LENT
The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me,
and I have listened.
I have not rebelled or turned away. ~ Isaiah 50:5 (NLT)
If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you’ll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment’s notice. ~ John 12:26a (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
Follow close to Jesus so you can eagerly serve the Lord.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for including me on your team of disciples. Forgive me when I'm more interested in being served than in serving. Blind me to the distractions which would keep me from serving only you. I'm going to stick close to Jesus. Amen.
LENT
God says: "You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again." ~ Genesis 3:19 (GNT)
Adam brought death to all of us, and Christ will bring life to all of us. ~ 1 Corinthians 15:22 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Christ came to reverse the death that was unleashed by Adam.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, you are the reason that we are alive -- really truly alive. Thank you for coming into the world and making the sacrifice that brings us life. Forgive me for being so slow to share that life with others. This Easter I'm going to look for a new way to tell people about your resurrection. Amen.
LENT
The Lord has given comfort to his people; he comes to your rescue. ~ Isaiah 52:9b (CEV)
You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God’s gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. ~ Ephesians 2:8 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
All the good things we have which make life liveable are undeserved gifts from God.
PRAYER:
Lord, you have certainly treated me much better than I deserve. Why is it then, that I so easily slip into trying to earn your favor -- trying to make myself look and feel deserving? Help me to repent of such presumption and to totally trust in your grace. I'm going to enjoy your gifts and allow them to transform my life so that Christ my gracious Savior is better recognized by all who encounter me. Amen.
LENT
We have put our hope in you, O Lord our God, because you are the one who does these things. ~ Jeremiah 14:22b (GNT)
We are certain that God will hear our prayers when we ask for what pleases him. ~ 1 John 5:14 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
We put our hope in God and his agenda because he is reliable.
PRAYER:
God, thank you for hearing us. We are certain that you hear our prayers when we ask for what pleases you. Of course, this is where we trip up, too. Somehow I have accepted the idea that what pleases me the most is what pleases you. Instead of making our relationship about you and your agenda I try to make it about me and my agenda. Help me to think more clearly on this matter. My goal is to be all about you and your agenda. My hope is in you. 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)
