July 9, 2023 – Our Daily Bread Devotional: A Cry for Help

July 9, 2023 – Our Daily Bread Devotional, Sunday ODB Message

Read July 9, 2023 – Our Daily Bread Devotional, ODB Devotional Message for Sunday By Marvin Williams

TOPIC: A Cry for Help

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Job 38–40, Acts 16:1–21

KEY VERSE: “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Isaiah 58:6

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Isaiah 58:1-9

ODB DEVOTIONAL 9TH JULY 2023 INSIGHT: 
The prophet Isaiah (which means “God is salvation”) wrote the longest prophetic book, which contains sixty-six chapters. Isaiah 1:1 provides some helpful information about Isaiah: “The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” These kings place Isaiah in the eighth century bc and have caused some scholars to speculate that Isaiah’s prophetic ministry may have lasted for some sixty-four years. Apparently, Isaiah had two sons and was married to a prophetess (7:3; 8:3).

July 9, 2023 – Our Daily Bread Devotional MESSAGE:

David Willis had been upstairs in Waterstones Bookshop when he came downstairs and found the lights were turned off and the doors locked. He was trapped inside the store! Not knowing what else to do, he turned to Twitter and tweeted: “Hi @Waterstones. I’ve been locked inside of your Trafalgar Square bookstore for 2 hours now. Please let me out.” Not too long after his tweet, he was rescued.

It’s good to have a way to get help when we’re in trouble. Isaiah said there’s Someone who will answer our cries when we’re trapped in a problem of our own making. The prophet wrote that God had charged His people with practicing their religious devotion irresponsibly. They were going through the motions of religion but masking their oppression of the poor with empty and self-serving rituals (Isaiah 58:1–7). This didn’t win divine favor. God hid His eyes from them and didn’t answer their prayers (1:15). He told them to repent and display outward acts of caring for others (58:6–7). If they did that, He told them, “You will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk” (v. 9).

Let’s get close to the poor, saying to them: “I am here.” For God hears our cries for help and says to us, “I am here.”

Reflect & Pray
What behavior or attitude could prevent you from experiencing answered prayer? Of what do you need to repent?

Dear God, thank You for hearing my prayers. Please help me to be there for others.

Our Daily Bread Devotional 9 July 2023 || ODB for Sunday Message . Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODB) is a Christian organization founded by Dr. Martin De Haan in 1938. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with over 600 employees. It produces several devotional publications, including Our Daily Bread. our daily bread devotional for today audio our daily bread booklet.

READ MORE TOPICS: OPEN HEAVENS, OUR DAILY BREAD, IN TOUCH, SEEDS OF DESTINY, STREAMS OF JOY, JOEL OSTEEN, MOUNTAIN TOP LIFE, DCLM DAILY MANNA, UCB WORD FOR TODAY