Humble authority
You gave them charge of everything you made,
putting all things under their authority. ~ Psalm 8:6 (NLT)
God blesses those people
who are humble.
The earth will belong
to them! ~ Matthew 5:5 (CEV)
Lord, somehow we all got the idea that authority means acting powerful -- showing everyone that you're strong and in charge -- getting as many people as possible to do what you want. That's how the world thinks. But you think differently. You give genuine authority to people who act humbly. You bless the humble. Forgive me when I start to think of weapons and aggression as the only way to get things done. You have a different way of looking at things. And you favor those who think like you. Help me to be the way that you want me to be. Help me to accept my role as a humble authority -- starting now. Amen.
*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS
The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2015 I started posting these Bible verses for my spiritual formation students at Pacific Islands University. In the process of responding to the verses, I found the rhythm of looking for a common thread and writing a prayer based on that key idea to be helpful for my own soul. The prayers are more or less modeled on the TRIP method, which is what I ask my students to do in their journaling. ~ Brad Boydston
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase -- a freestyle biblical adaptation -- somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
