kneeling fisherman

kneeling fisherman

Monday, December 18, 2017

Uncontainable...

You can forget your plans for God😊

Verse for the week: My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior  Lk 1.46-47

Prayer for the 4th week of Advent: “Lord, purify our hearts that they may be worthy to become your dwelling place.  Let us never fail to find room for you, but come and abide with us that we also may abide in you, for you were born into the world for us and now live and reign, King of kings and Lord of lords, for evermore.  Amen.”  (William Temple in A.E. Baker, William Temple’s Teaching,  Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1951, p.128)

Bible reading for the day: II Samuel 7.1-11 (note: not very long after David’s reign began in 1000 BC, David plans to build a temple for God; but God has other plans that supersede David’s)
Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”
But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.

Prayer (based on T.R.I.P. method**): Gracious and almighty Father, thank you: you are not a thing built by us, nor even a created being. You are the living God… the Word in the flesh… not contained by a building, nor even by a tomb. Alleluia! Repent me, my congregation, and your whole church of our plans and projects for you. Stay on the move, pursue us even… cut off from us our enemies – our sin, our death, and the Devil – and be our true home in Christ for us; now and for eternity. I ask this in the name of Jesus, David’s descendent, your Son. Amen.

Hymn: hear these words from the fourth stanza of Nikolaus Herman’s hymn “Let All Together Praise our God”
He undertakes a great exchange,
Puts on a human frame,
And in return gives us His realm,
His glory, and His name,
His glory, and His name.


Benediction: Blessing and honor and thanksgiving and praise, more than we can utter, more than we can conceive, be unto thee, O holy and glorious Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, by all angels, all people, all creatures, forever and ever. Amen. (Thomas Ken quoted in Frederick B. Macnutt, The Prayer Manual   London: Mowbray, 1951, p.39)

*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 www.dailytext.com).  The method is founded on scripture and easy to remember:                                                                                          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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