I’m praying for my Christian brothers and sisters who are persecuted in other countries this month.

This morning, I read Deuteronomy 28. In America, these verses can be used to ask God to richly bless us because we are obedient to Him. I know that the way God does one thing is the way He does everything. Sometimes churches preach what is known as the American Prosperity Gospel and use these verses.

When the Israelites went from Egypt to the Promised Land, they went through three long complicated phases. But God was there always helping them do things His way.

Promised Land phases

1)Oppression phase ~ The Israelites cried out for God to deliver the from the oppressive slavery of generations in Egypt. Pharoah was a stubborn arrogant leader. He finally let them leave Egypt after ten plagues (major hardships) fell upon the land.

2)Learning phase ~ While traveling to the flourishing land God had promised to their ancestor Abraham, the Israelites had to take the long, long route instead of the short one because they had to learn how to serve and worship God. They were stubborn and it took them forty years.

3)Abundance phase ~ God told them He would win every battle in when they had to go to war to gain ownership of their blessed land. Once again God kept warning them to not yield to worshiping the false gods and do the ungodly deeds of the inhabitants of the land.

So, needless to say, getting to the Promised Land was not something the Israelites promptly received. They had to earn their way and learn to trust God fully throughout many years.

But, this morning I pray the fourteen verses from Deuteronomy 28 for the persecuted church across the world. They are much more dedicated to God than me. And they have needs that God must supply. I pray they would conquer their Promised Land. Most importantly, they would be able to openly and freely worship God.

I pray God would help us all, to work through the phases of our lives as Christians that lead to our own Promised Land.

Deuteronomy 28:

1”If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world.

2 You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:

3 Your towns and your fields will be blessed.

4 Your children and your crops will be blessed. The offspring of your herds and flocks will be blessed.

5 Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed.

6 Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed.

7 “The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!

8 “The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

9 “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do.

10 Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you.

11 “The Lord will give you prosperity in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops.

12 The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them.

13 If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom.

14 You must not turn away from any of the commands I am giving you today, nor follow after other gods and worship them.