Deuteronomy 28 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Deuteronomy 28.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/deu/28/1/s_181001

Meditate on verse 2.

 

All these blessings will come upon you and

 overtake you if you obey the LORD your God.

 

This is a sobering chapter in God’s Word, a chapter to be pondered with the help of the Holy Spirit and prayed with an obedient heart, desiring God’s blessings, not the world’s.  Matthew 5:3-11 is a good place to start thinking about God’s blessings.  Jesus defined them as:

 

·      Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

·      Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

·      Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

·      Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

·      Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

·      Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

·      Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

·      Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

·      Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

 

Pray Deuteronomy 28:1-2, 9-10, and 47 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD my God, please help __________ and

me diligently obey You, being careful

 to do all Your commandments which

You command us.  May Your blessings come

upon us and overtake us when we listen

 to Your voice.  LORD, establish us as a

 holy people to Yourself.  May we keep Your

 commandments and walk in Your ways, so all

 the peoples of the earth will see that we are

 called by Your name, LORD our God.

Help us serve you with joy and a glad heart—

For the abundance of all things

 and the sake of Your name, Jesus~”

 

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

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 27 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Deuteronomy 27.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/deu/27/1/s_180001

Meditate on verses 9-10.

 

Then Moses and the Levitical

priests spoke to all Israel, saying,

 "Be silent and listen, O Israel! This day you have

become a people for the LORD your God.

 You shall therefore obey the LORD your God and do

 His commandments and His

 statutes which I command you today."

 

Proof of belonging to God is obedience to Him.  This principle is taught throughout Scripture in both the Old and the New Testaments.  Jesus Himself said:

 

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing

 them in the name of the Father and the Son and

 the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have

commanded you.  And remember, I am with

you always, to the end of the age."

—Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

 

Moses told the people to write all the law of God on stones (vs. 2-3, 8).  Consider getting a journal and writing His commands when you see them books like Matthew or the 21 New Testament letters. 

 

Pray Deuteronomy 27:8-10 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, write on ___________ and my heart

all the words of Your law very distinctly.

Let us be silent and listen to You because

we are a people for You, LORD our God. 

Help us obey You and do Your commandments

 and statutes which You command us.

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 26 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Deuteronomy 26.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/deu/26/1/s_179001

Meditate on verse 18.

 

The LORD has today declared you to

 be His people, a treasured possession,

as He promised you, and that you

 should keep all His commandments.

 

Our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, gave

Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless

deed and to purify for Himself a people for

 His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

—Titus 2:13b-14

 

As God spoke to Israel in these verses, keep in mind He speaks to you as well.  You are God’s treasured possession, bought with the life of Christ. His death on the cross paid the necessary price to become a person called by His name.  And, while good deeds cannot pay any part of the great cost of redemption, keeping His commandments and doing good deeds are the supernatural actions of one who is the blessed recipient of this great salvation.

 

Commit yourself to the LORD and pray for others to do the same by praying Deuteronomy 26:14 and 16-18 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD my God, may __________ and I listen to

Your voice.  Let us do according to all that You

have commanded us.  LORD, You command us

to do these statutes and ordinances;

therefore, help us be careful to do them with

 all our heart and with all our soul. 

Please let ___________ want You to be their God

and walk in Your ways and keep Your statutes,

Your commandments, and Your ordinances

 and listen to Your voice.  Thank You for

declaring us to be Your people, a

treasured possession, as You promised us.

Help us keep all Your commandments.

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

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

 

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 25 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Deuteronomy 25.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/deu/25/1/s_178001

Meditate on verses 13-16.

 

You shall not have in your bag differing

weights, a large and a small.

You shall not have in your house differing

measures, a large and a small.

 You shall have a full and just

weight; you shall have a full

 and just measure, that your days

may be prolonged in the land

which the LORD your God gives you.

For everyone who does these things,

 everyone who acts unjustly is an

abomination to the LORD your God.

 

God established standard weights and measures because using differing weights (a set of weights in one’s favor for buying but a different set for selling) is an abomination to the LORD.   God wants people to have integrity in their dealings and relationships with others.  There should be no deceit and no cheating of one another, for that is wicked in the sight of God and should be to us as well.

 

Take time to examine your dealings with others.  Do you treat people fairly and with integrity?  Ask the LORD to reveal areas that you might not even be aware.  Thankfully, Christ the Just died for us the unjust to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).  Thank Him for His sacrifice and pray Deuteronomy 25:15-16 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, help __________ and me treat

 others with a full and just measure.

May our days be prolonged in the land You

 give us.  Do not let us act unjustly; we do not want

to be an abomination to You, LORD our God.

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 24 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Deuteronomy 24.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/deu/24/1/s_177001

Meditate on verses 1-4.

 

When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor

 in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her

 a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house,

and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's wife, and if the

 latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts

 it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took

 her to be his wife, then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to

 take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination

 before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD

your God gives you as an inheritance.

 

The meditation verses, a single sentence, illustrate the messy confusion of divorce.  Jesus explained these verses when asked why there were laws permitting divorce and can a divorce be granted for any reason at all (Matthew 19:3-7).  Jesus answered God intends a husband and wife never be separated; the laws for divorce were given because of people’s hard hearts, and the only reason for divorce is sexual immorality (Matthew 19:8-9).

 

Pray for the opposite of Deuteronomy 24:1-2 to happen in the marriages you are guarding as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, thank you for the marriage

 of _________ and ___________.  Let them

find favor in each other’s eyes.  Let there be

no indecency in their marriage.

  Let a certificate of divorce never be written

and placed in their hands.

 May they never send each other out of their house.

 May they never become the spouse of another.

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

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

Deuteronomy 23 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Deuteronomy 23.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/deu/23/1/s_176001

Meditate on verse 14.

 

Since the LORD your God walks

 in the midst of your camp

 to deliver you and to defeat your

 enemies before you; therefore,

 your camp must be holy;

and He must not see anything

 indecent among you, or

 He will turn away from you.

 

Deuteronomy 23 contains many rules for maintaining cleanliness and holiness among the Israelites.  Purity and integrity are very important to the LORD, and His commands for holy behavior are not only in the Old Testament; they are throughout the New Testament as well.  Consider these exhortations from Ephesians, noticing their similarity to the Old Testament law:

 

But immorality or any impurity

 or greed must not even be

named among you, as is proper

 among saints; and there

 must be no filthiness and silly

talk, or coarse jesting, which

 are not fitting, but rather

giving of thanks.  For this you

 know with certainty, that no

 immoral or impure person or

 covetous man, who is an idolater, has

 an inheritance in the kingdom

of Christ and God.  Let no one

deceive you with empty words, for

 because of these things the wrath

 of God comes upon the sons

 of disobedience.  Therefore, do not

 be partakers with them, for

 you were formerly darkness,

but now you are

 Light in the LORD; walk

as children of Light.

—Ephesians 5:3-8

 

 

As Light in the LORD, pray Deuteronomy 23:14 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD my God, may __________ and

 I walk as children of Light

with You walking in our midst

 to deliver us and to defeat

 our enemies before us.  LORD, make

 us holy, so You will not

 see anything indecent among us.

 Do not turn away from us.

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

 

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

 

Deuteronomy 22 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Deuteronomy 22.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/deu/22/1/s_175001

Meditate on verses 1 and 3-4.

 

You shall not see your countryman's ox or his sheep

 straying away and pay no attention to them; you shall

 certainly bring them back to your countryman.

 Thus, you shall do with his donkey, and you shall do the

 same with his garment, and you shall do likewise

 with anything lost by your countryman, which he has

 lost and you have found. You are not allowed to neglect them. 

You shall not see your countryman's donkey or his ox

fallen down on the way, and pay no attention to

 them; you shall certainly help him to raise them up.

 

These verses address the sin of doing nothing.  All three verses contain the Hebrew word alam, translated as “pay no attention” and “to neglect.”  Alam literally means “to hide yourself.”¹ 

 

Let that soak in for a moment—neglecting a noticed need, deliberately hiding rather than assisting is sin.  Ouch!  God’s Word is convicting, making us evaluate our attitudes.  Do we really care, or do we turn the other way, pretending not to see?

 

Ask the LORD to give you His heart for others, and when He does, ask Him to strengthen and equip you to help.

 

As a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7), pray for yourself and those you love not to be people who alam, using the words from Deuteronomy 22:1 and 3-4.

 

“LORD, help ________ and me not

 see others straying away

 and pay no attention to them. 

Help us bring them back to You.

 LORD, do not let us be people who neglect.

  Help us pay attention and

help others, raising them up.

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

 

 

 

1.     Retrieved from www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H5956&t=NASB

 

 

 

The WATCHMAN on the Wall – Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell