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Sunday, November 16, 2025

CRYING OUT

The 23rd Sunday after Pentecost

PSALM 106:44-45 (MSG)
Still, when God saw the trouble they were in
and heard their cries for help,
He remembered his Covenant with them...


ACTS 7:59 (CEB)
As they battered him with stones, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, accept my life!”

THE ESSENCE
God answers our cries to him with responses that are for our best. 

DAILY FODDER
Was Stephen mad at God when his cries of desperation were his last words? Have you ever cried to God in desperation, only to have his response not be what were asking for? Why does that happen? Does it mean he isn’t paying attention? 

PRAYER
God, thank you for your well-practiced, listening love. I know you have heard the prayers of the faithful for generations. Help me to believe that you truly hear my prayers as well. Grow my trust that you receive all I release to you in prayer, no matter how loud or soft my cry may be. Amen. (Daily TextsGround Up Grace edition)

THE LORD’S PRAYER (ABP)
Our Father in Heaven,
     we hold your name in the highest regard.
Please come and establish your reign here on earth
     so that everything that happens here will align
     with what is happening in heaven.
Give us enough food for today.
Forgive us our wrongdoing,
     and we’ll forgive those who have wronged us.
Shield us from the trials and temptations that come our way.
Lastly, we pray that you will protect us from all forms of evil. 
Amen.

DAILYTEXTS.ORG

*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 — my own 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)

EEB = EasyEnglish Bible (©2015, MissionAssist)

ERV = Easy-To-Read Version (©2006, World Bible Translation Center)

GNT = Good News Translation (©1992, American Bible Society)

MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)

NCB = New Catholic Bible (©2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp.)

NCV = New Century Version (©2005, Thomas Nelson Inc)

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)

NRSVUE = New Revised Standard Version (© 2021 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.)

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