Daily Devotion for September 15, 2015
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.
Casting Crowns, 2003
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt?
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart?
Refrain:
Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are.
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind.
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours.
Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin?
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again?
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me?
I am Yours.
Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear,
'Cause I am Yours.
Prayer of St. Denis
You are wisdom, uncreated and eternal,
the supreme first cause, above all being,
sovereign Godhead, sovereign goodness,
watching unseen the God-inspired wisdom of Christian people.
Raise us, I pray, that we may totally respond
to the supreme, unknown, ultimate, and splendid height
of your words, mysterious and inspired.
There all God's secret matters lie covered and hidden
under darkness both profound and brilliant, silent and wise.
You make what is ultimate and beyond brightness
secretly to shine in all that is most dark.
In your way, ever unseen and intangible
you fill to the full with the most beautiful splendor
those souls who close their eyes that they may see.
And I, please, with love that goes on beyond mind
to all that is beyond mind,
seek to gain such for myself through this prayer.
Prayer for Unknown Needs
Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on my weakness, and mercifully give me those things which for my unworthiness I dare not, and for my blindness I cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Meditation
[God gives us things that we do not even know we need to ask for.]
Benediction
Oh God Almighty, send me Your light and truth, to keep this day and all the days of my life. And may Your mighty hand protect me, and all my brothers and sisters who have joined me in prayer this day, blessing our homes and our lives.
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.
Deciding What to Do
Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
~ Dr. Howard Thurman
Exodus 8:8-15 (ESV)
The Second Plague: Frogs [2]
Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.” And he [Pharaoh] said, “Tomorrow.”
Moses said, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile.”
So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses.
The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
Notes on the Scripture
Most of us have known someone like Pharaoh. They want you to do something for them, and they promise to do something for you in return. And then, after you have done your part, they say they have changed their mind.
In Pharaoh's case, the biggest motivation for his dishonesty is pride. Notice that Moses does not say, "The frogs will go away so that you will let the Hebrews go worship," but rather, "so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God." If there has ever been a prideful person on earth, it was a pharaoh of Egypt. They were more than absolute monarchs; they were demigods. They believed that their very nature was superior to others.
Moreover, they were not accustomed to honesty; they were above laws. Their will was higher than any law, any contract.
But here, there is more at stake than simply adherence to a contract. Moses seeks to make Pharaoh admit that the god of this abased tribe of slaves is greater than Pharaoh himself, something that he has never encountered or even recognized as a possibility. And Moses is making some headway: Pharaoh has clearly lost some measure of confidence in his magicians, and he asks Moses to plead with Yahweh to take the frogs away. But pride is a resistant fault in all of us; and the pride of the King of Egypt is — literally — monumental.
