Welcome to The Turnaround’s 52 Days of Prayer!
Introduction
Welcome to day 4 of our 52 days of prayer for our nation. Hosea 4:6 is our focus today. This power scripture reveals the cause and effect of rejecting a personal relationship knowing the One True God, we hear his warning.
Devotional Insight
Israel once again was living for themselves with no thought of the generations to come as they partnered with the idols of other nations serving Baal and forgetting what God had done for them. Since the Israelites were living for whatever spoke to their flesh and emotions, they only wanted a God that could work for them. Little by little they were being lulled into complacency, darkness, captivity and death due to their rejection of intimately knowing God. They had a knowledge of God, but it was hypothetical, intellectual, doctrinal. Because they did not know God and His character, they mingled the things of God with the things of darkness. They were divided in their devotion (their heart) to the One True God, because they lacked a relational knowledge of God.
Their rejection of knowing God was exposed in their inability to remain faithful to God’s love, purposes and plans for them, their future generations, and their nation. They rejected the “Yada” knowledge of God, and instead relied on their own understanding and physical knowledge of God that further promoted their sinful lusts of spiritual adultery.
The Hebrew word YADA is, “to know.” It depicts the relationship between God and man, and the deep intimacy that the Father longs to have with His children. Sadly, they were so darkened by their choices, that they did not permit themselves to think of the future generations that would be affected by their sinful ways of life.
The people of God are destroyed from a lack of knowledge. We read this scripture to mean, we need more information. But, No, we don’t need more information, we need to know God. We need to know what God is speaking to us, what He is doing and where He is going. We cannot know anything unless we know HIM. We must spend time with Him, in His word, and with His people.
Turnaround Question
How do we avoid the trap of the enemy that tries to lead us all in just an intellectual knowledge of God? How can we circumvent the problem of only knowing God in an intellectual, scriptural, or surface level relationship? What are some ways we can pursue the YADA knowledge of God that will preserve us, and our generations to come?
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father,
Father, we pray for You to open our spiritual ears, hearts and minds to Your great instruction. Help us not to lean on our own understanding, but to trust wholeheartedly and for you to make our paths straight. Lord, we ask for You to release the fear of God on us and this nation of ours to usher in a spirit of repentance so that we may return to You. We ask You for mercy and grace as we pray for the Turnaround for our nation.
In Jesus Name we pray!
Amen
