Tag Archives: Prayer

1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” 2 He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”

3 Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him. 5 So Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain, for there was famine in the land of Canaan also.

Dear God, that was a long way to go for food. I would imagine that part of the brothers’ thinking was that surely there had to be a more efficient way for them to find food. Going to Egypt seems like such a drastic thing to do.

It is funny how you use jobs, food, etc. to move us around. I think about my dad getting drafted and stationed in San Antonio at Ft. Sam Houston and that bringing our family from Kansas to Texas. I think of my grandfather being stationed at Ft. Riley, Kansas, and that being how my dad ended up growing up in Kansas instead of Pennsylvania. I couldn’t find a job anywhere in 2005 except for one in Tyler, which I ended up not taking, and then Fredericksburg, which brought us here. It is a drastic decision to pick up and move, and we need some huge factor to motivate us to do it. Especially when we have roots.

I sometimes feel really bad when we have a complicated case come to the clinic and our best advice to them is to move to a large city because that is the only place where they can receive help. It is so much easier said than done.

Father, you have a plan for all of us, and you use whatever means you have to do guide us. Sometimes it is something that you allow to happen, and sometimes it is something you cause to happen. I don’t know which it is in any given scenario, but you do and I want you to know that, regardless of any suffering that might come my way, I trust you, I have faith in you, and I love you.

41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.” 45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.

46 Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt.

Dear God, I can’t remember how old Joseph was when the brothers sold him into slavery, but I am pretty sure he was an early teen. That would mean he spent half of his life in some form of slavery (although he had some power during the Potiphar years). I wonder how often he thought back to those dreams he told his brothers and father about. I wonder how many times he was ready to give up in despair when he would remember that you had promised him something special. I wonder how many times he wondered if the dreams were wrong or if he were wrong. Hope is an interesting thing, but I almost wonder if you didn’t give him those dreams as a child so that he could keep his faith and his hope when he was older.

It seems that you are always preparing us for the future, even when we don’t know it. You are giving us experiences now that will help us later. It isn’t until much, much later that we can look back and put it all together. I went through a three-year wilderness of sorts, although it honestly wasn’t that bad compared with what other people suffer. It feels like I am in a bit of a wilderness now with the challenges I face each day, but, again, can I really complain when I see how others suffer? The truth is, my life is pretty good and easy. You are just using some of these struggles to refine me.

Father, I thank you that you love me. I thank you that you sustain me. I thank you that you provide for me. I am not worthy of the unbelievable blessings you give to me. I am not worthy of your grace. But you give it all to me anyway because you are more benevolent than I can imagine. So help me to be a good steward of everything over which you have given me charge. Help me to be a leader, but also a servant. Help me to love others more than I love myself. Help me to sacrifice for your glory and not my own. I am not asking for anything special for me. I am simply asking that you use me as you will and help me to completely submit my life to you.

14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.

15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”

17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, 18 when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds. 19 After them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. 20 The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. 21 But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up.

22 “In my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk. 23 After them, seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind. 24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.”

25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. 27 The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.

28 “It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, 30 but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. 31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. 32 The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.

33 “And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. 35 They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. 36 This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”

37 The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. 38 So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”

39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”

Dear God, I find it interesting that Joseph was so eager and intentional about giving you the credit for all of this. He didn’t have to. He didn’t have to say that you had given him the dream. He didn’t have to say that you had given him the interpretation of the dream. All he had to say was, “There are seven years of plenty coming that will be followed by seven years of famine. Buckle up.” But he didn’t. He challenged Pharaoh’s religious beliefs by being sure to give you the glory for the dreams, their interpretation, and even the control of the weather. Pharaoh was left with no doubt where Joseph was coming from.

I hope that I am that way. I think I am at times, but I don’t know that I am that way all of the time. I do think that I start to take a little too much credit for myself. I think I get to enjoying the praise that others give me a little too much. I forget to lead with you, continue with you and finish with you in what I say. Instead, I might throw a little credit to you as I go, but I could probably do a better job of wearing you on my sleeves a little more.

Father, help me to give you glory for everything that I do and everything around me. Help me to reveal your presence to others and to show them how you are working to love and support them. I have some friends who are struggling financially as well as other ways, and I hope that you will reveal yourself to them. Use me however you will in their lives. The same goes for patients that we come across. And my wife and children too. Help me to a revealer of you to them. Help others to see you, and use me however you will to reveal your presence to others so that they might be drawn closer to you and worship you.