Daily Devotions: Monday 31st August

Here are Monday’s morning prayers and Bible meditations. They are designed to be read in 5 to 10 minutes.

The theme for this week’s readings is that we are called to follow Jesus, reading his Word, listening to his Spirit and obeying his teaching.

Opening Prayer: Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth,
present in all places and filling all things,
the treasury of blessings and Giver of life:
come and abide in me.

Lord’s Prayer: Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen

Text: ‘If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realise that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.’ (John 14:15-21)

Explanation: This passage is so dense and rich in everything that it says about Jesus that we cannot possibly unpack it all here. Here we are interested in what it tells us about how we should live. Jesus explains that being his followers involves, in the first place, doing what he said. When we want to know how we should live, we should start with the teaching of Jesus. Everything else flows from there.

A related point is that, his passage suggests it is a mistake to treat obedience to Jesus’ commands as different from a relationship with him. No relationship with Christ can be sustained if we willingly disregard the way he taught us to live. Our love for Jesus, then, is related to our obedience to him as is our experience of his love for us.

Questions: Take a moment and give thanks for all that Jesus has done for you over the last day. Then ask: 1. How well do you know what Jesus taught? 2. What could you do to get to know it more? 3. What might this mean for your life?

Prayer: Father thank you for Jesus. Thank you for all he taught us. Help me to get to know what he commands. Give me a heart of obedience and humility so that I may experience your love for me and grow in relationship with you. Amen.

Prayer for the Day: Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace.
Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will.
In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me.
Bless my dealings with all who surround me.
Teach me to treat all that come to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all.
In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings.
In unforeseen events let me not forget that all things are under Your care.
Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others.
Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring.
Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray Yourself in me. Amen.

Check out our latest Big Question:

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Daily Devotions: Friday 28th August

Here are Friday’s morning prayers and Bible meditations. They are designed to be read in 5 to 10 minutes. On Fridays we take a break from the theme of the rest of the week to read and meditate through John’s gospel.

Opening Prayer: Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth,
present in all places and filling all things,
the treasury of blessings and Giver of life:
come and abide in me.

Lord’s Prayer: Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen

Text: Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.  One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”  (John 5:1-6)

Explanation: In Jerusalem there was a pool which was known as a place of healing. It has now been excavated and can be seen if you visit Jerusalem. The waters would bubble up and, it was believed, the first person who entered it would be healed. Places such as this became a place for people who were sick or disabled to gather either because they wanted healing or because they had calculated that they could obtain money from other tourists or both. 

Jesus finds one such man who had been there for many years. Jesus was able to heal the man in an instant yet opens his conversation by asking if the man really wants to get better. Next week we will move onto how Jesus heals the man. For now, however, it is worth noting that it is instructive that Jesus had to ask him whether he actually wanted healing. 

This is a question we need to ask ourselves. Often we don’t want to be healed, whether in our souls or our bodies. Waiting and frustration and disappointment can so wear us down that we come to create an identity out of our pain (or the wrongs that have been done to us). Or the things we gain from the way others see us in our pain can be too difficult to let go of. If we want to know Jesus’ healing power in our lives we need to be willing to let go of these things and allow him to change us.

Questions: Take a moment and give thanks for all that Jesus has done for you over the last day. Then ask: 1. Where would you like Jesus to heal your life or body? 2. What holds you back from working with God’s power in your life? 3. What might this mean for your life?

Prayer: Father, thank you for Jesus. Grant me the wisdom to see where I need your power and healing and the humility to accept it. Use me for your glory. Amen.

Prayer for the Day: Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace.
Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will.
In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me.
Bless my dealings with all who surround me.
Teach me to treat all that come to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all.
In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings.
In unforeseen events let me not forget that all things are under Your care.
Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others.
Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring.
Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray Yourself in me. Amen.

Image Credit: Fadi Mikhail

Daily Devotions: Thursday 27th August

Here are Thursday’s morning prayers and Bible meditations. They are designed to be read in 5 to 10 minutes.

The theme for this week’s readings is that when we trust in Jesus and turn from our old lives, God brings us into his family and gives us his love.

Opening Prayer: Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth,
present in all places and filling all things,
the treasury of blessings and Giver of life:
come and abide in me.

Lord’s Prayer: Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen

Text: This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:16-18)

Explanation:  A change in our characters has to be expressed in our actions. In this sense, love (in Christian thought) is more about what we choose to do than how we feel. As we sense the Spirit showing us opportunities to care for others material needs we should seek to meet them. This is love, expressing itself in actions and truth.  

Questions: Take a moment and give thanks for all that Jesus has done for you over the last day. Then ask: 1. Do you find it easy to show love in practical ways? Who do you struggle to show practical love to? 2. Where could you show practical concern for others this week? 3. What might this mean for your life?

Prayer: Father thank you for Jesus.  Thank you that he put his love for me into action and was willing to give himself for me. Show me where I can work in concrete ways for the good of others. Amen.

Prayer for the Day: Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace.
Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will.
In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me.
Bless my dealings with all who surround me.
Teach me to treat all that come to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all.
In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings.
In unforeseen events let me not forget that all things are under Your care.
Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others.
Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring.
Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray Yourself in me. Amen. 

Check out our latest Big Question:

Image Credit: Fadi Mikhail

Daily Devotions: Wednesday 26th August

Here are Wednesday’s morning prayers and Bible meditations. They are designed to be read in 5 to 10 minutes.

The theme for this week’s readings is that when we trust in Jesus and turn from our old lives, God brings us into his family and gives us his love.

Opening Prayer: Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth,
present in all places and filling all things,
the treasury of blessings and Giver of life:
come and abide in me.

Lord’s Prayer: Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen

Text:  For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them —yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. (1 Corinthians 15:9-10)

Explanation:  While it is the Spirit who changes our characters, that doesn’t mean that we do not have to do anything. In this part of his letter to the Christians in Corinth, St Paul explains that God’s grace is effective in our lives when we work with it. God’s work in us takes effect as we cooperate with it and are willing to allow ourselves to be changed. Even that is only possible because God makes us able. 

Questions: Take a moment and give thanks for all that Jesus has done for you over the last day. Then ask: 1. Are there times when you have sensed God leading you and done nothing about it? 2. Where might God be leading and changing you now? 3. What might this mean for your life?

Prayer: Father thank you for Jesus. Help me to cooperate with you as you work in my life. Make me someone you can use to bless others and glorify you. Amen. 

Prayer for the Day: Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace.
Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will.
In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me.
Bless my dealings with all who surround me.
Teach me to treat all that come to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all.
In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings.
In unforeseen events let me not forget that all things are under Your care.
Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others.
Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring.
Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray Yourself in me. Amen. 

Check out our latest Big Question:

Image Credit: Fadi Mikhail

Daily Devotions: Tuesday 25th August

Here are Tuesday’s morning prayers and Bible meditations. They are designed to be read in 5 to 10 minutes.

The theme for this week’s readings is that when we trust in Jesus and turn from our old lives, God brings us into his family and gives us his love.

Opening Prayer: Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth,
present in all places and filling all things,
the treasury of blessings and Giver of life:
come and abide in me.

Lord’s Prayer: Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen

Text: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Galatians 5:22-26)

Explanation: In his letter to a different church, St Paul describes how the process we looked at yesterday works in practise. As we keep in step with the Holy Spirit – listening to the way he leads us through our thinking and consciences – he starts to produce different characteristics in us. The image is like dancing: as he leads and we follow, we find ourselves moving the way he wants.

This doesn’t mean that we are immediately changed to be perfect. It is a process which takes time. Nor does it mean that the person who follows Jesus will necessarily be kinder etc than someone who doesn’t. But we are kinder than we were before and tomorrow we will be kinder still.

Questions: Take a moment and give thanks for all that Jesus has done for you over the last day. Then ask: 1. Which of the fruit Paul mentions would you most like to see in your life? 2. Where do you struggle most with this? 3. What could you do to keep more in step with the Spirit?

Prayer: Father thank you for Jesus. Thank you that you give me his Spirit to make me more like Jesus. Lead me and teach me to be more full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Amen. 

Prayer for the Day: Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace.
Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will.
In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me.
Bless my dealings with all who surround me.
Teach me to treat all that come to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all.
In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings.
In unforeseen events let me not forget that all things are under Your care.
Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others.
Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring.
Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray Yourself in me. Amen. 

Check out our latest Big Question:

Image Credit: Fadi Mikhail

Daily Devotions: Friday 21st August

Here are Friday’s morning prayers and Bible meditations. They are designed to be read in 5 to 10 minutes. On Fridays we take a break from the theme of the rest of the week to read and meditate through John’s gospel.

Opening Prayer: Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth,
present in all places and filling all things,
the treasury of blessings and Giver of life:
come and abide in me.

Lord’s Prayer: Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen

Text: Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

“Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”

The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

“Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”

The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”

Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed.

This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.  (John 4:49-54)

Explanation: This story is relatively straightforward enough – the official comes to Christ and asks for help. His faith and commitment are inspiring After some back and forth Jesus assured the man that his son, who had been going to die, would live. The man returns home (a day’s journey) and finds that his son recovered when Jesus spoke the word.

The story is told as a demonstration of Jesus’s power over health, life and death. Yet Jesus (and John) are making a bigger point about Jesus’s miracles generally. Jesus chides the official (and the crowds at Capernaum) about their continuous desire to see miracles. The miracles, he explains, are not, in themselves, the point; Jesus is the point. John reiterates this by referring to the healing as a ‘sign’ (that is, something that points beyond itself to someone else).

Questions: Take a moment and give thanks for all that Jesus has done for you over the last day. Then ask: 1. How often do you stop and reflect on what Jesus is doing and thank him for everything good he is doing for you even in the midst of life’s difficulties? 2. What can stop you coming to pray and setting aside some time to bring your family to him? 3. What might this mean for your life?

Prayer: Father, thank you for all you’re doing for me through Jesus. Help me to find times to reflect and practise gratitude. I want to lift my family to you today [name them]. Bless them, give them peace, and lead them into your grace. Amen.

Prayer for the Day: Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace.
Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will.
In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me.
Bless my dealings with all who surround me.
Teach me to treat all that come to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all.
In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings.
In unforeseen events let me not forget that all things are under Your care.
Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others.
Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring.
Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray Yourself in me. Amen.

Image Credit: Fadi Mikhail

Daily Devotions: Thursday 20th August

Here are Thursday’s morning prayers and Bible meditations. They are designed to be read in 5 to 10 minutes.

The theme for this week’s readings is that when we trust in Jesus and turn from our old lives, God brings us into his family and gives us his love.

Opening Prayer: Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth,
present in all places and filling all things,
the treasury of blessings and Giver of life:
come and abide in me.

Lord’s Prayer: Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen

Text: Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well. (Psalm 139:7-14)

Explanation: Psalm 139 contains an almost inexhaustible array of wonderful truth about who God is and how he relates to us. In this extract we see, among other things, that there is nowhere that we can go from God’s love and grace. It extends to our earliest moments in our mother’s womb, to the bottom of the sea, to the heights of heaven and the darkness of night.  

Questions: Take a moment and give thanks for all that Jesus has done for you over the last day. Then ask: 1. Do you ever feel alone and separated from God’s love for you? 2. How can you remember Jesus wherever you go? 3. What does it mean for you that God saw you and was working with you from before you were even born?

Prayer: Father thank you for Jesus.  Thank you that wherever I go and whatever I do, your presence will always find me. Help me to remember you in all my dealings today. Amen.

Prayer for the Day: Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace.
Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will.
In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me.
Bless my dealings with all who surround me.
Teach me to treat all that come to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all.
In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings.
In unforeseen events let me not forget that all things are under Your care.
Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others.
Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring.
Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray Yourself in me. Amen. 

Check out our latest Big Question:

Image Credit: Fadi Mikhail

Daily Devotions: Wednesday 19th August

Here are Wednesday’s morning prayers and Bible meditations. They are designed to be read in 5 to 10 minutes.

The theme for this week’s readings is that when we trust in Jesus and turn from our old lives, God brings us into his family and gives us his love.

Opening Prayer: Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth,
present in all places and filling all things,
the treasury of blessings and Giver of life:
come and abide in me.

Lord’s Prayer: Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen

Text: We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14)

Explanation: When St Paul prays for the young Christians in the church at Colossae he focuses on asking that they would know God and what he wants for them. Paul’s argument is easier to understand if we rearrange it. Before we know Jesus we live in spiritual darkness under the power of the devil. When we turn to Jesus, God takes us out from the devil’s power and puts us under Christ’s instead. That move buys back our souls from sin and brings us into God’s love; the same love he has for Christ is now ours.

Knowing this should change us. It should provoke us to know more of what God wants, to become more patient, to seek more power, and to give him more praise. Ultimately living in this way leads us to joy. 

Questions: Take a moment and give thanks for all that Jesus has done for you over the last day. Then ask: 1. What changes did you notice in your life after starting to follow Jesus? 2. Where have you sensed God leading you and speaking to you recently? If you struggle to identify anything, why not start to ask that he would ‘fill you with the knowledge of his will’ and then make time to be quiet and write down what comes to mind?

Prayer: Father thank you for Jesus. Fill me with the knowledge of what you have done for me. Make me know what you want for me now. Grant that my life my bear good fruit, fill me with your power, and lead me to a place of joy and peace in you. Amen. 

Prayer for the Day: Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace.
Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will.
In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me.
Bless my dealings with all who surround me.
Teach me to treat all that come to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all.
In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings.
In unforeseen events let me not forget that all things are under Your care.
Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others.
Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring.
Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray Yourself in me. Amen. 

Check out our latest Big Question:

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Daily Devotions: Tuesday 15th August

Here are Tuesday’s morning prayers and Bible meditations. They are designed to be read in 5 to 10 minutes.

The theme for this week’s readings is that when we trust in Jesus and turn from our old lives, God brings us into his family and gives us his love.

Opening Prayer: Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth,
present in all places and filling all things,
the treasury of blessings and Giver of life:
come and abide in me.

Lord’s Prayer: Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen

Text: See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.(1 John 3:1-3)

Explanation: In this paragraph of theological poetry, St John reflects on the extent of God’s love for us. He has made us his children. In turn this means that, just as we see human children becoming like their parents, we will be like him. We don’t know exactly what this will be like (any talk about the future needs to be comfortable with mystery and humility). But we do know that we will be like Jesus. 

Being brought into God’s family also has two other implications. First, it can lead to distance between us and others who don’t want to follow Jesus and don’t understand us. That distance should not surprise us – it was what Jesus experienced. Second, it should change how we live in the present. It is precisely because we will be made like Jesus in the future that we should begin to make ourselves like him now.

Questions: Take a moment and give thanks for all that Jesus has done for you over the last day. Then ask: 1. Do you ever feel isolated or distant from those who don’t share your faith? The pain of that can be shared with God through prayer for yourself and them. 2.  Do you ever take a moment to stop and thank God simply for his love for you? 3. What could you work on to make your life more like Jesus’s?

Prayer: Father thank you for Jesus.  Thank you for all that you have done for me through him. Thank you for the hope I have as your child and for your great love for me. Show me where I can work with you to become more like Jesus now. Amen. 

Prayer for the Day: Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace.
Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will.
In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me.
Bless my dealings with all who surround me.
Teach me to treat all that come to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all.
In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings.
In unforeseen events let me not forget that all things are under Your care.
Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others.
Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring.
Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray Yourself in me. Amen. 

Check out our latest Big Question:

Image Credit: Fadi Mikhail

Daily Devotions: Monday 17th August

Here are Monday’s morning prayers and Bible meditations. They are designed to be read in 5 to 10 minutes.

The theme for this week’s readings is that when we trust in Jesus and turn from our old lives, God brings us into his family and gives us his love.

Opening Prayer: Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth,
present in all places and filling all things,
the treasury of blessings and Giver of life:
come and abide in me.

Lord’s Prayer: Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen

Text: ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfilment —to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.’ (Ephesians 1:3-10)

Explanation: Paul’s letter to the first century church in Ephesus begins with an explosion of praise. He speaks of God’s love for us and plan to include us with him from before before the world was even created. God chooses Jesus and all who adopted in his family. God buys us back from sin and the devil, forgives us, and lavishes his goodness and love on us. His plan was wise and, through Christ, was put into action, bringing everything together in exactly the right time.

Questions: Take a moment and give thanks for all that Jesus has done for you over the last day. Then ask: 1. How does it feel to know that God has loved you since before the world was made? 2. Do you find it easy to accept that God works his plan out in the perfect time? 3. What difference might this mean for your life?

Prayer: Father thank you Jesus. Thank you that you have been working out your plan from the distant past. Thank you that you so love me that I am included in your eternal plan. Thank you that you have plans that work out in the right time, on a scale I cannot begin to imagine. Help me to trust you, to know your love, and to walk with Jesus. Amen.

Prayer for the Day: Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace.
Help me in all things to rely upon Your holy will.
In every hour of the day reveal Your will to me.
Bless my dealings with all who surround me.
Teach me to treat all that come to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all.
In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings.
In unforeseen events let me not forget that all things are under Your care.
Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others.
Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring.
Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray Yourself in me. Amen.

Check out our talk about this week’s theme: 

Image Credit: Fadi Mikhail