Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from Radical.net.

Genesis chapter 25, verses 29 through 34.

Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field and he was exhausted.

And Esau said to Jacob, let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted.

Therefore, his name was called Eidem. Jacob said, sell me your birthright now. Esau said, I'm about to die of what use is a

birthright to me. Jacob said, swear to me now. So he swore to him and sold his birthright to

Jacob.

Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way.

Thus Esau despised his birthright.

There's so much we could talk about in this passage.

But the bottom line that I want to lead us to pray in light of is Esau. In his desperation, his hunger for food, was willing to sell his birthright for what for a bowl of soup he exchanged his birthright

for a bowl of soup something so valuable his birthright something so valuable, his birthright, something so weighty and really in a sense wonderful

for something so temporary and light and trivial. Now, the thing is, it obviously seemed like a huge deal to him at that moment,

like I'm hungry, and I want, I need some food now. Yet could he have not waited, like just a few

more hours, like just a little bit longer, even another day, if necessary, in order to hold on

to his birthright. And in this story, I want us to see a picture of our own lives, how we are all prone to let go of things that are valuable

for that which is trivial, to let go of things that are eternal for things in this world

that are temporary and things in this world that are temporary,

and specifically to see how physical, bodily impulses

can lead us to make quick, emotional, rash decisions

that we will regret.

I think of so many stories of followers, of Jesus, of Christian leaders, pastors who have made horrible decisions exchanging things that are eternally wonderful

...