The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. ~ Jeremiah 31:31 (CEB)
You have come….. to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. ~Hebrews 12:22a,24a
KEY IDEA:
Jesus initiates new beginnings with him.
PRAYER:
Lord God, thank you for sticking with us even when we do not stick with you. Forgive my lack of faithfulness to you and your ways. Help me to more fully trust in the new covenant beginnings. I'm going stick close to Jesus. Amen.
You have turned my sorrow
into joyful dancing.
No longer am I sad
and wearing sackcloth. ~ Psalm 30:11 (CEV)
When one of them discovered that he was healed, he came back, shouting praises to God. ~ Luke 17:15 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
God turns sorrows into joys.
PRAYER:
God, with you I realize that my sadness does not have to last forever. You turn sorrow into joy. You lift my spirit with the thought that there is an end ahead. The darkness will not win. Your eternal healing will win out. Amen.
Listen, Lord, as I pray!
Pay attention when I groan.
You are my King and my God.
Answer my cry for help
because I pray to you. ~ Psalm 5:1-2 (CEV)
Right away the boy’s father shouted, “I do have faith! Please help me to have even more.” ~ Mark 9:24 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Go ahead and share your despair with God.
PRAYER:
Lord, you hear me when all the frustration overwhelms my faith. Forgive my lack of trust and please use my desperation to develop new faith within me. I am going to trust you no matter what. Thanks for listening. Amen.
Some people make cutting remarks,
but the words of the wise bring healing. ~ Proverbs 12:18 (NLT)
It takes strong winds to move a large sailing ship, but the captain uses only a small rudder to make it go in any direction. Our tongues are small too, and yet they brag about big things. ~ James 3:4-5 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Our words are powerful and potentially dangerous.
PRAYER:
Lord, you are totally wise and your words are always appropriate and timely. My words, on the other hand, are too many, too unfiltered, and too toxic. I am asking that the Holy Spirit would take control of my spoken and written words so that every single thing I say might bring healing. 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)
