I am the Lord, the God of all living things! Is anything too hard for me? ~ Jeremiah 32:27 (CEB)
Paul wrote: All of our praise rises to the One who is strong enough to make you strong, exactly as preached in Jesus Christ... All our praise is focused through Jesus on this incomparably wise God! Yes! ~ Romans 16:25,27 (MSG)
KEY THOUGHT:
God has no peer.
PRAYER:
Glorious and wise God, I have nothing to say that you don't already know. Thank you for inviting me into your conversation anyway. Forgive me for acting as though you don't really understand and as though you need someone to school you on reality. Reframe my approach to reality so that it is totally Jesus-centered. Jesus is going to be the focal point of my world and my praise. Amen.
My lips will rejoice aloud when I make music for you;
my whole being, which you saved, will do the same. ~ Psalm 71:23 (CEB)
When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart. ~ Ephesians 5:19 (CEV)
KEY THOUGHT:
Music from the heart should be a big part of our praise given to God.
PRAYER:
Lord, you are definitely worth a song -- even from someone who is musically-challenged. Forgive me for worrying too much about how I sound and what people will think of my music. Yes, I want to sing the best I can, but I need to be free of performance anxiety. And I'm not just talking about music. Give me a fresh song and the freedom to sing it. I'm going to sing my life for you. Amen.
They will attack you, but they won’t defeat you, because I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord. ~ Jeremiah 1:19 (CEB)
For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power. ~ 1 Corinthians 4:20 (NLT)
KEY THOUGHT:
The Lord uses his power on our behalf.
PRAYER:
Almighty, yet loving, God, thank you for standing up for us. I create all kinds of problems yet you continually intervene to bring about your kingdom outcomes -- the best outcomes possible. Forgive me for lusting after power of my own. I fool myself into believing that I'd use it all for good. Help me to be content with your power -- allowing you to work out the challenges. I'm going to live according to your power. Amen.
With your powerful arm
you protect me
from every side. ~ Psalm 139:5 (CEV)
Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death? ~ Romans 8:35 (CEV)
KEY THOUGHT:
No one -- no thing is powerful enough to yank us from the loving presence of Christ.
PRAYER:
God, you are the perfect combination -- all-loving and all-powerful. I am grateful that I am safe with you. Forgive me for panicking when trouble comes my way. Help me to calm down and to trust who you are. I'm going stay calm and carry on. 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)
