Prayer for the week:
“Lord God, grant unto us your Holy Spirit that we may hear and trust your word and thereby, being cleansed in mind and renewed in life, we
may live to you, here and hereafter; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen” (K.B. Ritter, Gebete fur das jahr der Kirched,
2nd ed. Kassel: Barenreiter Verlag,
1948, p.207).
Bible
reading for the day: I Thessalonians
1.1-10
1
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To
the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ:
Grace
to you and peace.
2 We
give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our
prayers,3 remembering before our God and
Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope
in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we
know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our
gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy
Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved
to be among you for your sake. 6 And you
became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in
much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so
that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in
Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the
Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God
has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For
they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among
you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living
and true God, 10 and to wait for his
Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us
from the wrath to come.
Prayer (based on TRIP
method**): Gracious and
almighty Father, thank you for turning us from idols to serve you… thank you
for choosing me and my congregation to be your own. Repent us of being a “little Jack Horner
congregation” and keeping your choice for ourselves. In affliction and joy,
make us imitators of you and preachers of the gospel so that your message may
ring out through us…and more people may turn from idols to serve you, the
living and true God. I ask this in
Jesus’ name, amen.
I believe in Jesus
Christ, his 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)
Hymn: follow this
link to a beloved, classic hymn which gives further voice to today’s
conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djaXi1ZBXcw
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
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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