Better than your wishing well

The well of your wishes ultimately runs dry. But you might be surprised who you then meet nearby.

Verse for the week: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters...”  Isaiah 55.1a

Prayer for the week:  Heavenly Father, you sent your Son to us and laid on him the burden of the cross that we might see and know the glory of your holy love.  Grant that our faith in him may not be shaken by adversity or daunted by the threat of it, but that we may ever follow steadfastly the way that leads to perfect fellowship with him, and so with you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  [Charles M. Jacobs in Paul Z. Strodach, Collects and Prayers (Philadelphia: Board of Publications of the United Lutheran Church in America; 19350, p.166.

Bible reading for the day: John 4.5-15 (part 1; note: “Like the story of Nicodemus – in the previous chapter – the encounter with this Samaritan woman begins as a conversation between to individuals. Jesus meets the woman as he sits alone beside a roadside well; his disciples have gone into the town to buy food. No one else is present. Yet as the conversation progresses, the woman serves as the spokesperson of the Samaritan people. She and Jesus begin to address each other in plural forms of speech and the woman voices Samaritan national concerns. The horizon will broaden still further until the Samaritan townspeople receive Jesus not just as a national deliverer but as Savior of the world.” – Craig Koester in Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel, Fortress Press, 1995)

So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

⁷ A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” ⁸ (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.)⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) ¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ¹¹ The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” ¹³ Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

Prayer (based on TRIP** method):  Gracious and almighty Father, even wearied from the journey you knew exactly what you were up to with this woman, this skeptical stranger whom you would make into a daughter and a witness to the truth by your mercy. Thank you. Keep it up with me Lord: deliver me from wells that only run dry and leave me more thirsty… deliver me right to yourself… and make me into a drinking fountain of you for others. We are all thirsty Lord… and Jesus is the only quench; in his name I pray. Amen.

“I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only son, our Lord…”

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)

song: follow this link to a rare song that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjTk4011gvI

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

*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.