One Word
This winter on The Daily Pattern we’re in a series called One Word. Each day we take one word – a feeling or circumstance – and bring a word from God to it. Let the Word of God speak to your life.
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 meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5) O Lord, I am lowly and humble. You alone are my inheritance. Amen.
Word: John 1:19-20
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”
Meditation
Anger by Bella Cloeter
As the oldest of four kids, I am no stranger to frustration and anger. It’s remarkable how much a sibling can get on your nerves. They know all the right buttons to push.
Sibling anger is minuscule compared to the large-scale anger we see in our world today. I will admit, as a 16-year-old living in 2022, I am scared of the anger that I witness around me. Politics. War. Scandal. Road Rage. Insurrection.
In 2016, I remember being an 11- year-old watching the Presidential debates with my dad. What was supposed to be a debate and discussion on issues quickly became a heated argument fueled by anger and geared toward attacking one another. I vividly remember turning to my dad and asking, “Why are they so angry? We don’t talk to each other like that.”
The influence of anger around us affects the heart within us. It becomes infused into our everyday lives. We take this anger and let it control what we say, do, and how we treat others. Often when we are angry, we say or do the first thing that comes to mind without thinking. We don’t worry about the consequences until they are staring us in the face.
So how should we respond to the anger that is prevalent in our world today?
James tells us to be “slow to anger.” Anger is quick; the feeling is instantaneous. The root of anger might be a reaction to greed, uncertainty, or lack of control. But we are told that instead of being quick to anger, be “quick to listen, and slow to speak.” Scripture tells us that love is patient.
Jesus responded to the anger of the world with patience and forgiveness. We see this most clearly when He was on the cross. The people who put Him on the cross were filled with anger. They yelled. They spit. They cursed Him. Yet His response was patient love. He asked God to forgive them. Likewise, when faced with anger, we should respond with patient love. Love so patient that we can forgive those who have angered us.
Dear Lord, we pray for the anger we see in the world today. Give us patient love and the ability to show this love to others. In your name, we pray, Amen.
Prayer for Family
· For my immediate family (parents, spouse, siblings).
· For extended family (cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents)
· For close friends that are as family to me.
· For those who don’t have families, or whose families are broken.
· For forgiveness and reconciliation where there is division in my family.
· For provision where there is need in my family.
· For God to be the foundation, and the cross the center of my family.
· For a generation yet unborn, future members of our family.
Closing Prayer
O Lord and King, your Kingdom comes even without our prayer. But we pray that it would also come among us. We are desperate for your reign and rule, for all we see is rebellion. Come into my heart, my home, my family, my work, my church, my community. Rule with justice and with mercy. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.