What your mouth is for

Verse for the week: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.  I Peter 5.5

Prayer for the week: “Almighty, everlasting God, mercifully regard us who have been made your children through baptism and, according to your grace, grant that your promises may be fulfilled in us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (K.B. Ritter, Gebete fur das jahr der Kirched, 2^nd  ed. Kassel: Barenreiter Verlag, 1948, p. 183). 

Bible reading for the day:  Psalm 34.1-10

¹ I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
² My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
³ Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!

⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
⁵ Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
⁶ This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.

⁸ Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
⁹ Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
¹⁰ The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

prayer(based on the TRIP** method): Gracious and almighty Father, thank you! You are the only one who delivers us from all our fears and troubles, thank you. Repent me and your whole church of forgetting what our mouths are for.  Each day, at all times, may your praise continually be in my mouth that the humble hear and be glad.  I ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.

The Second Commandment: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. (Exodus 20.7)

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God so that we do not use his name superstitiously or to curse, swear, lie, or deceive, but call upon him in every time of need, and worship him with prayer, praise, and thanksgiving. (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther ©Reclaim Resources, Sola Publishing, 2011)

benediction: May the God of peace himself grow you in his will entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.  Amen.  I Thess 5.23

*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.