Be Still
Find a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted. Get comfortable. Let your body relax and your mind quiet down. Take a few deep breaths and then ask God to make his presence known to you. Be still. Take some time to sit and soak up God’s presence.
Prayer of Approach
My God, you saw me in my unformed substance and numbered my days before I had lived one of them. Be close to me now, my God, help me yield to you without restraint and to manage all the affairs of my life to the end that when I stand and give an account, I need not to be ashamed. In the name of my Lord, I pray. Amen.
Psalm 3
A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.
Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”
But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
I call out to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
I will not fear though tens of thousands
assail me on every side.
Arise, Lord!
Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
From the Lord comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
Devotional Thought
We begin, sometimes without realizing it, to worship things, to relate to them as persons. And in the pro-cess, we inevitably relate to other persons as if they were things. No wonder Jesus spoke five times as often about money and earthly possessions as about prayer. And has power; wealth is addictive. Be careful, be on your guard…everywhere in scripture we hear the warnings; moneyWhen God breaks in on a sufficiently prepared generosity emerges, one that is outgo-ing, joyous, spontaneous and free. Growth in Christian discipleship manifests itself by compassion for the poor.stewardship unfolds, a stewardship that cares deeply for all of God's created order, including the earth and its fullness—people, animals and things.
— Edward J. Farrell
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4
Paul, Silas and Timothy,To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
Reflection
Take time to pause and reflect on your time with Jesus through the Scriptures and devotional thought. What thoughts are being drawn out of you? What emotions are being provoked? What might God be saying? Consider using a journal to write as you process, reflect, and pray.
Time for Prayer
God invites us to cast our cares on him because he cares for us. God is all-together good, already knows what we need, and is eager to give us good things. So we don’t need to pray out of anxiety or fear, but confident trust. Spend a few minutes making your requests known to God.
- For the church
- For others
- For myself
Closing Prayer
Hold before my eyes, my Lord, the diminishing number of my fleeting days, that I may receive them as precise gifts and live them in faithfulness and fidelity to you. Amen.