THE YEAR OF THE LORD'S FAVOR

A few days ago the Lord quickened to my heart a passage of Scripture that I felt strongly I should share first with my family and then with my friends. I am making the truth of this passage a part of my personal prayer focus for this year.

Just as I was beginning to write this brief article, I received an e-mail newsletter from friends who live and travel in ministry out of the Houston area. Joey and Betty Hamby have a wonderful ministry in the Word and in music, and they have been friends and co-workers for slightly over thirty years. They sent a letter to all the friends of their ministry expressing essentially the same thought that God had laid on my heart. The timing of the Hambys’ letter confirmed in my spirit that I was hearing from the Lord on this.

Briefly, here is what the Holy Spirit had impressed on my heart:

Psalm 5:11-12: “Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield” (ESV).

The Amplified Bible really helps to clarify some of what this passage has to say to us.

“But let all those who take refuge and put their trust in You rejoice; let them ever sing and shout for joy, because You make a covering over them and defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You and be in high spirits. For You, Lord, will bless the [uncompromisingly] righteous [him who is upright and in right standing with You]; as with a shield You will surround him with goodwill (pleasure and favor).”

Verse 11 – God says He will spread His protection over us. The word used for protection means “to hedge in, to fence about, to cover, to put things together (to weave) to form a hedge.”

Verse 12 – “For you bless.” The word bless used here means “to care for and protect” and it brings with it:

1.      God who responds positively to those who are upright (righteous and unafraid to be so).

2.      Power for success in all areas of life. This is true biblical prosperity—not limited to wealth and income but includes all areas of our life.

“You cover him with favor as with a shield.”

The word favor comes from a root word meaning “to be pleased with, to be delighted in, to be accepted, to be approved.”

The word shield in this verse is not speaking of a small, circular shield that covers only a small part of the body at a time. It is describing a large, oblong shield that a person could completely hide behind. God’s promise is that His favor will encompass/shield all of our life. We will be favored in the city; we will be favored in the country; we will be favored in our families; we will be favored in all that we do, in all areas of our life (see Deuteronomy 28:1-14).

“The Lord will command the blessing on you . . . in all that you undertake” (Deuteronomy 28:8).

As the Lord quickened these verses to my heart, I felt very strongly that I was to do two things. First, I was to claim these for myself and my family for this new year and, second, I was to pray these daily over each member of my family — Carol, Barb, Les, Josh, Faith and JD — and I am committed to doing that. Every day I pray for and speak the blessing of God on each member of my family. I believe God’s favor is going to be upon our family in a very special way in 2013!

Why am I sharing this with you? If these verses resonate at all with you, then I encourage you to lay hold of this truth for yourself, for your family and your loved ones.

Seeing the Lord’s favor resting on our lives has absolutely nothing to do with what is going on in the world around us. It has nothing to do with the ups and downs of the economy or the changing winds of politics—and everything to do with Him! When we are walking uprightly before the Lord, then His promises are released to manifest fully in our lives. Careless living and sin is an impediment to the flow of God’s favor.

I love the Lord! I love my family! I love my extended family (all Carol’s relatives and mine) and I love my friends.

This is the year of the Lord’s favor!