Let us live in awe of the Lord our God,
for he gives us rain each spring and fall,
assuring us of a harvest when the time is right. ~ Jeremiah 5:24 (NLT)
God sends rain from heaven and makes your crops grow. He gives food to you and makes your hearts glad. ~ Acts 14:17 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
The many good things that happen give us evidence of God's existence and his generous involvement in our lives.
PRAYER:
Thank you, Lord, for the rain that falls -- for the food that grows -- for the joy that I have in spite of the chaos in the world. I don't doubt your existence or your involvement. Sometimes I don't act like I believe but that is because I'm full of self and allow myself to get distracted. Help me to tune into your presence and your presents. I'm going to live in awe of you. Amen.
The Lord said to Elijah: But seven thousand Israelites have refused to worship Baal, and they will live. ~ 1 Kings 19:18 (CEV)
You have stayed with me in my time of trial. ~ Luke 22:28 (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
Those who stay faithful to the Lord will experience the life he gives.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for your faithfulness to us -- your undeserving people. You are indeed a God of grace, offering full acceptance to those who accept your grace and stick with you. I'm not perfectly faithful. Help me to trust your faithfulness and allow it to become the seed of faithfulness in me. I'm going to grow in faithfulness and the life of Christ. Amen.
Or suppose I said, “I’ll hide
in the dark
until night comes
to cover me over.”
But you see in the dark
because daylight and dark
are all the same to you. ~ Psalm 139:11-12 (CEV)
Jesus told us that God is light and doesn’t have any darkness in him. Now we are telling you. ~ 1 John 1:5 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
God can see in the dark so there is no hiding from him. We should then live in the light.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for the light which makes my life better. But silly me -- I try to hide in the dark when I'm not living according to your way. Flood my life with your light so that I can better see the benefits of following Jesus.
It only makes sense to build my life within the light. I make fewer mistakes that way. Amen.
And it turned out as he said—daily food for her and her family. The jar of meal didn’t run out and the bottle of oil didn’t become empty: God’s promise fulfilled to the letter, exactly as Elijah had delivered it! ~ 1 Kings 17:16 (MSG)
Give us each day the food we need... ~ Luke 11:3 (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
We can continue to expect the Lord to provide what we need to keep going.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for keeping me going. You provide just enough -- and sometimes even more. But we continue to act as though things are going to get scarce. I worry over the future. Relive me of that anxiety.
Help me to lean into what I know about your constant care and provision from past experience. I am confident that you will not forget about me. 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)
