Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. ~ Psalm 51:12 (NRSV)
You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. ~ John 16:20b (NLT)
SUMMARY SENTENCE:
Be encouraged because the joy from God will prevail over the sadness.
PRAYER:
Loving God, I take comfort in the fact that you understand grief and sorrow. Jesus died. I am too often allowing the sorrows of life to overwhelm and control me. Refresh my faith so that the joy which flows out of your salvation prevails. I'm going to celebrate the coming good news that overshadows the grief. Amen.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. ~ Zephaniah 3:15b (NRSV)
Jesus asked them, “Why are you frightened? Don’t you have faith yet?” ~ Mark 4:40 (CEB)
SUMMARY SENTENCE:
As we realize that the Lord is present we come to understand that fear is not in charge.
PRAYER:
Thank you, gracious God, for being here and making yourself known. However, I have not fully tapped into that reality and I let fear drive too much of how I function. When I start to become fearful peek around the corner and show your face. Increase my faith so that I can live fear-free. Amen.
I write out my revelation for them in detail
and they pretend they can’t read it. ~ Hosea 8:12 (MSG)
Jesus said: “I was born into this world to tell about the truth. And everyone who belongs to the truth knows my voice.” ~ John 18:37b (CEV)
SUMMARY SENTENCE:
Those who genuinely know Jesus listen to him and do what he tells them to do.
PRAYER:
God, thank you for talking to us. I confess that I participate in the age-old practice of selective listening. I talk about how I'm with Jesus but then I conveniently miss half of what he says. Cure me of my poor hearing. Give me a heart for doing. When it comes to communication from you, I want to listen and do. Amen.
Palm Sunday
The whole choir blesses God. ~ Psalm 68:26 (MSG)
The next day the huge crowd that had arrived for the Feast heard that Jesus was entering Jerusalem. They broke off palm branches and went out to meet him. And they cheered:
Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!
Yes! The King of Israel!
~ John 12:12-13 (MSG)
SUMMARY SENTENCE:
Join the choir in honoring God.
PRAYER:
Lord, God, on this Palm Sunday we thank you for sending a king such as Jesus. We know where the parade ended up and the sacrifice that he made on our behalf. Forgive me for offering half-hearted praise because I am distracted by my own agendas for life. Help me to join your parade, regardless of where it leads. I'm going to join the choir in blessing you with enthusiastic praise. 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)
