New direction
Before I suffered, I took the wrong way,
but now I do what you say. ~ Psalm 119:67 (CEB)
When Saul had almost reached Damascus, a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice that said, “Saul! Saul! Why are you so cruel to me?” ~ Acts 9:3–4 (CEV)
Lord, one of the most amazing things about you is that you allow us to change course. You are patient with us -- giving us time to figure out that we need to go in a new direction. It is unfortunate that we do a lot of damage to ourselves and others when we're going the wrong direction. But you still let us figure out that something has to change. Sometimes it takes a dramatic event to get me moving in a new direction. I apologize for being so slow to change. Please don't give up on me. Keep nudging me along. I want to go your direction. 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)
