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

Judges chapter 16, verse 20.

And she said, the Philistines are upon you, Samson, and you awoke from his sleep,

and said, I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.

But he did not know that the Lord had left him.

This is the story of when Delilah had betrayed Samson, and Samson had been used to

rising and conquering the Philistines, and he had presumed he could do that again.

But Judges chapter 16, verse 20, as he says, I'll go out as at other times and shake myself free.

But he did not know at this moment that the Lord had left him.

And this verse is a keen reminder of what we see all over the Bible.

Everything, everything depends on whether or not the Lord is with you, and for you,

or if the Lord is against you, everything in our lives hinges on the presence of God with us,

the help of God for us. And if God is with us, if God is for us, and the words of Romans chapter 8,

nothing can stand against us. But if we are on our own, and if God is against us,

then we have no hope. And you read about Samson's life, and you can't help but think,

how foolish he was, in so many different ways, with so many different things he was doing,

yet I read this, and I think how foolish I can be. And so Judges chapter 16 leaves us to pray,

God, you are our only hope today. We can do nothing good without you, without your grace.

In the words of Jesus to us, in John 15, apart from you, we confess we can do nothing.

And we say, oh God, apart from you, we don't want to do anything. We don't want to live our lives

apart from the fullness of your presence, your spirit in us, leading us, guiding us, God,

as we read Judges 16, we think, no, God, help us to live in step with your spirit and alignment

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