Take a Cue – The Presidential Prayer Team

Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. – Joshua 1:9

Hundreds of times God’s Word reminds believers that they should not be afraid. “Fear not,” “do not be frightened,” or “be courageous” are common phrases. The people in Scripture faced challenges just like you do, and yet the Lord was swift to exhort them to never fear to do what He had in mind for them to do.

Joshua followed in the footsteps of Moses, a man whom the Lord spoke with face to face. At the end of Moses’ life, God handed his duties over to Joshua with the exhortation to “be strong and courageous.” Joshua was to be a man of action for he was commanded to take the Israelites across the Jordan and claim the land the Lord had promised them. It was not an easy task. Joshua was to meditate on the Book of the Law day and night and be careful to do as it was written (Joshua 1:8). God would be with him as He had been with Moses (1:5).

You may not be called to be a Moses or Joshua, but the Lord has plans for you. Sometimes you will go through great difficulties to accomplish your assignment. Sometimes the adversity may be overwhelming and stretch you to your limit, but God is still in control and He is with you wherever you go. Pray now for those believers in government who need to be courageous as they seek to do right.

Take a cue from Joshua and meditate on God’s Word night and day. Joshua did not know the full extent of God’s plans for him, and you do not either. However, know that the Lord is working in your life to lead and guide you. Release full control to Him.

Today’s Verse: Joshua 1:9

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Recommended for further reading: Deuteronomy 31:1-8

 So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. ²And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ ³The Lord your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the Lord has spoken. ⁴And the Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. ⁵And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. ⁶Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

⁷Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. ⁸It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”