Verse for the week:
“…the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is he alone who has
immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or
can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. I
Timothy 6.15-16
Prayer: “O Lord,
our most gracious Redeemer and King, dwell and reign within us, take possession
of us by your Spirit, and reign where you have a right to reign, and spread
your kingdom throughout the world, now and forever. Amen” (Father John of the Russian Church
Bible reading for the day: Psalm 95
1 O Come,
let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
3 For the LORD is the great
God, let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if only you would hear his voice,
8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
Prayer(based on TRIP**
method): Gracious and
almighty Father, you made a beautiful planet – from the peaks of the mountains
to the depths of the seas – but your favorite creation is us, the people of
your pasture…and your absolute best work is Jesus Christ, crucified and raised
for our redemption. Thank you! Repent us
of hard hearts and proud knees that won’t bow to you. Speak, and trim our proud ears so that I and
my congregation may listen to you…come before you with thanksgiving…and finally
enter your rest. I ask this in Jesus’
name, amen.
“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: 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
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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