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

Genesis chapter 48, verses 15 and 16.

And he blessed Joseph and said,

The God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac walked,

the God who has been my shepherd, all my lifelong to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all

evil, bless the boys, and in them let my name be carried on, in the name of my father's Abraham

and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Oh, these verses are so good.

On two different levels that I want to point out and lead us to pray according to.

First, verse 15, it's one of my favorite verses, I think I've said this multiple times in

Genesis, but it's so good as Jacob.

So he's nearing the end of his life and he's looking back and this is his

conclusion. Verse 15, the God before whom my father's Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been

my shepherd all my life long to this day. Oh, how good is that for Jacob to look back and see at every step in his life

through ups and downs, all kinds of ups and downs, even through his own sinfulness, that God has

shepherded him, has led him, has guided him, has protected him, provided for him, been faithful

to his promises to him, just as God had been faithful to Abraham and

Isaac before him. It's so good to just stop for a moment and look back and see the ways that God

has shepherded you. I just want to encourage you to do that today.

Like, maybe even right after this podcast is over, just pause for a minute or two and just

thank God for specific ways. He has shepherded your life and to see the story of your life as the story of

him as your shepherd. So that's verse 15. And then verse 16. So now he's looking forward and he's

blessing Joseph's boys. And he basically prays the same thing over them, that the God who has

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