Isaiah 35:7. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs.

• DAY 13 BIBLE READING

John 14-21


• DAY 13 PRAYER DEVOTIONAL

Isaiah 35:7

Claudio Friedzen, author of ‘Holy Spirit, I am hungry for you’ and pastor of a large church in Buenos Aires, in Argentine says that ‘deserts are times of preparation.’

He reminds us that Deuteronomy 8 2-3 says ‘remember how the Lord God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and test up in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.’

Friedzen says that deserts are the places where God teaches us. He teaches us through the circumstances of life. Through these we are shaped, cleansed and strengthened. In the desert of trials, God deals with our character. They are times of brokenness, so that from our inner being the precious perfume of the Spirit may flow freely.

God led Elijah to a brook in the midst of a great period of drought. Very often God dries up the brook for us and leads us to pray, fast and to seek his face, because the circumstances that surround us have become adverse.

What is God’s purpose in doing this? He knows that through the desert experience bubbling springs can come forth. Allow God to teach you in your desert that the only fountain is Himself.

Hebrews 12 5-6 says ‘ My son do not make light of the Lord’s discipline and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.’


• Lord thank you for calling me as your son, for discipling and transforming me through the Holy Spirit from day to day. Turn the trials that I am facing at present that feel like a desert into opportunities for the Holy Spirit to flow through my life. I thirst for you Holy Spirit. Come and break through my challenging circumstances … let my burning sand become a pool turn my thirsty ground into bubbling springs, I pray.

Friedzen, C. Holy Spirit I am hungry for you, 17-42