Verse for the week:
Behold, the kingdom of God
Prayer: “Lord,
you have promised to grant what we pray in the name of your Son. Teach us to pray aright and to laud and
praise you with all your saints in the fullness of life everlasting; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (K.B. Ritter, Gebete
fur das jahr der Kirched, 2nd ed. Kassel: Barenreiter Verlag, 1948, p. 152).
Bible reading for the day: Exodus 16.2-8 (within only several weeks of their
deliverance from 400 years of slavery in Egypt, our forebears are complaining
and wanting to go back to their old bondage.)
2 And the whole congregation of the people of
Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and the
people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord
in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full,
for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly
with hunger.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am
about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather
a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my
law or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring
in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6 So Moses and
Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was
the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the
morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your
grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” 8
And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and
in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling
that you grumble against him— what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but
against the Lord.”
Prayer (based on
T.R.I.P. method**): Gracious and almighty Father, thank you for
being our Lord and for liberating us from slavery to sin, death, and the power
of the Devil. Repent me and your whole
church of grumbling against you and preferring the destructive, predictable
safety of our old slavery. Each day, call us into the wilderness adventure that
is discipleship and give us the faith to follow Jesus on the frontier…and to
receive our daily bread with thanks to you.
I ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.
Hymn: follow this
link to a beloved, classic hymn that gives further voice to today’s
conversation with the Lord: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0Byp7aK2DA
Benediction: The
God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing, that we may abound in
hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen. (Romans 15.13)
*There are many patterns for devotions. This pattern has been followed by God’s
people for centuries.
**The T.R.I.P. approach to
prayer is based on the way Martin Luther prayed and taught others to pray. It was later developed by Walter and Ingrid
Trobisch and then adapted by Mount Carmel Ministries (Alexandria MN
T:
thanksgiving
R: regret
(repentance)
I:
intercession (asking God to take a specific action)
P:
plan or purpose
Reading a biblical text and
then applying this method gives one a sound, simple way to form one’s
prayers...not to mention that it helps one learn how to faithfully reflect on
God’s Word and talk to God.
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