Scripture

“You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”

Observation

After the announcement by the angel that she will conceive a baby by the agency of the Holy Spirit, Marry goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth has had her own miracle, becoming pregnant with John the Baptist, despite being past child- bearing age.

At the sound of Mary’s voice, the baby in Elizabeth leaps for joy. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and tells Mary that she and her baby are blessed because she believed that the Lord would do what He has said.

Application

Blessings come tot hose who believe that the Lord will do what He has said. This is called faith.

We do not all have angels coming to announce life- changing, even world- changing, miracles. We do have the promises of God recorded in the Bible.

Faith means that we believe what God has said, and we trust that it will be done.

The first requirement, then, is that we know what God’s word actually says. We need to read the Bible, obey the commands of the Lord, and trust Him to keep His promises.

When we can find a scripture that backs up our prayer request, then we can know that God will certainly answer our prayer. This gives us faith to pray more confidently, knowing that God keeps His promises.

Prayer

Lord, you are a promise keeping God. Have you not said it and therefore you will do it? Thank you for the confidence this gives us to approach your throne with the desires of our hearts. Amen.