Here is today’s devotion to start your day.
Available now at Power, Love & Miracles:
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A Vision in the Temple: Isaiah. The Bible Unplugged podcast, episode 60
Sunset’s Dawn, Part 11- Eileen Janicek’s death brings Jake and Jen closer
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Scripture: Luke 1:13
“Your prayer is heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.”
Reflection
Zacharias had likely stopped praying for a child.
He and Elizabeth were well past the age of childbearing. The silence in their home echoed the silence in the temple—God had not spoken through a prophet in four hundred years. Hope, for many, had turned into ritual. Faith had become a routine.
But heaven had not forgotten.
When the angel appeared beside the altar of incense and spoke Zacharias’ name, he didn’t just announce a miracle—he revealed that every tear, every whispered longing, every ache of the barren years had been heard. Your prayer is heard.
It’s stunning to think that God breaks four centuries of prophetic silence by answering the forgotten prayers of an old priest. Not a king. Not a prophet. Not a general. A man in the temple, just doing his job, carrying sorrow with him every day.
God doesn’t forget. He doesn’t overlook. He remembers His people—and He remembers His promises.
The story of Christmas begins not with a virgin, but with a barren womb. Not with bright lights, but with an old man lighting incense in a dark room. Because God often begins redemption in the places we’ve quietly given up.
And sometimes the prayers we stop praying are the very ones God still intends to answer.
Centering Prayer
Faithful God,
You never forget what I’ve buried in silence. You remember the ache, the longing, the quiet hope. Let me trust You again with what feels forgotten. Stir my soul with the boldness to believe that You are still answering. – Amen
Practice for Today
Write down a prayer you’ve stopped praying—one that feels too delayed or impossible. Offer it to God again today, not because you know how it will be answered, but because He remembers.
Journaling Prompt
What longing or prayer have I buried in silence that God may still be holding tenderly?
Blessing for the Day
God remembers the prayers you’ve whispered in the dark.
He has not forgotten the ache you thought was unnoticed.
Your silence is not a void—it’s an altar where hope waits.
Lift your eyes. God’s answer is already on the way.
Pray As You Go
Breathe in: You have not forgotten…
Breathe out: … You still remember me