A heart that gives rather than commands

Verse for the week: Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares for you.  I Peter 5.7

Prayer for the week: “Grant us, O Lord, not to mind earthly things, but to love things heavenly, and while we now dwell among things that are passing away, to cleave to those that shall abide forever; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen” (Adapted from the Leonine Sacramentary by Frederick B. Macnutt, The Prayer Manual, p. 17). 

Bible reading for the day:  Philemon 1-21 (note: the name Onesimus means “useful”)

Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our beloved fellow worker ² and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:
³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
⁴ I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, ⁵ because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, ⁶ and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. ⁷ For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.
⁸ Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, ⁹ yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— ¹⁰ I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. ¹¹ (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) ¹² I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. ¹³ I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, ¹⁴ but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. ¹⁵ For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, ¹⁶ no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
¹⁷ So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. ¹⁸ If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. ¹⁹ I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. ²⁰ Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.
²¹ Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. ²² At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you.
²³ Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, ²⁴ and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
²⁵ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Prayer (based on T.R.I.P. method*): Gracious and almighty Father, Jesus changes EVERYTHING: he makes owner and slave into beloved brothers, he makes a sinner like me righteous and free. Thank you! Repent me and your church of not confessing Christ to all those around us. Deliver us from our old impatience that would command and coerce. As Paul gave himself and gave Jesus to Onesimus and to Philemon, so each day turn me into one who gives… gives my heart and my help to my neighbor in Jesus’ name… that both of us may know our true freedom in Christ. I ask this through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, 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=YcKlYUL5B0E

The Tenth Commandment

You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his workers, or his livestock, or anything that is your neighbor's.

What does this mean?  We should fear and love God so that we do not ruin our neighbors’ relationships with their husband or wife, workers, or livestock, or try to lure them away, but encourage them to remain and serve each other faithfully.  (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther ©Reclaim Resources, Sola Publishing, 2011)

Benediction:  The peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.  Phil 4.7

*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).  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.  

Jesus is more trustworthy than...

you or I.

Verse for the week: Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares for you.  I Peter 5.7

Prayer for the week: “Grant us, O Lord, not to mind earthly things, but to love things heavenly, and while we now dwell among things that are passing away, to cleave to those that shall abide forever; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen” (Adapted from the Leonine Sacramentary by Frederick B. Macnutt, The Prayer Manual, p. 17). 

Bible reading for the day: Deuteronomy 30.15-20 (Note: “Deuteronomy” means “second law.” This book of the Old Testament is a second confession by a subsequent generation after the Exodus. As it was then, God’s word is life for us today… and death for us when we will not hear.)

¹⁵ “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. ¹⁶ If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, ¹⁸ I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. ¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, ²⁰ loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Prayer (based on T.R.I.P. method*): Gracious and almighty Father, thank you for choosing to redeem a sinner like me in Jesus Christ, thank you! Repent me and your whole church of heads, hearts and habits that go our own way. Your voice is far more trustworthy than our own voice Lord; grant me and my congregation to trust and obey you… for you alone are our life. In Jesus’ name I ask this, 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=Ofp6rdAgRrY

“Hallowed be thy name…

What does this mean?  God's name is indeed holy in itself, but we pray in this petition that it may be kept holy also among us.

How is this done?  God's name is hallowed when his Word is taught in its truth and purity and we, as God's children, lead holy lives in harmony with it. Grant this to us, dear Father in heaven! But whoever teaches and lives in ways other than what God's Word teaches dishonors the name of God among us. Prevent us from doing this, heavenly Father! (from The Small Catechism, by Martin  Luther ©Reclaim Resources, Sola Publishing, 2011)

Benediction:  The peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.  Phil 4.7

 *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).  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.  

Quiet for your noisy conscience

 Invitatory[1]: “Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;

    listen to my plea for grace.
7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you,

    for you answer me."  Psalm 86.6-7

Prayer for the week: “Almighty God, you richly and unceasingly furnish us with all good things and preserve us day by day.  Make us to acknowledge this with our whole heart, that we may thank and praise you for your lovingkindness and mercy here and for evermore; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (K.B. Ritter, Gebete fur das jahr der Kirchen, 2^nd  ed. Kassel: Barenreiter Verlag, 1948, p. 200). 

Bible reading for the day:  Psalm 131

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
    my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
    too great and too marvelous for me.
² But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
    like a weaned child with its mother;
    like a weaned child is my soul within me.

³ O Israel, hope in the Lord
    from this time forth and forevermore.

Prayer (based on T.R.I.P. method*): Gracious and almighty Father, my conscience can be a loud busy-body… but when you are on the throne there I am indeed calmed and quieted like a contented child with momma. Thank you! Deliver my heart from its own pride and my conscience from occupying myself with things that are beyond me. Every hour, every minute, put Christ on the throne in my conscience that I may have true hope in you… and diligence and patience for what is right in front of me. In Jesus’ name I ask this, 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=ENtL_li4GbE

I am the Lord your God.

The First Commandment

You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20.3

What does this mean?  We should fear, love, and trust God above all things.  (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

[1] As the word implies, an invitatory is a verse that invites or invokes the Lord’s ear and his work upon you.

*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).  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.  

We are citizens of an unshakeable kingdom

Invitatory[1]: “Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,

    and establish the work of our hands upon us;

    yes, establish the work of our hands!” Psalm 90.17

Prayer for the week: “Almighty God, you richly and unceasingly furnish us with all good things and preserve us day by day.  Make us to acknowledge this with our whole heart, that we may thank and praise you for your lovingkindness and mercy here and for evermore; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (K.B. Ritter, Gebete fur das jahr der Kirchen, 2^nd  ed. Kassel: Barenreiter Verlag, 1948, p. 200). 

Bible reading for the day:  Hebrews 12.28-13.8

^12.28Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our God is a consuming fire.

^13.1Let brotherly love continue. ² Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. ³ Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. ⁴ Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. ⁵ Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” ⁶ So we can confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”

⁷ Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Prayer (based on the TRIP method): Gracious and almighty Father, thank you: by your sheer mercy you have rescued my sisters and brothers and me and brought us into your unshakeable kingdom… thank you!  Repent us of holding on to our old, crumbling kingdoms.  Reign over us with your Holy Spirit now so that among us:

… brotherly love may thrive

            … strangers may know hospitality in your name

                        …prisoners may be remembered as by you

                                    … marriage may be held in honor and its bed undefiled

                                                …money may be yours, not ours

                                                            … we may respect our leaders and follow their example… in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, I ask this.  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=mgzRB4gEPf4

“Thy kingdom come…

What does this mean?  The kingdom of God comes indeed by itself, without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may also come to us.

How is this done?  God's kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us his Holy Spirit, so that by his grace we believe his holy Word and live a godly life now and in eternity. (from The Small Catechism by Martin Luther ©Reclaim Resources, Sola Publishing, 2011)

Benediction The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.

                        The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in

                        From this time on and forevermore.  Psalm 121.7-8

---

[1] As the word implies, an invitatory is a verse that invites or invokes the Lord’s ear and his work upon you.

Back to school

“If the scriptures and learning perish in our land, what will remain but a lawless horde… a multitude of wild beasts?” Martin Luther, in his sermon “On the Duty of Sending Children to School”

¹⁴“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5.14-16

“Give us this day our daily bread…”

What does this mean?  God gives daily bread, even without our prayer, to all people, though sinful, but we ask in this prayer that he will help us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanks.

What is meant by “daily bread”?  Daily bread includes everything needed for this life, such as food and clothing, home and property, work and income, a devoted family, an orderly community, good government, favorable weather, peace and health, a good name, and true friends and neighbors. (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther)

Prayer:  Gracious and almighty Father, thank you for the thick slice of our daily bread which is good education.  Learning helps us shine the light of Christ more brightly, helps us serve our neighbor better, and better equips us to give glory to you.  Thank you for our schools, for those who teach and lead, for parents, and for the call to upright learning.  Repent our nation of sloth, entitlement, and self-worship.  Grow our appetite for learning…that instead of seeing us wallow in ourselves like beasts, people may see your good work in us and give glory to you.  I ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.

A Parents' Prayer for their college student

For your son:
Heavenly Father thank you for our son. You did not give him to us to be ours but yours. Yours he is by your grace through baptism and faith in Jesus Christ. Thank you. Keep (name) in Christ this year and in the years ahead... Give him the slices of daily bread that are true Christian friends... Draw him to you in prayer, Bible reading and weekly worship. Guard him from all the slick traps Satan will set. Keep us praying for and talking with him...often. 
You sent your own son into the world... Now by your grace our son heads out into it as well. As you begin to open your calling to him, give him confidence and humility for it and diligence for his studies. Give each of us a great sense of humor... And happy reunions right on time. I ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

For your daughter:

Heavenly Father thank you for our daughter. You did not give her to us to be ours but yours. Yours she is by your grace through baptism and faith in Jesus Christ. Thank you. Keep (name) in Christ this year and in the years ahead... Give her the slices of daily bread that are true Christian friends... Draw her to you in prayer, Bible reading and weekly worship. Guard her from all the slick traps Satan will set. Keep us praying for and talking with her...often. 
You sent your own son into the world... Now by your grace our daughter heads out into it as well. As you begin to open your calling to her, give her confidence and humility for it and diligence for her studies. Give each of us a great sense of humor... And happy reunions right on time. I ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

And you might also pray for their professors by name each Sunday night:).

The Lord Disciplines those whom he...

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 behold 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 Kirche, 2^nd  ed. Kassel: Barenreiter Verlag, 1948, p. 183). 

Bible reading for the day: Hebrews 12.4-24

⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
    nor be weary when reproved by him.
⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and chastises every son whom he receives.”

⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. ¹¹ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

¹² Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,¹³ and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. ¹⁴ Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.¹⁵ See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; ¹⁶ that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷ For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

¹⁸ For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest ¹⁹ and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. ²⁰ For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” ²¹ Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” ²² But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³ and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Prayer (based on the TRIP* method): Gracious and almighty Father, thank you for not taking our sin lightly and for sending our champion in the fight against it: Jesus Christ. Abel’s blood speaks the word of our guilt, but in Christ’s blood you speak forgiveness to us. Thank you! Repent me and my congregation of self-pity, self-justification, and of resisting your discipline. Your discipline means life for us, so train us Father… that later on the peaceful fruit of righteousness may blossom in even us. I ask this in Christ’s 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=zhMFifugZ8o  (not the best rendition, but the best one I could find today)

“I believe in Jesus Christ…”

What does this mean?  I believe that Jesus Christ — true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary — is my Lord. He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, and has freed me from sin, death, and the power of the devil, not with silver and gold, but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. He has done all this in order that I might be his own, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as he is risen from the dead and lives and reigns for all eternity. This is most certainly true! (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther ©Reclaim Resources, Sola Publishing, 2011)

Benediction: Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph 3:20-21) 

*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).  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. 

Getting a Fat Sinner Like You through the Narrow Door

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 behold 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 Kirche, 2^nd  ed. Kassel: Barenreiter Verlag, 1948, p. 183). 

Bible reading for the day: Luke 13.22-30

²² He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. ²³ And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, ²⁴ “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. ²⁵ When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ ²⁶ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ ²⁷ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ ²⁸ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. ²⁹ And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

Prayer (based on the TRIP* method): Gracious and almighty Father, thank you for the narrow door who is Jesus and the wide welcome sinners like us receive on account of his forgiveness of our sin. Thank you! Repent me and my congregation of trying to carry any of our own merit in the door with us. Relieve us of all our presumptions of deserving so that Jesus himself can get us right where we finally belong: in your house reclining at your table. In his name I ask it, 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=u2jPVdl_Bh8

“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: Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph 3:20-21) 

 

*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).  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.