Daily Devotion for January 26, 2023
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.
I think this pretty song, sung by John Canaan, was the first hymn we ever put on Daily Prayer, back whenever we first got the video interface working. 2008? And it pretty well sums up the purpose of the Daily Prayer website!
Teach me to pray to my Father above;
Teach me to know of the things that are right;
Teach me, teach me to walk in the light.
Come, little child, and together we'll learn
Of his commandments, that we may return
Home to his presence, to live in his sight —
Always, always to walk in the light.
Father in Heaven, we thank thee this day
For loving guidance to show us the way.
Grateful, we praise thee with songs of delight!
Gladly, gladly we'll walk in the light.
Music and Lyrics by Clara W. McMaster
Prayer for the Morning
Blessed are you, Lord God of my salvation, to you be praise and glory forever. As once you ransomed your people from Egypt and led them to freedom in the promised land, so now you have delivered me from the dominion of darkness and brought me into the kingdom of your risen Son.
May I, the fruit of your new creation, rejoice in this new day you have made, and praise you for your mighty acts. Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Prayer of Purpose
Lord, I believe you have placed me on this earth for your own divine purpose. Father, open my eyes to see it, let me walk in your plans for me. Show me this purpose, oh Lord, and let me daily live in it. Just as a stone does not see the ripples it makes when it is cast into a pond, we may not see the fruit of our devotion in our lifetime; so do not let me wallow in the illusion of despair, mighty God, for to believe that my life is without purpose is to doubt Your wisdom.
Prayer for Forgiveness
Lord, I have betrayed you by following my own way; I have denied you by fearing to follow yours; and I have mocked you by not taking your death seriously. I sometimes feel like I am lost. Let your forgiveness find me. Hold me in your strong arms and give me your new life. Live in me and with me this day, that I may by your power find forgiveness and be made ever anew, reborn from above, living fully in your Spirit every minute. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray,
Meditation
“As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.”
Proverbs 11:22
A Prayer After Reading Scripture
May the word I have read, Lord, be planted deeply in my mind and heart. Help me not to walk away and forget it, but to meditate on it and obey it and so build my life on the rock of your truth.
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.
Genesis 33 (TLB)
The Story of Jacob [11] - Jacob Meets Esau
hen, far in the distance, Jacob saw Esau coming with his 400 men. Jacob now arranged his family into a column, with his two concubines and their children at the head, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. Then Jacob went on ahead. As he approached his brother he bowed low seven times before him. And then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him affectionately and kissed him; and both of them were in tears!
* * *
“And what were all the flocks and herds I met as I came?” Esau asked. And Jacob replied, “They are my gifts, to curry your favor!”
* * *
So Esau started back to Seir that same day. Meanwhile Jacob and his household went as far as Succoth. There he built himself a camp, with pens for his flocks and herds. (That is why the place is called Succoth, meaning “huts.”) Then they arrived safely at Shechem, in Canaan, and camped outside the city. (He bought the land he camped on from the family of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for 100 pieces of silver. And there he erected an altar and called it “El-Elohe-Israel,” “The Altar to the God of Israel.”)
Notes on the Scripture
Jacob and Esau have had a stormy relationship, but they are happily and peacefully reunited. The nature of their relationship will continue to their descendants. Esau is the forebear of the nation of Edom, the Edomites, whose history will intersect with that of the Hebrews for thousands of years. By the time of Christ, Esau’s most notable descendant will be none other than Herod the Great (and thus all the later Herods), the client king of Rome over all of Judea and thus the Jews’ ruler.
There were surely periods of rivalry and even hatred between the two tribes. Numbers 20 tells us that the Edomites refused to let the Israelites under Moses pass through their territory when traveling from Egypt to Canaan. They raised an army specifically to close their border to the Hebrews.
At the time of today’s passage, notice that Esau retires to “Seir.” Archaeologists have traced this land to the east side of the Jordan, and have followed the Edomites over time as they were pushed south and then west. By the time of Herod, Edom occupied a nook in the south of Canaan, and was known as Idumea. A large contingent of Idumean Zealots joined the Jewish revolt against Rome, crushed in 70 A.D.; and the tribe was thereafter lost to the flow of history.
Comments (4)
Do oaths include marriage vows & court oaths to tell the truth?
May the word I have read, Lord, be planted deeply in my mind and heart.
Was 2008 also the year that Daily Prayer started? What a blessing for me that I found it, and long May it continue!
History is truly fascinating! I wonder what stories the Edomites told each other across the centuries, about the Hebrews, to pit themselves against each other?
I had NO idea that Herod The Great was a descendant of Esau!
Every morning, I come to this site and am enlightened.
THANK YOU Mason, you expand my soul!!
Many blessings.