Meditations and Prayer Prompts, January 22-28, 2023

 Sunday, January 22, 2023 Third Sunday after Epiphany

Matthew 4:18–23 (ESV)

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. 

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

Prayer prompt: Have you ever fished?  Fished with a net?  Are you a fisherman?  What is the difference between being a fisherman and someone who has, perhaps sporadically or occasionally, fished a few times? 10,000 hours of practice?  If you are a pro at something, would you be willing to give that thing up to follow Jesus?  Would you be willing to call other people to do the same?  The ROI seems to be a front row seat to the Good News as people are healed and relieved of the burdens that afflict them.  Is that return enough for you?  Are you ready to drop one kind of net to take up another and follow Jesus?  Pray today that the Good News will be compelling enough to grab you and keep you fishing for people.

Monday, January 23, 2023

Isaiah 9:2–4 (ESV)

  The people who walked in darkness 

have seen a great light; 

  those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, 

on them has light shone. 

   You have multiplied the nation; 

you have increased its joy; 

  they rejoice before you 

as with joy at the harvest, 

as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 

   For the yoke of his burden, 

and the staff for his shoulder, 

the rod of his oppressor, 

you have broken as on the day of Midian. 

Prayer prompt:  As the days grow longer, the light of dawn arrives sooner, casting aside the ever-shorter nighttime darkness, what do you do with the great light you have been given?  Pray that God will make you shine for others like a beacon in their darkness to point the way to safety.  Pray that the light of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, will shine in your life and in our world, so that all may know the love and salvation of God.

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Psalm 27:1, 4–5 (ESV)

The Lord is my light and my salvation; 

whom shall I fear? 

  The Lord is the stronghold of my life; 

of whom shall I be afraid? 

…One thing have I asked of the Lord, 

that will I seek after: 

  that I may dwell in the house of the Lord 

all the days of my life, 

  to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord 

and to inquire in his temple. 

  For he will hide me in his shelter 

in the day of trouble; 

  he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; 

he will lift me high upon a rock. 

Prayer prompt:  The psalmist recognizes the temple, the house of prayer, as a refuge and shelter.  Since the house of God represents the presence of God, it serves as a metaphor for enduring safety, like the natural protection afforded by the rock ledge that juts out high on a protective cliff.  There we take refuge from the world’s ugliness in the beauty of the Lord and there we stay, long as we need, when the world around us is stormy and troubled.  Pray that God will grant you this place of refuge today to ride out whatever storm you may be facing, and to gather strength for the flight or fight that lies ahead.

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

1 Corinthians 1:17–18 (ESV)

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 

Prayer prompt:  Someone recently gifted me with a beautiful, elegant writing instrument.  It is completely out of place with my khaki wardrobe and chicken scratch handwriting.  I wish the instrument could improve the writing--either the writing style or its substance.  Unfortunately, it improves neither one.  Paul seemed to think that the Good News of the Gospel could not be improved by fancy talk or fancy writing.  The wisdom of the gospel comes from the simple power of the cross, which seems foolish to those who cannot or will not believe it.  Pray today that the cross will be sufficient for you, without anything fancy added that could diminish its impact.

Thursday, January 26, 2023

1 Corinthians 1:18–21, 26-29  (ESV)

 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, 

  “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, 

and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 

…For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 

New York City, USA.  Rodin's "The Thinker" in front of the Philosophy Building of Columbia University in Manhattan, an authorized replica made in 1931 from the original casting of 1904.

Prayer prompt:  Paul is at it again, pointing out that the wisdom of the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is sheer folly for anyone who cannot or will not trust it.  The wisdom and power of this world are not operative in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Instead, the instruments with which God works--weakness, ignorance, poverty, everything that is low or despised--are only efficacious through trust in the cross of Christ.  Pray that God will help you set aside any power or privilege that the Gospel actively seeks to subvert, so that you may comprehend the wisdom of God and be guided only by God’s standard, the wisdom of the cross.

Friday, January 27, 2023

Psalm 15 (ESV)

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? 

Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 

  He who walks blamelessly and does what is right 

and speaks truth in his heart; 

  who does not slander with his tongue 

and does no evil to his neighbor, 

nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 

  in whose eyes a vile person is despised, 

but who honors those who fear the Lord; 

  who swears to his own hurt and does not change; 

  who does not put out his money at interest 

and does not take a bribe against the innocent. 

  He who does these things shall never be moved.

Prayer prompt: According to the psalmist, there are things that move me closer and further from the presence of God, things that allow me to stay in God’s presence and things that will require me to strike the tent and move on somewhere else.  We might expect doing what is right and speaking the truth to make the list of things that allow me to stay put in God’s presence.  But how many of us would include avoiding the company of those who tear down others?  And how many of us can really say that we do what we say we will, even when we will be hurt by keeping our word?  Pray today that God will show you how to remain in the divine presence permanently.  Pray that God will give you the ability to withhold your support for anything that hurts another person, even if it means paying a price yourself.

Saturday, January 28, 2023

James 1:26-27 (ESV)

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. 

Prayer prompt:  How well do you bridle your tongue?  Is there a continuum?  Or is a tongue either bridled or unbridled?  Is there any such thing as more-or-less bridled?  What about a deceived heart?  James seems to think that we should pray for a worthwhile religion, one that can discipline the tongue and open the heart to those who are in need.  Pray today that God will give you that real, old-time, tongue-bridled, clear-hearted religion.