Examination
God, see what is in my heart.
Know what is there.
Test me.
Know what I’m thinking.
See if there’s anything in my life you don’t like.
Help me live in the way that is always right. ~ Psalm 139:23-24 (NIRV)
I ask that Christ will live in your hearts through faith. ~ Ephesians 3:17 (CEB)
God, look inside me -- deep inside me -- beyond the clutter and the mixed motives. And as you peer in there I am trusting that you will see Christ and that you will welcome me into your presence because he is there. While you are looking in there tell me again if there is something that needs to go. I know that your Spirit has already been doing that. Thank you for your patience. I need lots of prompting. But you know that because you know how I think and operate. Guide me so that I'm walking on the right pathway. 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)
NRSV = New Revised Standard Version (© 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.) NTE = New Testament for Everyone (©2011 Nicolas Thomas Wright.)