Your sins keep my blessings at a distance. ~ Jeremiah 5:25 (MSG)
“Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’” ~ Luke 18:13 (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
Ironically, our sin often keeps us from realizing that God wants to bless us with forgiveness.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for your mercy. However, I am often so self-confident that I am unaware of my need for your mercy and forgiveness. I realize that I need to become more like the humbled taxman, aware of his own brokenness and his inability to make things right. I'm going to trust you to straighten out the mess that I've created for myself.
I know that I can't do it. But Jesus has already acted on my behalf. Amen.
Lord, you have been our help, generation after generation. Before the mountains were born, before you birthed the earth and the inhabited world— from forever in the past to forever in the future, you are God. ~ Psalm 90:1-12 (CEB)
We have only one God, and he is the Father. He created everything, and we live for him. Jesus Christ is our only Lord. Everything was made by him, and by him life was given to us. ~ 1 Corinthians 8:6 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
God is the forever creator of all and all of creation answers to him.
PRAYER:
Creator God, you are over all. I confess, though, that I worry about how things are going to work out -- even though I know that you created everything. Help me to relax in the knowledge that you are over all and in ultimate control. I'm simply going to trust you. Amen.
O God, you’re the hope of Israel. All who leave you end up as fools, deserters with nothing to show for their lives, who walk off from God, fountain of living waters— and wind up dead! ~ Jeremiah 17:13 (MSG)
Come, everything is ready! ~ Luke 14:17 (GNT)
KEY IDEA:
God is eager to fill your stomach, so don't turn away and ignore him.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for providing so well for us. I am especially thankful for the living water who is Jesus. Keep me close to you because even with lots of good food I am prone to wander. I don't want to miss anything that you're serving. Amen.
He is the living God,
the one who lives forever.
His power and his kingdom
will never end. ~ Daniel 6:26 (CEV)
Father, help us
to honor your name.
Come and set up
your kingdom. ~ Luke 11:2 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
We purpose to be a part of the kingdom that God is establishing through Jesus.
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 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)
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)
