Not to us, Lord, not to us—
no, but to your own name give glory
because of your loyal love and faithfulness! ~ Psalm 115:1 (CEB)
Our Father who is in heaven, uphold the holiness of your name. ~ Matthew 6:9b (CEB)
KEY IDEA:
Keep recognizing how special God is.
PRAYER:
You Lord -- your name -- is the only one worthy of total recognition. You are so different from all the other powers and powerful wannabes. You are driven by love and faithfulness. You will not let me down. But I get so caught up in trying to make a name for myself that I barely pause to recognize yours. Keep reminding me so that I can uphold the holiness of your name. That's my goal. Amen.
Your reputation is at stake! Don’t quit on us!
Don’t walk out and abandon your glorious Temple! ~ Jeremiah 14:21a (MSG)
Paul writes: God chose you, and we keep praying that God will make you worthy of being his people. We pray for God’s power to help you do all the good things that you hope to do and that your faith makes you want to do. ~ 2 Thessalonians 1:11 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
God's power will help us do what he wants us to do.
PRAYER:
Lord, we are grateful for the way that you are reliable. You stand with us and you give us the power to do everything you want us to do. I admit that I have doubts about my ability to stay faithful to you and your mission. I am easily distracted. Use some of your power to help me overcome the doubts that bother me. I'm going to trust in you and your power. Amen.
THE 5th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Praise the name of God forever and ever,
for he has all wisdom and power. ~ Daniel 2:20 (NLT)
John (the Baptist) answered: "It’s not possible for a person to succeed—I’m talking about eternal success—without heaven’s help..." ~ John 3:27 (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
Look only to the Lord for your success in life.
PRAYER:
All praise belongs to you, God, forever and ever. You are the source of all that is wise and successful. I do, though, put unnecessary pressure on myself to achieve success. I enjoy the recognition. Help me to tune out all of the competing theories and approaches to success. I want to major in the kind of success that you measure. Amen.
The Lord will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. ~ 1 Samuel 12:22a (NLT)
You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us -- in one stroke he became poor and we became rich. ~ 2 Corinthians 8:9 (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
The Lord always takes care of his people -- even when he has to make sacrifices.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, thank you for giving up your safe place in heaven -- and then giving up your own life -- so that you could come to be with us. Our lives are richer because of your sacrifices. Forgive me for placing too much value on the material riches in the world. Show me again how rich I really am through you. I'm going to honor your name with my life. 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)
