TRUST THE LORD
The First Sunday after the Epiphany
ISAIAH 31:1 (CEV)
You are in for trouble
if... you depend on
an army of chariots
or a powerful cavalry.
Instead you should depend on
and trust
the holy Lord God
of Israel.
HEBREWS 2:1 (CEB)
This is why it’s necessary for us to pay more attention to what we have heard, or else we may drift away from it.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Put your trust in the Lord rather than in commanding and controlling power.
PRAYER
God, you are the almighty -- the one to whom all are accountable. Yet, we rely a lot on having access to the kind of power which is so prevalent in the current world system. Forgive us our false dependency and free us to trust you to make things right. I'm going to look to you not only as the measure of justice, but also as the source of it. Amen.
THE LORD'S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.
*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS
The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2011 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)
