SUCCESS

PSALM 118:25 (CEB)
Please, LORD please save us.

Please, Lord, please give us success.

HEBREWS 13:20-21 (CEB)

Now may the God of peace... equip you with all you need for doing his will.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
God equips us for success, defined as living out his agenda in his way.

PRAYER

God, source of peace and reconciliation, thank you for the enabling presence of your Holy Spirit in my life. I admit that I allow my agenda to nudge your agenda from my life. I have the audacity to ask for your blessing on my plans. Please hear me when I say that upon reflection the thing I most want is to play a role in the peace and reconciliation that you are bringing into this broken world through Christ Jesus. I want your agenda to become my agenda. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name; your Kingdom come; your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

JUDGING

ECCLESIASTES 12:14 (MSG)
And that’s it. Eventually, God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it’s good or evil.

ROMANS 14:12-13 (ABP)
Eventually, each of us will be answering to God for everything that we do. So if we're judging one another now, we're certainly not helping our own cases.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
It behooves us to give up our critical and condescending comments aimed at those who don't see eye to eye with us.

PRAYER
Righteous and just God, there is no hiding from you. We're all going to stand before you our judge. Forgive me for trying to do your job through the way that I think and talk about others. By default, I'm constantly looking to highlight the weaknesses and faults of others to boost my own sense of superiority and importance. Help me to recognize how unhelpful that is toward my neighbors and how it develops a false sense of security within me. I'm going to leave all the judging to you -- the one who totally understands each person and their situation. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name; your Kingdom come; your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

STANDING WITH US

ISAIAH 42:6 (CEV)
The LORD says, "I chose you to bring justice,
and I am here at your side."

EPHESIANS 3:12 (ABP)
Through our faith connection with Christ, we have bold and confident access to God.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
God stays by the side of those he calls.

PRAYER
Wonderful God, we glory in the access we have to you through Christ. What a gift! Yet, we don't take full advantage of your presence. We are slow to approach you and a bit wimpy in how we do it. Embolden us through your presence. You're standing with us and I'm going to stand with you, Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name; your Kingdom come; your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

CHILDREN

PSALM 127:3 (CEB)
No doubt about it: children are a gift from the LORD.

MARK 9:36-37 (NLT)
Then Jesus asked a child to stand near him. He put his arm around the child and said, “When you welcome even a child because of me, you welcome me. And when you welcome me, you welcome the one who sent me.”

SUMMARY SENTENCE
To welcome children is to welcome Jesus; and to welcome Jesus is to welcome God the Father.

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, without hesitation you welcome us as children into your family -- even though we are vulnerable and needy. My compassion does not stretch that far. I even get annoyed with children because they are such an interruption. Reorder my values and priorities so that my care and compassion reflects that of Jesus, whom I claim to follow. I'm going to look at vulnerable people in a new way. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name; your Kingdom come; your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.