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“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth” (Ps. 121:1–2).

Kayla and her mother and her little brother, John, were at a hotel. It was a tall hotel with an elevator. Their room was on the first floor so they did not ride in the elevator. Kayla was glad. She did not like how an elevator ride made her stomach feel.

Kayla and her family walked down the hall to the breakfast room. Kayla saw muffins and other food for the hotel guests.

“Yum! I want a muffin,” she said.

Mom gave Kayla a book. “Sit here with John on the red sofa so you can see me while I get our food. Don’t let your brother get away.”

Kayla and John sat on the red sofa, but John didn’t want to read the book. He stood up. Kayla stood up too. She held John’s hand, but John did not want her to hold his hand.

A tall man wearing blue jeans and a blue shirt came into the hotel.

“Daddy,” John said and he ran after the man.

Kayla ran after John. She knew the man wasn’t Daddy. They were going to the airport to meet Daddy.

The elevator door opened. John followed the man into the elevator. More people got into the elevator.

Kayla sighed. She got into the elevator too. The door shut. The elevator went up. Kayla tried not to think about her stomach.

“Excuse, me, please,” she said to the people. “I have to find my brother.”

She found John at the back of the elevator. He still did not want to hold her hand. So Kayla held on to the collar of his shirt. John giggled.

The elevator stopped. The man who looked like Daddy got off. The elevator went up and stopped again. More people got off. The elevator went up and stopped again.

Soon Kayla and John were the only people in the elevator. The elevator did not go up. The elevator did not go down. The door did not open. Nothing happened. John lay down on the floor.

Kayla wondered what she should do. She wanted to cry, but then she remembered Daniel in the Bible. Daniel trusted God. And he prayed when he was in trouble. We are in trouble, Kayla thought. I trust God too, so I will pray.

“Help me, God. Please show me what to do,” she prayed. But she didn’t close her eyes because she had to watch John.

Just then, John crawled to the front of the elevator. Kayla walked over to him. She saw buttons with numbers on the wall of the elevator. “Mom is on the first floor so I will push number one,” she decided.

Kayla pushed number one and the elevator went down, down, down.

Finally it stopped. The door opened.

Kayla grabbed John’s hand and pulled him out of the elevator.

Mom was so glad to see them. Kayla told her what happened.

“You were a brave girl to rescue John from the elevator,” Mom said. “I’m glad you followed Daniel’s example and prayed.”

Whenever we’re scared or we don’t know what to do, we can pray and ask God for help. He is always there for us.

My response:

» When I get into a difficult situation, do I pray and ask God for help? Or do I just try to solve things on my own?

» Is there anything going on in my life right now that I need to pray about and ask God for help with?

“[Jesus] did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” (1 Pet. 2:22).

Jesus was all alone in the wilderness. He had not eaten for forty days. He was tired and hungry.

Satan saw that Jesus was alone and hungry. Satan wanted to make Jesus sin just once. That way Jesus would not be perfect. Then He could not become the Savior for sinners.

“If You are the Son of God, make this stone into bread,” said Satan. Jesus had power to do this. But He would not do what Satan said to do to prove that He is God.

Instead Jesus said, “It is written that man shall not live by bread only, but by every word of God.” Jesus used God’s Word to answer Satan’s temptation.

Satan did not give up. He took Jesus to the top of the temple. “Fall down from this high place. You’ll show how God’s angels will protect You,” said Satan. This was true. But Jesus was not tricked by Satan’s temptation. He answered with God’s Word again.

Then Satan took Jesus up on a high mountain so they could see all the cities of the world. “I will give You all this if You will worship me,” tempted Satan.

“It is written, you should worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him,” answered Jesus. Jesus would not give in to Satan’s temptations to sin because Jesus is perfect.

Jesus gave us a perfect example of how to resist temptation by remembering God’s Word.

My response:

» Am I memorizing Bible verses so that I’ll know God’s Word by heart?

» When I’m tempted to sin, do I follow Jesus’ example by remembering God’s Word and choosing to obey it?

“For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone” (Ps. 86:10).

God does not force people to believe Him and obey Him. People can choose to turn away from Him. But they will have problems when they do that.

The Israelites were God’s special people. But they were ignoring God and disobeying His commands. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” God had said. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,” He also said. But the people began worshiping false gods anyway. God wanted them to come back to Him. He called on His prophet Elijah to show the people they were doing wrong.

Elijah went to Ahab, the king of Israel. He challenged the king to have his wicked prophets meet Elijah in a contest.

“Tell your prophets to build an altar to their god,” Elijah said. “Have them put wood on it and a bull for their sacrifice. But don’t put any fire under the altar. I will do the same with an altar to the Lord.”

“You call on your god. I will call on my God. The one who answers by fire will be declared the true God.” The king and his prophets agreed to the contest.

The false prophets called on their god, Baal, for a whole day. But nothing happened. No fire came down to burn their sacrifice.

Then Elijah prepared the altar to the true God. He put wood on the altar. He put a bull on the wood. He covered everything with water. Then Elijah began to pray out loud. “God, let everybody here today know that You are God. Turn their hearts back to You.”

When Elijah finished praying, fire came roaring down from Heaven. This fire from the true God burned up Elijah’s sacrifice. It burned up even the stones of the altar, the dust on the ground, and every drop of water.

The people fell on their faces and declared, “The Lord, He is God!”

The Lord proved that day that He is the only God worth trusting.

My response:

» Do I believe in the Lord in worship Him alone?

» What can I do to share my faith in God with others?

“Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid . . . for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Deut. 31:6).

“Remember Mason Sullivan, in my class?” Cory asked as he sat down at the supper table. “His father was hurt in the train wreck. Mason and his mom have to go to a faraway hospital every morning to see his dad. Today the kids at school were saying bad things about him.”

Cory’s dad didn’t understand. “If Mason wasn’t there, what were the kids saying?”

“Oh, stuff like it’s good that something bad happened to his family because Mason’s so mean.” Cory poured himself some milk. “Mason is mean, Dad. He’s always in trouble for saying bad things, hitting other kids, or just doing things he’s not supposed to do.”

“The Sullivan family is sad right now,” dad said. “Maybe Mason does get in trouble a lot. Still, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care about the family and pray for them.”

“Let’s pray for them right now,” he suggested.

After his dad finished praying, Cory kept thinking about Mason.

“Cory, are you okay?” dad asked after a while. “You haven’t touched your supper.”

“I was thinking how sad I would be if you were in a train accident,” he said. “I wish I could help Mason. But I’m afraid.”

“Let’s figure it out. What could you do to help him?” his dad asked.

“I could take his schoolwork to him. I could tell him that I’m sorry about his father and that I’m praying for him.”

“Those are all good ideas,” said Cory’s mom. “Why don’t you ask your teacher for Mason’s work tomorrow?” his dad said. “I’ll take you over to his house after school.”

The next morning, before Cory left for school, he said, “I want to ask our teacher about Mason’s schoolwork. But I’m still afraid.”

Cory’s mother put her arm around him. “In Sunday School you’ve been learning about the great things the Lord has done. Don’t you think He can give you the courage to talk to Mason?”

Cory nodded. He knew she was right.

Cory got Mason’s books and papers from his teacher. After school he and his dad went to Carson Street. The closer they got, the more afraid Cory felt. His knees were shaky and his tummy felt jumpy. Quietly he said, “Dear God, I know You have all the power in the whole world. Give me courage to visit Mason.” He felt better after praying. But walking up the front steps of Mason’s house was still hard.

Cory pressed the doorbell and waited. Mason opened the door.

“What do you want?” he demanded.

“I brought your schoolwork. I’m sorry about your dad,” Cory said quickly, before he lost courage. “I’m praying for your family.”

Mason grabbed the books and papers and slammed the door.

But Cory felt better. He knew he had done just what God wanted him to do. He had shown Mason that he cared about him and that God cared too.

God gives us courage to do the right thing when we ask Him for help.

My response:

» Do I depend on God to give me courage in difficult situations?

» What are some things I can pray and ask God to help me with today?

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17).

What is truth? The world is telling us that truth is what we make it—whatever you believe the truth to be is the truth. But that is not what God says.

God tells us that truth is trustworthy. Truth is enlightening. Truth exposes lies. Have you ever watched a courtroom scene? Every person who testifies is sworn to tell the truth. Not everyone does, but the purpose is to find the truth. Only by finding the truth can they determine the guilt or innocence of the person on trial.

Jesus prayed that God would sanctify His followers with truth (John 17:17). “To sanctify” means “to set aside for purity” or “to be free from sin.” Truth purifies. Where do we find this purifying truth? John tells us that God’s Word is truth. Not only do we find truth in the Bible, but since it is God’s Word, it is truth. We can hold up anything to God’s Word and compare it. Truth will line up with the Word. Untruths do not line up.

Comparing things to God’s Word takes time to learn. You must learn what God’s Word says to know truth and expose lies. Have you ever known what your parents would say even when they are not there? That is because you know them so well. Get to know God the same way.

God is truth and learning His Word will help you know truth.

My response:

» Am I reading and learning about God through His Word?

» What did I learn about God today?

» When was the last time I could tell that something was a lie or an untruth because it did not line up with God’s Word?