Daily Direction Reading PlanSample

Any cook knows that if you omit yeast from bread, it will not rise. In the same way, when we try to do God’s work without the most important ingredient, we will not be as successful as we might. That critical ingredient is faith—dependence upon God. Jesus’ disciples found out the hard way that trying to do God’s work without faith in Him can be futile. A man asked Jesus’ disciples to heal his little boy. They tried, but they could not do it. When Jesus arrived on the scene, He saw their helplessness. He was grieved because of their lack of faith. He healed the young man. Later, when Jesus was alone with His disciples, they asked him, “Why could we not heal the boy?” Jesus told them they failed because of their lack of prayer fueled by trust in God. Some translations add fasting to Jesus’ statement. Jesus’ grief at the disciples’ lack of faith prompts this question: Is Jesus Christ grieved when we fail to trust Him to help us do the work He has gifted us to do? Do we approach our work assuming that since we have certain abilities, we need not ask God’s help as we carry out our duties? The father of the boy in this story confessed to Jesus his lack of faith. He then asked the Lord to help him not to doubt. That attitude of little faith is one we might also confess. Christ stands ready to help our faith if only we would acknowledge our need to Him.