The 15th Sunday after Pentecost
God: whose word I praise.
The Lord: whose word I praise.
I trust in God... ~ Psalm 56:10-11a (CEB)
Jesus says: Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making. ~ John 6:63b (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
The words spoken by the Lord deserve our attention because they have the power to change everything.
PRAYER:
Thank you, Lord, for your powerful word. Your message is life-changing. I confess that while I talk about how wonderful your word is (IT IS WONDERFUL!) I am not so good at doing what your word tells me to do. I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. Yet the amazing thing is that your word also offers forgiveness and frees us from the weight of guilt and shame. That is life-making. And I desire to experience change in my life so that I am living more faithfully according to your word. Amen.
Don’t shoot off your mouth, or speak before you think.
Don’t be too quick to tell God what you think he wants to hear.
God’s in charge, not you—the less you speak, the better. ~ Ecclesiastes 5:2 (MSG)
Lord, teach us to pray. ~ Luke 11:1 (part)
KEY IDEA:
We need to learn how to pray with well thought-out words.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for hearing me when I call to you. I admit, though, that I do not always think before I speak -- even to you. Help me learn to listen more than I speak -- even when I'm praying to you. I know that you are in charge and I am looking forward to the time when it will be clear to everyone that you are in charge of what comes out of my mouth. Amen.
Does snow disappear from the Lebanon peaks?
Do alpine streams run dry?
But my people have left me
to worship the Big Lie. ~ Jeremiah 18:14-15 (MSG)
Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you. ~ Revelation 3:20 (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
The Lord wants us to be in close fellowship with him.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for pursuing fellowship with us -- with me. Most days I hear you knocking at my door.
But some of the days I am too busy with my agenda to get up and open it. My priorities are too messed up. Help me to rethink and respond appropriately to your faithfulness and your invitations. I'm eager to eat with you all day,
every day. Amen.
My future is in your hands. ~ Psalm 31:15a
Others may sleep, but we should stay awake and be alert. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:6b (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
The future is coming. Be ready.
PRAYER:
Lord, You hold my future in your hands. But I'm a little lazy about what is coming. I'm fatalistic --
unwilling to change much. Help me to focus on what I'm supposed to do now to prepare for then. Keep me alert so that I can be ready for a future of serving Christ. Amen.
*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS
The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2011 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)
