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

The whole Bible, Old Testament, certainly here in Habakkuk, because they illustrate such a profound truth.

You see this list of all of these things that are not going as desired. A lack of fruit.

The fig tree is not blossoming. There's no fruit on the vines, no produce from the olive trees.

The fields are yielding no food. The flock is cut off from the fold. There's no herd in the stalls.

This is a picture of emptiness, despair, barrenness, and in the middle of this,

Habakkuk says, yet, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation,

and we see this reality that even in, or maybe better put, especially in times of despair,

and barrenness, and emptiness, we can still have joy. I will rejoice. I will take joy. Why?

Because I have the Lord. I have the God of my salvation, and all that he is, and all that he

represents a fountain of everlasting strength when we have nothing, a fountain of all surpassing,

unexplainable peace that nothing in this world can take away from us, a fountain of hope that flows

into the darkest, most despairing days, as long as you have the Lord, as long as you have the

God of your salvation. You have joy and peace and strength and hope and love, and he will never,

ever leave you. I just want to speak these words over anyone who is walking through

barrenness and emptiness and finds yourself in despair in any way. God, I pray that you would

enable, empower, help them, anyone who is walking through these kinds of days. Even as I pray this

over my own life in ways that you know, oh God, we pray that your joy would be ours. Your peace

would be ours. Your strength would be ours. God, we are weak. We are in despair. We are struggling.

We are confused. We don't know what to do. We pray for your wisdom, for your peace, for your strength,

for your joy, for your hope in the middle of whatever we might be facing right now, whatever we

might face in the future, God, for anyone who is walking through times of fruitfulness right now,

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