Everyone he has brought from the east and the west,
the north and the south... You should praise the Lord
for his love
and for the wonderful things
he does for all of us. ~ Psalm 107:3,8 (CEV)
“The servant reported back, ‘Master, I did what you commanded—and there’s still room.’
“The master said, ‘Then go to the country roads. Whoever you find, drag them in. I want my house full! ~ Luke 14:22-23 (MSG)
SUMMARY SENTENCE:
God is welcoming.
PRAYER:
Thank you, God, for the invitation to participate in your Kingdom feast. I confess my distraction and propensity to fill up on fast food while I'm on the way to the feast. Keep me focused and hungry for the best. I'm going to join with all the other revelers in the packed house to sing of your love and justice. Amen.
The 4th Sunday in Eastertide
Abner called out to Joab, “Are we going to keep killing each other till doomsday? Don’t you know that nothing but bitterness will come from this? ~ 2 Samuel 2:26 (MSG)
God chose you and wants you to live at peace. ~ 1 Corinthians 7:15 (CEV)
SUMMARY SENTENCE:
God has called us to prioritize peace.
PRAYER:
You know, O Lord, the recipe of the world. Those who live by the sword die by the sword. Too often my words are sharp and defensive. Help me to lay down my verbal weapons and take up the instrument of peace. Grant me patience, a double dose of humility, and a cup running over with grace. Amen. (Daily Texts, Mount Carmel Ministries edition)
Don’t chase me away from you
or take your Holy Spirit
away from me. ~ Psalm 51:11 (CEV)
Our prayers for you are always spilling over into thanksgivings. We can’t quit thanking God our Father and Jesus our Messiah for you!.. God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much... ~ Colossians 1:3,13 (MSG)
SUMMARY SENTENCE:
God is on our side.
PRAYER:
Thank you, God, for standing by my side even when I flake out and wander into dark places. Yet, you protect me even then. Stabilize
me so that I more consciously live in your love. I'm going to be on your side. Amen.
God answered Moses, “So, do you think I can’t take care of you? You’ll see soon enough whether what I say happens for you or not.” ~ Numbers 11:23 (MSG)
Why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow. They don’t work hard to make their clothes. But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth wasn’t as well clothed as one of them... Don’t worry and ask yourselves, “Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?” ~ Matthew 6:28-29,31 (CEV)
SUMMARY SENTENCE:
God will take care of things, so stop worrying.
PRAYER:
Thank you, God, for taking good care of me up to this point. I know that you will take care of me again but for some reason I can't turn off the worry. The ongoing pandemic, my health issues, the political chaos and disappointment, the trouble with the economy and how that will affect my finances... Reassure me again so that I can let go of the worries and live fully in the gift of this moment. I'm going to meditate on these verses for awhile. 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)
