Daily Devotion for April 12, 2011
Prayers
Scripture

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.
Prayer for the Morning
Oh Lord, most heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who has safely brought me to the beginning of this day; I give you thanks for my creation, preservation, and all the blessings of my life. Grant that this day I fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all my doings, being governed by your will, may be righteous in your sight. Through Christ our Lord, I pray.
Prayer for Grace and Strength
Lord God, I pray that you will fill my heart with the blessing of your Holy Spirit. Grant me this day the strength to be temperate in all things, diligent in my duties, and patient under my afflictions. Direct me in all my ways. Give me grace to be just and upright in all my dealings; quiet and peaceable; full of compassion; and ready to do good to all people, according to my abilities and opportunities. For the sake of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Community of Prayer
Heavenly Lord, I know I am not alone saying these prayers or reading your Word this morning, but many people unknown to me, from all stations of life, have joined together in this brief moment of devotion. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be among the community of all who pray in the name of Christ this morning, and remain among us always.
Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.

Psalm 119:156-157,160 (NKJV)
Many are my persecutors and my enemies, Yet I do not turn from Your testimonies.
The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.

John 17:11-19 (NIV)
Jesus' Final Prayer [Part 2]
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.
While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
Sanctify them by the truth which is your word. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Notes on the Scripture
This is Christ's prayer for his disciples. For the most part, this prayer was for Christ's followers to hear; it is Christ's touching farewell speech to his followers (in the form of a prayer, so that they might be reminded that God the Father speaks through Christ). It represents a climactic summary of his later teaching.
First, he is concerned that they are still in the world even though Christ himself is leaving. He will no longer be there to protect them (although he will send the Holy Spirit to protect them), and he therefore comforts them with this prayer. For they know that God the Father will hear Christ's prayer.
He tells them that they are no longer "of this world". They have rejected the sin that was born into their flesh and have chosen the spirit of heaven instead. And the world will hate them for it. But like Christ himself, they will be protected — not from the terrible things of the world, which are temporary, but from the terrible things of the hereafter, which are forever.
And he prays that they will have the joy that he himself knows, to help them through the hardships that the world will inflict. He sends them into the world, just as he was sent into the world: to live as humans, to pass salvation to others, to spread the word of God, and possibly to suffer and die, as he is about to. But above all, to be sanctified by their belief and their life, so that they will know eternal peace.

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