“So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.”
-Hebrews 3:19
This chapter is recounting how God’s people back in the Old Testament were not able to enter into the Promised Land because they didn’t believe God. They missed out on the blessing of God because they didn’t believe in the word of God, in the power of God. And so the author Hebrews here is warning his readers, “Don’t do what they did. You will miss out on the blessing of God if you don’t believe in the word of God, and the power of God.”
Hebrews 3:19 Reminds Us of the Importance of Faith
And I hear that, I just think about my own life, your life, just driven to pray for myself, for us. God please help our unbelief. Lord we want to experience the fullness of your blessing, I want to experience the fullness of your blessing in my life. I trust that others do as well. And yet we know, we’re seeing, hearing here in Hebrews 3:19, that unbelief keeps us from experiencing your blessing.
In the face of temptation, may we turn from sin and trust in Christ. We want to experience all that God has designed for us through faith in Him.
So God save us from our unbelief. Just like we see at different points in the New Testament people coming up to Jesus and saying, “Help my unbelief,” Lord we pray for that, help us to believe your word. Help us to not doubt your word, help us to believe in your power, help us not to doubt your power. Help us to live by faith today.
We want to experience all that you have for us. We don’t want to miss out on your promises, your power working for us, your plans for our lives. So help us to believe you, all day long. When we are tempted to sin, help us to believe you, not to believe the lies of the adversary that says this or that is good for us. God help us to turn from that, help us not to miss out on your blessing because we fail to believe you.
Saying “Yes” to God
Oh God give us soft hearts towards you. Oh God help us to live by faith. Help us to lead by faith in our families, in our churches. God help us to lead others to trust in you. God we pray that you’d make us like Joshua and Caleb in that story in the Old Testament, who were saying yes we can take this land. Yes we can trust the word of God and the power of God to give it.
God give us courageous faith like that in our lives. Lord we want to experience all that you have designed for us. So help us to believe you, all day long. Help us to hear your word, believe and obey it, and trust your power. And in the process experience your blessing through belief in you. We pray this in Jesus’s name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
