14th. August. 2021. Daily Devotion.

Lord, teach us to pray ~ Luke 11:1

Hello, my name is Max. I’m a recovering prayer wimp. I doze off when I pray. My thoughts zig, then zag, then zig again. Distractions swarm like gnats on a summer night. If attention deficit disorder applies to prayer, I am afflicted. When I pray, I think of a thousand things I need to do. I forget the one thing I set out to do: pray.

Can you relate? It’s not that we don’t pray at all. We all pray some. But wouldn’t we all like to pray … More? Better? Deeper? Stronger? With more fire, faith, or fervency?

We aren’t the first to struggle. The sign-up sheet for Prayer 101 contains some familiar names: the apostles John, James, Andrew, and Peter. When one of Jesus’ disciples requested, “Lord, teach us to pray”, none of the others objected. No one walked away saying, “Hey, I have prayer figured out.” The first followers of Jesus needed prayer guidance.

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he gave them a prayer. Not a lecture on prayer. Not the doctrine of prayer. He gave them a quotable, repeatable, portable prayer (Luke 11:1–4). Could you use the same? It seems to me that the prayers of the Bible can be distilled into one. The result is a simple, easy-to-remember, pocket-size prayer:

Father, you are good. I need help. Heal me and forgive me. They need help. Thank you in Jesus’ Name.

Keep this prayer in your pocket as you pass through the day. Don’t think for a minute that he is glaring at you from a distance with crossed arms and a scowl, waiting for you to get your prayer life together. Just the opposite. Here I am! “I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you will eat with me.” (Rev. 3:20).   Max Lucado

O God, from whom to turn is to fall, to whom to be turned is to rise, and in whom to stand is to abide for ever. Grant us in all our perplexities your guidance, in all our dangers your protection, and in all our sorrows your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

Almighty God, you are present in all places, town and county, this is your world; help us to be mindful of all you have given us to care for.
Help us to show our discipleship by recycling and reusing whenever we can.
Please God, we want recycling in our own lives: may we experience the renewing grace of your Son and the rejuvenation of your Holy Spirit and may gifts and virtues that have become tired or overlooked be reused.
O God, renew our faith and holiness that we may be refreshed, blessed and transformed into the Christians you want us to be Amen. Steven Wild.

Evening Benediction

Oh Lord, go with me and each of us to rest; if we awake, temper to us the dark hours of watching; and when the day returns, return to us, our sun and comforter, and call us up with morning faces and with morning hearts, eager to labour, eager to be happy, and if the day be marked for sorrow, strong to endure it. Through Christ I pray, Amen.