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“In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul” (Psalm 94:19).

How many thoughts go through your mind in a single day? Would you like to take a guess? Hundreds? Thousands? It is estimated that the average person has around fifty thousand thoughts in one single day! That means you think about thirty-five thoughts per minute. Wow! That’s a lot of brain power. What kind of things do you think about during the day? You likely have thoughts about school, family, friends, chores, entertainment, what’s for dinner; the list goes on and on.

Out of all of the things that you think about in a day’s time, how often do thoughts of God cross your mind? If you could somehow track how often you think about God or His Word, you would find that the number of thoughts you have about God are not very many compared to fifty thousand thoughts per day!

The writer of Psalm 94 realized that out of all of the thoughts that went through his mind in a single day, his thoughts of God were of greatest comfort to him. We all go through times when we need comforting. Maybe you are facing sickness or are nervous about the big math test next week; or maybe you have experienced the death of someone close to you. No matter what the reason, God is always there to comfort you, but you have to practice thinking about Him and what you know to be true about God from His Word, the Bible! The more you practice this type of thinking, and the more you read Gods’ Word, the more often you will find that God helps to comfort you in your time of need.

Thinking about God and His Word can comfort us.

My response:

» Am I turning to God for comfort by thinking about Him?

» Am I spending more time in God’s Word so I know Him better?

“And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:8).

Can you tell the future? Do you know for sure what will happen tomorrow? Planning for the future is something everyone does, but sometimes things don’t go the way we planned! When we think about tomorrow, we might grow excited thinking about something fun we have planned, or maybe we aren’t looking forward to tomorrow because something hard is in the future.

Deuteronomy 31:8 was spoken by Moses. When Moses was 120 years old, it was time for him to hand over the leadership of the Israelites to Joshua. Moses knew there would probably be some tough times ahead for Joshua, so he spoke these words to him to encourage him.

What does Deuteronomy 31:8 promise about God?

First, God goes ahead of us. “And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee.” God is our great leader, and because He knows everything, He can go before us into those scary and unknown times of our lives. We are safe in His care, and He is always with us.

Second, God will not fail us. “He will not fail thee.” God always keeps His promises and it is impossible for Him to fail.  As humans, we may make wrong choices, but God will always choose the very best for us because He is always working for our good.

Third, God will never leave us. “Neither [will He] forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.” What a great comfort this is. There may be trials ahead when we face scary times and feel all alone! We may feel discouraged, as if things will never be right again. But Deuteronomy 31:8 promises that God will not leave us, no matter how hard things get.

As you look ahead at the coming days or weeks, maybe you are dreading something unpleasant or scary. I’m sure that Joshua was afraid when he thought about having to lead the Israelites without Moses there to give him advice. Like Joshua, you can remember the promise of God spoken by Moses.

You may be unsure of what is ahead, but God goes before you. You may not think you can do it, but God promises that He will never ever fail you. You may feel all alone, but God promises He will never leave you. Just as He was with Moses and Joshua, He will be with you. So remember this great promise from God’s Word as you face the days ahead. With God’s help, nothing is impossible!

God goes with me through hard times.

My response:

» When I am afraid of the future, do I remind myself that God promises to go before me and to be with me?

“Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah . . . saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me” (Jonah 1:1–2).

Tony lived in the neighborhood where I grew up. The thing is, Tony was hard to like. It’s not that he was always mean; it’s just that most of the time he bullied everyone else. He always had to be quarterback when we played football. He said mean things to everyone and didn’t care who he hurt. He demanded his way about everything. Did I mention he was hard to like?

That’s how Jonah felt about the people of Nineveh when God told him to take a message to them. Jonah knew something was up when God called Nineveh a “great city.” He knew God cared about the people there and would show mercy to them, so Jonah made other plans.

He headed in the opposite direction, boarded a ship, ran into a storm, and was thrown overboard. But God’s love was more powerful than Jonah’s disobedience. God cared so much about the people of Nineveh that He prepared a great fish to keep Jonah from drowning and to carry him back to land. Jonah shared God’s message with the people of Nineveh. They were sorry for their sin, and God forgave them.

Some people are hard to like, but I have to remember that God loves them too. Jesus tells me to “love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Do I love those that are hard to love?

God loves those who are hard to love.

My response:

» How often do I think about the truth that God loves me even though I am hard to love?

» How can I share God’s message of love with someone who is hard to like?

“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us” (1 John 5:14).

Have your parents ever told you, “You have selective hearing”? That means you hear only what you want to hear. For example, your mom asks you to stop playing with your Lego set and go clean your room. Then, thirty minutes later, she finds you still playing with your Legos. You tell her, “Oh . . . sorry, Mom. I didn’t hear you.” But a few minutes later you just happen to overhear her talking on the phone to your best friend’s mom about plans for a sleepover, and you instantly go to her and start asking for details.

Parents, too, can have selective hearing. Some dads may seem more interested in the sports page than the teenage son who his telling him of his day’s activities, until the son lists wrecking his mom’s car among the day’s events.

Though we consider it a weakness for a child or parent to have “selective hearing,” when God chooses to have selective hearing with us, it’s a good thing. God tells us what He will hear and what He won’t hear. Because God has told us exactly how He wants us to pray, the Bible says we can have more confidence that He will hear us. He wants us to pray “according to His will.”

The word will refers to what God desires or to anything that pleases Him. First John 5:14 is telling us that if we ask for anything that pleases God, He will hear us. And the next verse goes on to assure us that He will answer our requests: “And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

You might ask, So how do I know what pleases God? Well, that’s what His Word is all about! If you know God through His Word, if you know of specific things that please Him—for example, obedience to parents (Ephesians 6:1); kindness to others (Ephesians 4:32); diligence in your work (Ecclesiastes 9:10)—then you already know how to pray “according to His will.” All you have to do is apply what you know about what pleases God to your specific circumstances, and pray from that perspective. Then God promises He will hear and answer your prayer!

God promises to hear us when we pray according to His will.

My response:

» Am I praying for what I know would please God as I pray about my circumstances?