Perhaps you're good at fooling people. But how can you possibly imagine that God is so gullible? ~ Job 13:9b (ABP)
Test yourselves and find out if you really are true to your faith. If you pass the test, you will discover that Christ is living in you. But if Christ isn’t living in you, you have failed. ~ 2 Corinthians 13:5 (CEV)
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Don't be so gullible as to think that you can fool God. If Christ is living in you it will show inside and out.
PRAYER
Gracious God, thank you for sending the living Christ to live in me. I confess that I've gotten pretty good at fooling myself into believing that I'm more Christ-like than I am. Put me to the test so we can cook out the impurities and so that Christ can fully live through me. I'm going to become more realistic about who I am and what I can become. Amen.
You alone know the human heart. ~ 1 Kings 8:39b (CEB)
May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech. ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (MSG)
SUMMARY SENTENCE
God knows us on the deepest of levels and yet he still lavishes us with his gifts.
PRAYER
Thank you God for your love. You love me in spite of the fact that you know and understand me better than anyone -- even better than I know and understand myself. Refresh my confidence and my heart so that all I do and say brings honor to you. Amen.
The Lord God appeared to him in a dream and said, “Solomon, ask for anything you want, and I will give it to you.” He replied, "Please make me wise and teach me the difference between right and wrong." ~ 1 Kings 3:5,9 (CEV)
Paul wrote: I pray that your love will keep on growing and that you will fully know and understand how to make the right choices. ~ Philippians 1:9-10a (CEV)
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Pray for the love that blossoms into wisdom.
PRAYER
Lord God, thank you for the offer as it applies to us all. I confess, though, that in spite of my intentions I seek comfort, pleasure, and security over wisdom. Please make me an honest-to-goodness loving and wise follower of Christ Jesus. In spite of my past mistakes I want to make the right choices in the future. Amen.
O God, we have heard it with our own ears—
our ancestors have told us
of all you did in their day,
in days long ago...
~ Psalm 44:1 (NLT)
Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. ~ Luke 10:39 (NLT)
SUMMARY SENTENCE:
We'd all benefit from becoming better listeners.
PRAYER:
O God, we appreciate all that you have done and all that you've said. I confess that I fail to take full advantage of what you want to teach me. Calm me down and refocus my attention so that I can sit next to Mary and become an active listener. Once I start taking it all in I know that it will change my life so that I'm more in tune with Jesus. 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)
