May 25: Morning Devotion

Pastor Tritten · May 25: Morning Devotion

Good Morning, Lord!

I Am Baptized

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Gal. 3:27 ESV)

Make the sign of the cross as you say, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

A Morning Prayer

Dear Father, as I wake this morning on this Memorial Day, I am thankful for the many freedoms I enjoy as a citizen of the United States. Thank you for the men and women who fought, sacrificed, and died to secure the freedom we all too often take for granted in our country. At the same time, as we think of the many people from all nationalities who have died in wars over the centuries, we pray for peace, for just governments, for ethical citizens, and for the general prosperity of all people. Please give all people freedom from want, freedom from fear, and freedom from oppression. And as we think of freedom in these earthly matters, we pray that you would set free the captives to sin and shame through the blood of Jesus. Lift up his cross and draw us all to him who gives us freedom to live and be your children. Amen.

I Believe …

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the

virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He

descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge

the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the

forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Bible Reading – Psalm 5

Lead Me in Your Righteousness

To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.

5 Give ear to my words, O Lord;
    consider my groaning.
² Give attention to the sound of my cry,
    my King and my God,
    for to you do I pray.
³ O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you^[a] and watch.

⁴ For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
    evil may not dwell with you.
⁵ The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
    you hate all evildoers.
⁶ You destroy those who speak lies;
    the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

⁷ But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
    will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
    in the fear of you.
⁸ Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies;
    make your way straight before me.

⁹ For there is no truth in their mouth;
    their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
    they flatter with their tongue.
¹⁰ Make them bear their guilt, O God;
    let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
    for they have rebelled against you.

¹¹ But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
    let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may exult in you.
¹² For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
    you cover him with favor as with a shield.[1]

Do you take it for granted that, when you pray God will hear you? The psalms do not. It isn’t that we shouldn’t be confident that God hears our prayers. We should! We have his promises to hear our prayer. More than that, we pray in Jesus’ name, that is, through faith in him and in his forgiveness and righteousness. But we should not take God’s listening for granted.

Prayer is a gift from God. He speaks to us in the Word, and we speak to him in prayer. He reveals himself to us, shows us his salvation, his ways, his heart, his priorities and desires, and we speak back to him about these things. Unfortunately, we are too often like the conversationalist that doesn’t listen and constantly changes the conversation back to focus on himself.

Country music singer Toby Keith sang a song that says, “I wanna talk about me, talk about I, talk about number-one, oh my me my. What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want what I see.” All too often this is our approach to our conversations with God. He tells us about himself and his love for us and we want to tell him about what we want.

You are not the center of the universe. Do you want to know how I know that? It’s because I am. I am, of course, just kidding, but we all have this part of our fallen sinful nature that makes us overly focused on ourselves and not enough on our neighbors, and not nearly enough on God.

When we pray, we come in humility. Not the humility of one who fears an outburst or rejecting. We come in humility to our Creator, to the one who loves us so much that he would give himself to die for us in Christ, to the one who makes the dead alive. We come in humility, in awe of God’s goodness, mercy, and faithfulness. And we come in confidence for Jesus invites us into his Father’s presence to listen and to speak.

Questions for Meditation

What does this reading teach you about Jesus, what He said and did, or what He wants His followers to believe? What does it teach you about God’s love and forgiveness?

What does this reading lead you to be thankful for?

What behavior, thought, or attitude does this reading challenge? What sin does it lead you to confess?

How might you pray for God to have a richer impact on your life through this reading?

Prayer

Pray for God to help you to understand and believe His Word.

Pray for increased faith, hope, and love.

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven,

hallowed be Thy name,

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done on earth

as it is in heaven;

give us this day our daily bread;

and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those

who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom

and the power and the glory

forever and ever. Amen.

Benediction

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph. 3:20-21 ESV)

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[1] English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.