139 people in our community are currently praying with you.

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 (written by Metropolitan Philaret)

Lord, give me the strength to greet the coming day in peace. Help me in all things to rely on Your holy will. Reveal Your will to me every hour of the day. Bless my dealings with all people. Teach me to treat all people who come to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all. In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings. In unexpected events, let me not forget that all are sent by you.

Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others. Give me the physical strength to bear the labors of this day. Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray in me.

For our Enemies

O God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian

O Lord and Master of my life, give me not the spirit of laziness, despair, lust of power, and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of sobriety, humility, patience and love to your servant. Yes, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions and not to judge my brother, for blessed are you unto ages of ages.

Benediction

Eternal God, heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted me as a living member of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have blessed me with the grace of forgiveness through the sacrifice He made for me and for all people. Send me now into the world in peace, and grant me strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart; through Christ our Lord.

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.

Pride

After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box.

    ~ Italian Proverb

Genesis 24:62-67 (ESV)

The Story of Abraham [49] - Rebekah

Now Isaac had returned from Beer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming.

And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel and said to the servant, "Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." So she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

Notes on the Scripture

Do you remember Beer-lahai-roi? It is the well in the northern Negeb Desert where God's angel led Hagar, when she was pregnant with Ishmael and was having one of her fights with Sarai. She had run away and was about to perish of thirst in the wilderness.

(For those of you who do not know about it, you can find old Scripture selections and commentaries from Daily Prayer by clicking on "List of Bible Lessons", about halfway down the purple navigation on the left of the screen. The story of Hagar at Beer-lahai-roi, in Genesis 16, can be found on days 890 and 891.)

We can only speculate that Isaac is living somewhere in the vicinity of Beersheba, possibly among the little band of Philistines whom Abraham had befriended much earlier in life. Again, the details have been lost in the annals of time, for this happened well over 3000 years ago. Isaac possibly has his own household; he would not have meditated somewhere he felt unsafe, so perhaps it was a field he owned, where he grazed his livestock.

The meeting of Isaac and Rebekah is so romantic! He sees his lovely young bride, and she him, at a distance across a field; she is modest and covers her face, truly a "blushing bride". And then, without any recorded fanfare, he apparently marries her simply by the act of taking her into his tent, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. And . . . "he loved her".

It is a happy ending to a happy story; Hollywood could not do any better.

Current Memory Verse     Remember the Bible

Print Today’s Devotion