dinner music that day was a young Joseph crying and pleading in his distress (Genesis 37:23-25; 42:21).

They spent the next 20 years living a lie. They told their father, Jacob, a wild animal killed Joseph. The truth was they sold him to some Ishmaelites (Genesis 37:28). The truth had never been told, and Jacob still mourned for his beloved son.

Now more than 20 years later, they saw and heard Joseph, the boy they had been seeing and hearing in their memories every time they looked into their grieving father’s eyes. They did not recognize him yet as Joseph their brother.

They lived in an emotional prison; now Joseph also put them in a physical one. After three days, he released all but Simeon and sent the remaining nine to go home and bring the young brother they had spoken of back to Joseph. (Benjamin is described as a little child and a lad in Genesis 44:20-22. Genesis 42 is probably the first time Joseph knew he had a younger brother.)

They returned to Canaan and told their father what happened in Egypt. After hearing their story, Jacob made a statement revealing he had known all along these older brothers were behind Joseph’s disappearance, “You have bereaved me of my children; Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin ...” (Genesis 42:36).

Think about your life and the lives of those you influence. Are you in a spiritual prison? Have you put others into spiritual and emotional prisons? Are you in a prison of unforgiveness and bitterness? Does your anger, selfishness, or jealousy put those around you into prisons of fear and insecurity? Are lies keeping all of you in prisons of mistrust and deception?

The best present you could give this Christmas is freedom from the prisons created by past sins. Ask God for forgiveness, ask others to forgive you, and forgive others like Jesus forgives you.

Pray Genesis 42:19 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“LORD, ___________ and I are confined in our prisons.

Help us go and carry grain for the spiritual famine

 that has been in our households.


In Your name, Jesus~”

The WATCHMAN on the WALL ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Genesis 41 - Praying God's Word

Please read Genesis 41.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/gen/41/1/s_41001

Meditate on verses 16b, 25b, 32b, and 39.

It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.

God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

The matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it to about.

So Pharoah said to Joseph, “Since God has informed you of all this,

 there is no one so discerning and wise as you are.

Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream …

—Genesis 41:1

Joseph, forgotten by Pharaoh’s cupbearer, remained in prison for two more full years. He was enslaved and in jail for a total of 13 years (Genesis 37:2; 41:46).

Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, falsely accused by others, and forgotten by those who should have remembered. Yet Joseph never forgot God, and God remembered Joseph. God vindicated him when the time was perfect.

The cupbearer finally remembered to tell Pharaoh about Joseph. He was hurriedly brought out of the dungeon to meet the most powerful man in the world. Imagine Joseph being able to shave himself and change his clothes after being in a dungeon! Joseph answered Pharaoh with clarity of mind that God would give the answer to Pharaoh’s puzzling dreams. He did not self-promote (Genesis 41:9-16)!

Throughout the chapter, Joseph continued to give God glory, which caused Pharaoh to give God glory, which pleased God. God then caused Pharaoh to put Joseph in charge of the entire land of Egypt (Genesis 41:39-43). After waiting on God for 13 years, in one day Joseph went from a dungeon to being in control of the most powerful country in the world!

Be encouraged by the Word of God. Glorify God no matter what is happening to you.

Do not let bitterness or depression control you; it will blind you to God’s work in your life. God determines the matters of your life, and He will quickly bring them about (Genesis 41:32). Be ready!

Pray Genesis 41:32 and 39 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“LORD, please determine this matter for _________ and me.

Quickly bring it about. Inform us, God.

 Make us wise and discerning.


For the glory of Your name, Jesus~”

The WATCHMAN on the WALL ~ Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell