Your family's proper starting place

Verse for the week: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” Psalm 136.1

Prayer for the week: Lord God, your ears are open always to the prayers of your servants. Open our ears, hearts, and minds to you, that we may live in harmony with your will and receive the gifts of your Spirit; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Lutheran Book of Worship, Pentecost 10)

Bible reading for the day: Ephesians 3.14-21 (This letter to the congregation in Ephesus was most likely written by Paul while he was in prison, sometime between 54-58AD. In this excerpt, Paul declares that our heavenly Father is the proper starting place for every family in heaven and on earth.)

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer (based on the T.R.I.P* method): Gracious and almighty Father, thank you for rooting my family’s identity in you. Protect them from the deadly trap of uprooting themselves and taking anyone else as their starting place. Continue their whole lives long to strengthen their trust in you… that they may comprehend with all the saints the breadth, length, height and depth of your surpassing love and fullness in Christ Jesus. In his name I ask this, amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a classic that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MimsQtU-ccQ  

“Our Father who art in heaven.”

What does this mean?  Here God encourages us to believe that he is truly our father and we are his children. We therefore are to pray to him with complete confidence, just as children speak to their loving father. (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther)

Benediction: May Christ’s promise of forgiveness of your sins, life, and salvation be upon you now and for eternity.

 

* 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.