Today’s Reading:
Read Lamentations 3:27-66; 4:1-2,11,16-20; 5:1-10, 15-22
Spend some time as a family today discussing things that have happened in your family that have been sad. This may not be the most fun part of your day today- but remembering our sadness can help to remind us of God’s faithfulness in those sad times. Recognizing times of sadness is an important part of tracing God’s fingerprints in our life
In our reading today, the author of Lamentations is continuing to cry out to God and putting words to his sadness. Even though the Israelites were in captivity and were experiencing the consequences of their rebellion, they still knew that they could cry out to God and He would hear them. They trusted that God would be faithful to bring redemption and restoration even though the devastation they were facing was very sad to them.
Read Lamentations 3:55
“I called on your name. You heard my plea.”
The Israelites knew God was still listening to them. He was still their God and He would still provide for them, even though they were experiencing sadness.
We can have that same hope today as we experience sadness in our life!
Application/Prayer:
Thank God for always hearing you when you pray. Spend some time as a family thanking God for how he faithfully has answered prayers for your family. Spend some time as a family asking God to answer that prayer you’ve been praying for a long time. Thank Him for his faithfulness and ask Him for the strength to trust in His timing for HIs answers.
August Memory Verse:
“Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”
Using the daily reading prompts from George H. Guthrie’s Read the Bible for Life, here’s how to use this devotional:
- Bring your Bible! Your kids need to see that everything you are reading to them or learning about comes from an actual Bible!
- Each day starts with a reading prompt. Read the selection as a family. If your kids are readers, encourage them to read along with you.
- After you’ve read the passage, read the short devotional thought that goes along with each passage.
- Prayer and application are important any time we read God’s word! After each devotional, there is a challenge to help apply what your family has read that day.
- There is a reading for six days of the week. The last reading of the week is a Gospel Conversation Prompt to help you connect the reading from the week with God’s plan for salvation.
Other Resources:
August memory verse coloring sheet
August Fill-in the blank activity