PRAY & READ: Week 2 Recap

This week's recap takes us almost to the end of Genesis. Understanding the beginning is essential to any story--especially a story that we're still involved in. This origin story gives us so much insight into who God is and what he intended for us. Let's keep moving forward to see what God does, as his people expand in the land of Egypt...

DAY 8 RECAP
Genesis 21-22:19. Isaac was born, the miracle son God promised, yet years later God told Abraham to sacrifice him. This was a test—Abraham passed and Isaac was spared. Can you see a picture of Jesus in verse 13? The ram was sacrificed instead of Isaac. God confirms his covenant with Abraham and because of his obedience, all nations are blessed.

DAY 9 RECAP
Genesis 27-28. Jacob, full of deceit, still received his father’s blessing instead of his brother Esau. This blessing was holy could not be undone. Though imperfect, when God blesses us, no one can take that away. The Lord confirms his covenant with Jacob. Notice 28:13–the God who is everywhere desires to manifest somewhere.

DAY 10 RECAP
Genesis 32-33. Again we see God in a specific place, at a specific time—Jacob encounters the Lord and wouldn’t let go of God until he blessed him. Are you hungry enough to go after God even when it’s hard? Like Jacob (now Israel), when we don’t give up and encounter God, he gives us a new name (nature) and marks us for life.

DAY 11 RECAP
Genesis 37. When God gives you a dream, steward it well. Don’t allow others to kill what God has deposited in you—even those closest to you. Although we don’t fully know God’s ways or timing, we do know his words are true. Like Joseph, God often uses our hardest times to prepare us for greatness, though it may not seem like it at the time.

DAY 12 RECAP
Genesis 39-41. We now see Joseph thriving because the Lord was with him—the only way to truly thrive. Even when falsely accused and imprisoned, the favor of the Lord gave Joseph great success. Joseph trusted God for revelation to interpret dreams, which not only caused him to rise to an even greater position, but would set up the fulfillment of the dreams he had told his brothers when he was a teenager.

DAY 13 RECAP
Genesis 42. Here we see Joseph’s dreams fulfilled—his brothers bowing before him—22 years in the making. Like Joseph, our dream may be the outcome, but God knows the process and the reason for the dream he has placed in us. Trusting God’s timing is essential to staying encouraged. He always knows best.

DAY 14 RECAP
Genesis 43-44. Joseph tests his brothers and makes strict demands for their return, yet is emotional and compassionate. How do you treat family who has wronged you? His brothers were eager yet perplexed—realizing the weight of their sin—though they hadn’t realized that this great leader of Egypt was Joseph.