Daily Devotional – ‘In His Footstep’
By Kingdom Support Initiatives (KSi)
January 11th 2023

Focus on God and Growth: Lessons from David (I)
So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands (Psalms 78:72, NKJV)
Bible Reading: Psalm 55
David is another example we can learn from. He grew from a teenager-shepherd to an adult king who led the Israelites with the integrity of heart and skillfulness of hands. The first time we heard about David in the Bible, he was “tending the sheep” (1 Samuel 16:11). He took this task of sheep tending seriously. In 1 Samuel 17:34-35, he would later describe his experience of killing a lion and a bear with his bare hands as he was about to fight against Goliath. David shows us that responsibility can help us grow because growth is a process that happens through taking-on responsibility. Growth does not take place overnight. It requires tremendous hard work, consistency, and diligence. David learnt to worship and pray to God evening, morning and noon (Psalm 55:17). David learnt to be alone with God and built the discipline of delighting and meditating on God’s word (Psalm 1) and worshipping God seven times daily (Psalm 119:164). David built himself in solitude, with fasting and prayer (Psalm 69:10-11; 109:24-25;), and God gave him success in tending the sheep. Later on, he would lead God’s people, the Israelites. Dear friends, embrace God’s discipline this year. Discern what God is doing as you pass through different experiences and choose to follow the process.
Daily Confession: I receive the gift of discernment to discern my experiences and give myself unto discipline this year in Jesus’ name.
Intercessory prayer: Pray for schools, universities, research centres and training facilities around for these spaces to become a place where God’s righteousness will be enthroned and godly values will be built into students 
Hymn: I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day;
Still praying as I onward bound,
‘Lord, plant my feet on higher ground’