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

the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from

the one end of the earth to the other.

You shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall

you spare him, nor shall you conceal him.

Wow, what a warning!

We are in Deuteronomy Chapter 13, God's speaking about the power of close friendships, of

family relationships, to either spur you and me on toward God and serving and worshiping

God and loving God, or to pull us away from serving, loving, worshiping God.

And this is part of God's design for close friendships.

Think about places like Hebrews Chapter 10, verses 24 and 25, where we see that picture

of gathering together closely with other brothers and sisters in Christ to spur one another

on toward love and good works, to encourage one another in faith.

We have Proverbs saying, as iron sharpens, iron, so one person sharpens another.

God has designed our closest relationships to draw us closer to him.

But the warning here in Deuteronomy Chapter 13 is, it's possible for these closest

relationships, people who are as close as your own soul, it's possible for those people

to entice you in a way that pulls you away from intimacy with God in a way that leads

you to serve other gods, which just shouts then guard your closest relationships.

There are so many different ways Deuteronomy Chapter 13 leads us to pray.

Let's just think of, as we pray, all the different ways that, based on this word from

God to his people in Deuteronomy 13, we might pray today, God, we pray first and foremost

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