A Prayer to the God who answers when we call, by Tiffany Tabault, read by Leah Martin.

Come let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God who answered me in the

day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I've gone. Genesis 35-3,

Life does offer us some guarantees. We can expect there to be heartache, pain, and struggles,

mixed right in there with all the good things that come our way. We can know that we alone are

responsible for how we will react when the difficult situations interrupt our happy plans.

In the life of Jacob, we see that he had his fair share of trouble. He manipulated and was

manipulated. He did things his way and often had to suffer as a result of those actions.

Yet despite all the problems he struggled with, this verse gives us a look at his heart for God.

The verse starts by giving an invitation to the people in his life to come worship with him.

Come let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God. Jacob's actions teach us that we

need to share our faith. We need to bring people to worship God with us. There's a great joy found

at the altar of God. We can absolutely find rest, peace, hope, and strength when we worship God

down on our knees in prayer. God answered Jacob in his distress, and as a result,

he wanted his friends to go worship God with him to know the God who cared for him.

Another truth from this verse is that when God answers, we need to celebrate.

We need to set a visual reminder to remind ourselves we have a God who helps us in our distress

and answers our prayers. The altar was a visual reminder, reminding God's people that he was with

them wherever they went. While we don't need to build an altar to remember God is with us,

some people frame a special Bible verse to hang on their wall. Others journal what great

things God is doing in their lives. And still others post about how great God is on social media.

God deserves the praise, and we can joyously celebrate with each other in how God moves in

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