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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.

(Additional prayers may be found at Prayers for All Occasions.)

Proverbs 11:15

Paul's Third Journey

Acts 21:1-7 (NKJV)

Paul's Journey to Jerusalem [1]

Now it came to pass, that when we had departed from them and set sail, running a straight course we came to Cos, the following day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. And finding a ship sailing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail.

When we had sighted Cyprus, we passed it on the left, sailed to Syria, and landed at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload her cargo. And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.

When we had come to the end of those days, we departed and went on our way; and they all accompanied us, with wives and children, till we were out of the city. And we knelt down on the shore and prayed. When we had taken our leave of one another, we boarded the ship, and they returned home.

And when we had finished our voyage from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, greeted the brethren, and stayed with them one day.

Notes on the Scripture

Once again, today's verses are mostly a travelogue, a first-person account of a ship voyage through the southeastern Greek Isles 2000 years ago. After a couple of short hops on small coastal ships, Paul and his companions find a Phoenician freighter traveling all the way from Patara to Tyre, one of the great Phoenician trading ports, just north of the Hebrew colony of Galilee (Israel).

Paul's third and greatest journey is really finished at this point. He and his companions left Antioch five years earlier and traveled the length of southern Anatolia, stopping to visit the little churches he founded on his second journey. This leg ended in Ephesus, where they founded a great church. From Ephesus, they ventured out into "Asia" to a number of unnamed towns and villages. (See Daily Devotional Map.)

He then more or less retraced his second journey through Greece, to visit and strengthen all the churches he had started there in his second journey; however, instead of sailing home from Greece, he circled back until he was just outside of Ephesus, to the smaller port of Miletus. There he summoned the elders of Ephesus and bid them farewell, and then sailed to Tyre; from here, he will make his way by land to Jerusalem.

In the second journey, Paul and Silas were in virgin territory and founded numerous churches in Turkey and Greece. In the third journey, his primary accomplishment was to revisit all of these seedling churches and build them up, especially in the great city of Ephesus, where he had previously only spent a day. In fact, it was the second-generation missionaries Aquila and Priscilla who really started the church in Ephesus.

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