The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2006 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 (“the essence”) to be helpful for my own soul.
The prayers are more or less modeled on the T.R.I.P. method, which is what I asked my students to use in their journaling. The T.R.I.P. method is a tool for prayer, meditation, and daily examination. It is very similar to a method Martin Luther taught in 1535 to his barber when he asked for guidance. Missionaries Walter and Ingrid Trobisch simplified it for a 20th-century cross-cultural audience. Then, Pastor Johan Hinderlie and his wife Sonja shaped it using the acronym T.R.I.P. through their work with Mount Carmel Ministries in 1989. They also began to apply it to the Moravian Daily Texts (Watchwords / Herrnhuter Losungen).
HOW IT WORKS
I use the T.R.I.P. method in two main ways. First, I apply it to my reading of the Moravian Daily Texts. I look for the common thread ("the essence") of the two texts. Then I begin to ask the T.R.I.P. questions as I formulate a prayer based on the format.
- THANKSGIVING: What in these verses triggers thankfulness in me?
- REGRET: What in these verses triggers regret — something I need to ask God to forgive?
- INTERCESSION: What is the message of these verses leading me to pray for?
- PURPOSE: What action does this text encourage me to take?
Secondly, I use this same pattern as I fall asleep at night. After saying the Lord's Prayer, I begin to think of and THANK God for the events, conversations, and interactions of the day. I then move on to ponder if there is anything I did during the day that I REGRET. That prompts a request that God would extend his forgiveness. If I'm still awake, I focus on things that need INTERCESSION. What is the Holy Spirit prompting me to pray about? Then, finally, I ask God what I should be PURPOSING to do tomorrow.
There is no one right way to use this tool. It can be modified and repurposed almost endlessly.
There is no one right way to use this tool. It can be modified and repurposed almost endlessly.
