One morning my husband read to me from Daniel 6 and we decided to take verse 16 with us through the day: “May the God whom you serve continually rescue you.” Different times we mentioned the verse. We thought of it in prayer. We thought of it when we remembered our son was driving a long distance. The Lord we serve continually would rescue him from danger.

Samuel Logan Brengle, a favorite preacher in the early days of the Salvation Army, formed a habit of choosing a text for his day. As a traveler stuffs snacks in his pockets, Brengle daily stuffed the pockets of his mind with tasty treats from the Word. These snacks were short, simple statements of promise, reassurance, or comfort he would turn to for support and power along the way.

Helen Roseveare met a young friend who was a missionary on her first home assignment. The young friend poured out her dilemma to Helen. She was having a problem knowing with complete assurance whether God wanted her to go back to the mission field for a second term of service. She confided the apparent pros and cons on both sides of the problem and her heart cry to hear a word from God giving her clear, unmistakable guidance.

David Smith, the son of Robert and Catherine Smith, sent me the following story about his parents that occurred when they were pioneer missionaries in Kenya, East Africa.

In his book Faith Papers, S.A. Keen tells of a distressed man who came to him in tears. He poured out his problem and Keen responded, “I’ll handle the situation for you.”

Josh McDowell told thousands of kids at TeenMania, “After I became a Christian, guilt came in. I recognized God was a God of love and He wanted me to love my dad.”

We ask God to bless the food to our body’s use before we begin eating. Isn’t it equally fitting to ask Him to bless His Word to our spirits before reading? When we come to a difficult passage instead of giving up or rushing to a commentary, we should lay that passage before God and ask Him to explain it to us, remembering His promise, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God” (Jam 1:5). This request for understanding pleases God. It was Solomon’s request when God offered Him his choice of all gifts, and God could not have been more pleased with Solomon’s request.

Francis Frangipane learned of immorality among the leaders of his denomination, so he went to the headquarters to plead for repentance. Instead of repenting, the leaders asked him to leave the group.