Devotional Guide for Thursday, August 25

Ezra 3:1-13

Reflect
“Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord,…” (v3)

I love how the people didn’t wait until the temple was built and everything was in its proper place before they began to worship God.

I wonder how many times we feel like we need to clean up our act before we can come to God. How often do we hesitate to truly worship because we don’t feel like the moment is right?

For the Israelites, the people in that region did not want them to be living there, so there was a real threat to their lives, but that didn’t stop them from worshipping.

My prayer is that we would have the courage to worship God wholeheartedly, no matter the external circumstances we face.               

Pastor Terry

Pray for North American Baptist Conference (NAB)
The North American Baptist Conference is a family of missionaries. We believe every follower of Jesus is to be a missionary, whether it’s in churches and neighbourhoods in Canada and the US or on mission fields scattered around the world. We want to transform communities—shaping leaders, sending missionaries, and equipping disciples as signs, servants, and foretastes of the Kingdom of God in North America and around the world.
Join us in praying for the exciting things we anticipate God will be doing in and through our ministry in the next year. We are expecting two new families to join our missionary team. We currently have twenty-four church planters around North America, with several more in development. We are also continuing to develop long-term sister church partnerships between our North American congregations and international churches. Pray for all of the ways God continues to use the North American Baptist Conference.