The 22nd Sunday after Pentecost
Unless the Lord protects a city,
guarding it with sentries will do no good. ~ Psa.m 127:1b (NLT)
It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. ~ 1 Corinthians 3:7 (NLT)
KEY THOUGHT:
God is the key player behind all the goodness we experience.
PRAYER:
Loving God, your gifts are many and great. Thank you for all the good that I have experienced. I confess that I seek to be recognized for what you have given to me. It is so easy for me to focus on my small role in your endeavors without even mentioning you. Help me to be honest enough to give credit to whom it is due. I'm going to draw and sustain the focus onto you. Amen.
Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? ~ Isaiah 40:13 (NLT)
Since we are God’s children, we must not think that he is like an idol made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn’t like anything that humans have thought up and made. ~ Acts 17:29 (CEV)
KEY THOUGHT:
God is in a league of his own; so don't pretend that you know enough to be his advisor.
PRAYER:
Lord God, thank you for being there for me. I confess that I'm not always the best of company. I sometimes take it upon myself to give you advice. Help me to accept my place as someone who listens and learns. I'm going to savor the fact that your ways will always be a mystery to me. Amen.
"Don’t stop praying!" they told Samuel. "Ask the Lord our God to rescue us." ~ 1 Samuel 7:8 (CEV)
If you have sinned, you should tell each other what you have done. Then you can pray for one another and be healed. The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot. ~ James 5:16 (CEV)
KEY THOUGHT:
The prayers of a godly person are powerful.
PRAYER:
Thank you, God, for giving us people who will pray for us. I confess that I'm too casual about praying for people. I say I will but then I forget. Help me to remember so that others will be healed. I anticipate that you will be changing the lives around me. Amen.
Like our ancestors we are nomadic aliens -- displaced refugees. Everything feels so unsettled and temporary. Our days on earth seem hopeless -- like an ever shifting shadow. ~ 1 Chronicles 29:15 (ABP)
Jesus said: ‘There is no shortage of room in my father's house. There's a home for all who want to live with him.’ ~ John 14:2 (ABP)
KEY THOUGHT:
All who feel displaced are welcome to live in God's house.
PRAYER:
Dear God, thank you for the invitation to live with you. I confess my procrastination toward moving in with you. I'm taking my time.
Help me to more fully realize that it isn't really "my" time but that you are eager for us to live together starting now. I'm going to settle down with 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 — 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)
