Verse for the week: Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a
donkey. Zech 9.9
Prayer for the 1st week of Advent: “Almighty God and
Lord, come to us with all your power and help us who are anxious and
troubled. Send us the Savior, that he
may enter our hearts, and with your light illumine our night, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.” (K.B. Ritter, Gebete fur das Jahr der Kirche, 1st
ed. Kassel: Barenreiter Verlag, 1933,
p.35.)
Bible reading for the day: I Thessalonians 3.6-13
6 But now that Timothy has come to us
from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and
reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we
long to see you— 7 for this reason, brothers, in
all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through
your faith. 8 For now we live, if you are
standing fast in the Lord. 9 For what
thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for
your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most
earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face
and supply what is lacking in your faith?
11 Now may our God and
Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and
may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and
for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he
may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and
Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Prayer (based on T.R.I.P. method**): Gracious and
almighty Father, thank you for joy of brothers and sisters standing fast in
your Son. Repent us when our own faith and our love for one another are
lagging. Direct our way to one another that our love for one another may
abound… and by your grace we may be found blameless when Jesus returns. I ask
this in his name, amen.
Hymn: Follow this
link to a beloved classic that gives further voice to today’s conversation with
the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMY3ivdNzwE
“I believe in the Holy Spirit…”
What does this mean?
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe
in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him; but the Holy Spirit has called me
through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and preserved
me in the true faith. In the same way, he calls, gathers, enlightens, and
sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and preserves it in unity with
Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church, he daily forgives
abundantly all my sins and the sins of all believers. At the last day, he will
raise me and all the dead and will grant everlasting life to me and to all who
believe in Christ. This is most certainly true! (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther ©Reclaim
Resources, Sola Publishing, 2011)
Benediction: And after you have suffered for a little
while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ,
will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you this day. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen. (1 Pet 5:10)
*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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