{"id":4173,"date":"2024-04-11T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/?p=4173"},"modified":"2024-04-11T07:45:37","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T23:45:37","slug":"daily-devotion-april-11-2024-return-to-sender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/2024\/04\/11\/daily-devotion-april-11-2024-return-to-sender\/","title":{"rendered":"Daily Devotion (April 11, 2024): Return to Sender"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; admin_label=&#8221;section&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; da_disable_devices=&#8221;off|off|off&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; da_is_popup=&#8221;off&#8221; da_exit_intent=&#8221;off&#8221; da_has_close=&#8221;on&#8221; da_alt_close=&#8221;off&#8221; da_dark_close=&#8221;off&#8221; da_not_modal=&#8221;on&#8221; da_is_singular=&#8221;off&#8221; da_with_loader=&#8221;off&#8221; da_has_shadow=&#8221;on&#8221;][et_pb_row admin_label=&#8221;row&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Text&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.21.2&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><strong style=\"font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--medium);\">TODAY&#8217;S DEVOTIONAL PASSAGE<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote is-style-default\" style=\"border-color: #0693e3;\">\n<blockquote>\n<p><em><strong>Please read Psalm 35:10-17<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And my prayer kept returning to my bosom.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Psalms\u202c \u202d35:13b\u202c<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><!-- \/divi:pullquote --><!-- divi:paragraph {\"align\":\"center\",\"fontSize\":\"medium\"} --><\/figure>\n<h1 class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><strong>DEVOTIONAL<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><em>by <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sandra Chua<\/span><\/em><\/span><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><!-- \/divi:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><!-- divi:paragraph {\"fontSize\":\"normal\"} --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you remember slow mail? In the 1970s, we had to write letters physically by hand, bring them to the post office, and wait. Sometimes,\u00a0 some letters would come back unopened with a rubber stamp mark saying, &#8220;Return to Sender.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">David had been running away from Saul, and it seemed that Saul did not give up until David died. Again and again, Saul tells David he will not pursue him anymore,\u00a0 but David repeatedly finds himself in danger from the same threat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scholars say David was on the run for around 15 years; as David prayed for deliverance each day and waited, his prayers returned to his bosom unanswered. Burdened by the same concerns, he repeatedly gives them all back to the Lord, as shown in the many psalms in the Bible.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I have prayers that return to my bosom seemingly unanswered, too. My SOP (standard operating procedure) would be to send them back to the Lord, and also repeatedly until He answers. This is the essence of waiting for the Lord.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What do you do with your prayers that keep returning to you unanswered? Do not give up. The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. Matthew 7:7 says, &#8220;Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><strong>REFLECTION<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What do you do when God does not seem to be answering your prayers? <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><strong>PRAYER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dear heavenly Father, You are ever faithful despite our unfaithfulness. Forgive us our sins and help us overcome our unbelief. When You seem silent and far away, help us discern our offenses so that we may confess them to You. When You do not seem to hear, strengthen our faith and help us hold on to Your promises in Jesus&#8217; name, amen.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/divi:paragraph -->[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TODAY&#8217;S DEVOTIONAL PASSAGE Please read Psalm 35:10-17 And my prayer kept returning to my bosom. Psalms\u202c \u202d35:13b\u202c DEVOTIONAL by Sandra Chua Do you remember slow mail? In the 1970s, we had to write letters physically by hand, bring them to the post office, and wait. Sometimes,\u00a0 some letters would come back unopened with a rubber [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotionals","category-text-devo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4173"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4176,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4173\/revisions\/4176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}