Prayerfully Re-Center Around God
Matthew 26:38-39
Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
~ Jesus
Pondering Point
Despite the painful road ahead for Jesus, we see alignment between the will of the Father and the compliant Son in order to bring reconciliation between God and His people. Jesus prays for strength to follow through on this plan: To pay the wages of sin (by His death), enabling God the Father to not count men’s sins against them, giving them life in His name. We bring up God’s will in this devotion because doing what God wants is not always easy nor simple. But with Jesus as our example and inspiration, let’s prayerfully re-center around God and His will about reconciling with others.
Review the Week
Is there need for reconciliation with someone in your life? If so, is your heart bent toward forgiveness or bitterness? Are you open to God’s help? Are you willing to let go of anger, resentment?
Repent (if necessary)
... of letting any bitter roots grow within you (Hebrews 12:15) and inhibiting God’s work of grace through you.
Hebrews 12:15
See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Return (as necessary)
Ask God for divine strength to forgive and to reconcile, for healing of current or past wounding and then pray this adaptation from the Lord’s Prayer: Lord, let Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
My Gratitude Journal
The 3.5-hour worship service – seriously!
Gratitude Journal?
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Back when Hope did 8:00 traditional and 10:30 blended, lack of an organist one week led Pastor Paul to use song booklets from a church retreat. Led by guitar, the mixture of song and scripture set a worshipful tone. Then the service took on a life of its own. The traditional service slot bled into the bible study hour. More songs get sung – different songs and more scripture are added on the fly; we kept singing and praying, absorbing God and His word. 10:15 rolled around and next service participants found themselves walking into a sacred space that had been carrying on for over two hours. As 10:30 musicians joined pastor up front, many 8:00-ers stay, lingering in the moment. We returned to the same songs that opened the early service. Even so, they had a new feel – deeper, more profound. By the time we finished, we knew that we had been party to a unique and wonderful worship experience. I found myself trying to drink it all in, knowing that it may never repeat itself again.