Someday, a king of Israel will appear like a star. ~ Numbers 24:17 (part/CEV)
God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to him. ~ 1 Peter 5:7 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
No need to worry -- God will take care of it -- if you let him.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for your care. I understand just a little of how much you care. But I am thankful for what I understand and even for what I don't yet understand. Reign in my unnecessary anxiety. Help me to give it all to you and to trust you to take care of me. I know that I will live better that way. Amen.
THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN EASTERTIDE
You, Lord God,
are my protector.
Rescue me and keep me safe
from all who chase me. ~ Psalm 7:1 (CEV)
Jesus prayed: Father, I don’t ask you to take my followers out of the world, but keep them safe from the evil one. ~ John 17:15 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Jesus' goal is that we would be kept safe from evil.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for looking out for me. We have different goals, though. I'm wishing that you would protect me from anything that would disrupt life as I want to live it. But you are focused on keeping me safe and helping me to get through the disruptions in one piece. I need a new perspective shaped by your agenda. Please intervene. I'm going to trust that part of being safe is knowing that you know what is best for me. Amen.
The danger of death was all around me;
the horrors of the grave closed in on me;
I was filled with fear and anxiety.
Then I called to the Lord,
“I beg you, Lord, save me!” ~ Psalm 116:3-4 (GNT)
Jesus' disciples woke him and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re about to drown?”
Jesus got up and ordered the wind and the waves to be quiet. The wind stopped, and everything was calm. ~ Mark 4:38b-39 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Call out to Jesus when the storm in your life is raging and he will take care of you.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, I'm in awe of the way that you stopped that storm. I wish you'd stop the storm around me. But I knonw that you don't always do things in exactly the same way. I do know that you will take care of me. I am counting on that. Please remove all the panic from my life so that I can fully trust you. Amen.
Solomon said: “But can you, O God, really live on earth? Not even all of heaven is large enough to hold you, so how can this Temple that I have built be large enough?" ~ 1 Kings 8:27 (GNT)
No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love! ~ 1 John 4:12 (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
While neither the heavens and earth -- nor the temples -- can contain God -- when we love he dwells in us.
PRAYER:
God, you are such a mystery. You can't be contained within creation; yet you dwell in the people who act in love. How can this be? Forgive me for allowing myself to be paralyzed by what I don't understand. Help me to move forward in simple faith and to major in loving the others. I am confident that as I express your love to others, you are living in me. What a joyous mystery! 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)
