With all the noise in the world, do you hear the voice of God? Your calendar tells you what to do, but do you remember who you are? Being comes before doing. This is a call to put first things first. Return to the Lord with this daily pattern of prayer and devotion. Set aside this time as a sanctuary. Find a space free of distraction and follow this pattern.
Invocation
Make the sign of the cross, and say,
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation Prayer
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” (Matt. 5:9) O Lord, you are the God who makes peace from turmoil. As your child, send me to be a peacemaker. Amen.
Word: Psalm 27:1, 13-14
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?
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Meditation
Psalm 27 is one of my favorites. It starts with a bold, almost defiant call to faith in the face of the world’s anxiety and worry. Whom shall I fear? No one. For the Lord is with me. He is my salvation; my stronghold.
And yet it turns out that David has quite a bit to be anxious about. As the Psalm goes on he is under threat from enemies and war, from oppression and violence. And by the end of the Psalm none of these threats have been dealt with. David is still waiting for the Lord to make good on his promise.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). When you hear the word righteousness, don’t think religious piety. It’s more like a sense of biblical justice. Jesus is talking about a longing for things to be put back the way they are supposed to be. And the implication is that it hasn’t happened yet. After all, who hungers or thirsts for what he already has?
But righteousness and justice are coming. Even now, through the Spirit and His Church, Jesus is working to make things right again. And so until that day, be strong. Take heart. Wait for the Lord.
Prayer for the Church
· For my local congregation, my brothers and sisters in Christ.
· For Christians across my community and city.
· For my denomination or church body.
· For repentance where God’s people have failed or erred.
· For the mission of God given to his people, that all nations know Him.
· For the church where she is persecuted for Christ’s name.
· For church plants and mission frontiers.
· For workers in the harvest: pastors, teachers, evangelists, servants.
· For the everyday, ordinary Christian to serve and witness as the priesthood of all believers.
· For the small, overlooked, and undervalued parts of the body of Christ.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, I hunger and thirst for your righteousness, your kingdom. Strengthen my heart until then. Send your Church as an agent of your justice. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.