Click the play link above (keep this document in the same folder as the audio file “MotivatedByFaith-Monday.mp3”). The timestamps in parentheses below show where each part begins, so you can read and listen together.
This program opens the way every Monday should begin — with the Lord’s own word to His disciples: “Have faith in God.” Jesus promised that faith even as small as a mustard seed can move mountains, and the disciples answered with the prayer we all need: “Lord, increase our faith” (Luke 17:5). The recording is really two programs in one. First comes Motivated by Faith Monday, a walk through five beloved songs from the host’s “2026 Favorites” playlist. Then follows the Pilgrims’ Joy Devotional, two short meditations drawn from cherished hymns. What follows is a list of the messages, so you can carry each one with you through the week.
Part One — Motivated by Faith Monday: Five Songs to Lift Your Faith
The host shares songs he has been playing “over and over again,” and lets each one preach. Take them in order — each builds on the last.
1. “Just a Little Talk with Jesus” — Prayer makes it right (in the recording from 02:15)
The song’s promise is simple: a little talk with Jesus makes it right. Is that true? The Holy Spirit answers through Paul. Whatever is uppermost in your heart this morning — for yourself, your children, your spouse, your work, your nation, or a brother or sister who needs the Lord’s touch — take it to Him.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. — Philippians 4:6–7
The second verse sings, “I go to Him in prayer, He knows my every care.” Our Lord said the same:
Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him… Do not worry… But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. — Matthew 6:8, 31–33
Take it to heart: Do not carry your worry one more hour. Right now, where you are, say a short prayer — “Lord, have mercy and intervene” — and wait for Him. Instead of worrying, pray.
2. “The Days of Elijah” & “There Is No God Like Jehovah” — Bring large petitions (in the recording from 11:25)
These are still the days of Elijah — and of Moses, Ezekiel, David. The miracles of those days can still happen now, because the God of those days has not changed. Elijah was “a man with a nature like ours” (James 5:17), yet he prayed and the heavens obeyed. So do not shrink back with timid requests.
As the old hymn says, “Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring.” You have come before the King of kings — so bring large petitions.
And then, with Judy Jacobs, the program declares again and again: there is no God like Jehovah. The Lord Himself asks the question that settles every difficulty:
Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? — Jeremiah 32:27
Scripture after scripture repeats the same confession — make them your own prayer back to God:
- Therefore You are great, O Lord GOD. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You. (2 Samuel 7:22)
- Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? (Exodus 15:11)
- There is none like You, O LORD; You are great, and Your name is great in might. (Jeremiah 10:6)
- LORD God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You. (1 Kings 8:23)
Take it to heart: If you have chosen not to take a matter to God, you are only depriving yourself of His intervention. “Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh, what needless pain we bear.” Bring the hard thing — the impossible thing — to the One who has no equal, and ask Him to make this week a jubilee, like those who “were like them that dream” (Psalm 126).
3. “I Shall Not Be Moved” — An exuberant declaration of faith (in the recording from 22:23)
The host reads Psalm 27 — titled in some Bibles “An Exuberant Declaration of Faith” — and prays you will be that confident: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” The song answers like a tree planted by the waters: I shall not be moved. But notice the reason why.
I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. — Psalm 16:8
Not because I am strong, not because I trust my own resolve — only because He is at my right hand. That is the whole secret. More witnesses say the same:
- He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. (Psalm 62:6)
- Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. (Psalm 112:6)
- God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. (Psalm 46:5)
Take it to heart: Set the Lord always before you, and then say to the world, to Satan, to sin, and to all the vicissitudes of life: He is at my right hand, He is within me — I shall not be moved.
4. “God Is With Us” — The Christian’s only confidence (in the recording from 31:34)
The host reads Psalm 46 in full and arrives at its iconic refrain, repeated twice for good reason:
The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. — Psalm 46:7, 11
“God is with us” is the ultimate confidence of the Christian — the only confidence, indeed. Is someone lying on a sickbed? God is with you. Passing through the valley of the shadow of death? God is with you. “In this world or in the next, over all our circumstances, Christ our Lord shall reign as King.”
And looking back over every deliverance, the saints who have gone before us sang the same song:
“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,” let Israel now say… Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth. — Psalm 124:1–6
Take it to heart: To everything that threatens your peace — to the fears gnawing at your heart, to the devil, to sin and the world — let your one answer be: God is with us. That is sufficient. That is enough.
5. “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” — Carry everything to God (in the recording from 42:16)
The program closes with the song the host loves “not just because I love to play it, but because it captures everything for the pilgrim.” If you are burdened and sad, it is only because you have not taken it all to God in prayer. What a privilege — to carry not just the big burdens, not just the small ones, but everything, including your griefs and your sins and guilt, to God in prayer.
Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. — 1 Peter 5:7
The Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. — Romans 8:26
Take it to heart: This privilege was bought by the blood of Jesus shed on Calvary. “Oh, what peace we often forfeit… all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” So carry it all — and experience Him as Friend and Saviour this new week.
Part Two — Pilgrims’ Joy Devotional: Two Hymn Meditations
The second program turns from singing to meditating, drawing rich comfort from two great hymns. Both were written and read by Olufemi Oguntokun for the Pilgrims’ Joy Devotional.
6. “How Firm a Foundation” — What more can He say? (in the recording from 50:39)
You can almost hear the preacher’s holy frustration with the doubting, fear-paralyzed, about-to-give-up believer: You still do not know how firm a foundation has been laid for your faith in God’s excellent Word? What more can He say than to you He has said? What more do you need to take courage and look to the future with hope?
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. — Isaiah 41:10
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned. — Isaiah 43:2
Even to your old age… I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. — Isaiah 46:4
Your security rests in the hands of your Saviour:
- I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. (John 10:28)
- I will never leave you nor forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)
Take it to heart: Do not let the Holy Spirit be grieved by your unbelief. Take the Lord at His word: arise in faith, go to Calvary to be cleansed, go to the mercy seat for healing, guidance, provision, and assurance for the future. To the soul that has fled to Jesus for repose, He says, “I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.”
7. “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand” — His oath, His covenant, His blood (in the recording from 59:31)
“When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.” But what gives the pilgrim such confidence? The hymn answers in one line: “His oath, His covenant, His blood support me in the whelming flood.” These are the three pillars of the Rock that is Jesus Christ. When the flood rises and you wonder whether His grace will hold, the Holy Spirit calls you by name and asks: Has He not given you His oath? His covenant? His blood?
His oath — for God cannot lie:
God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? — Numbers 23:19
By Himself He has sworn… “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” — Hebrews 13:5
His covenant — everlasting and sure:
I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. — Jeremiah 31:33
His blood — always powerful:
- The blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:24)
- The blood that cleanses our conscience to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:14)
- The blood that gives us boldness to enter the Most Holy Place. (Hebrews 10:19)
Take it to heart: An oath He will never withdraw, a covenant that is everlasting, a blood that is always powerful — this is why the pilgrim stands and sings, “On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” Choose Jesus today, choose Jesus tomorrow, choose Jesus as long as you have breath. When all around gives way, He will be your hope and stay.
A Prayer to Carry Into the Week
“Lord, increase my faith. Set Yourself always before me, that I shall not be moved. Help me to bring everything to You in prayer — large petitions and small — and to rest in Your oath, Your covenant, and the precious blood