Monday of Pentecost 3 - Prayer for the Week
O God, because Your abiding presence always goes with us, keep us aware of Your daily mercies that we may live secure and content in Your eternal love; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
The last several weeks have been quite the ride. Layered on top of the pandemic, the stay-at-home orders, and the attendant economic turmoil, cities around the world have convulsed with demonstrations and riots in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis. In this prayer we pray to live secure and content in God’s eternal love. Security and contentment seem very far away right now. The young people I know are afraid for their future and are feeling very insecure. The faces of the protestors are not the faces of content people.
I encourage you re-pray this prayer and focus on the first elements. God’s presence is cited, but we know that having God in the room is not always the source of security and contentment. After all, he is my judge! The source of security and contentment is found in the first thing we ask in this prayer. We want God to keep us aware of God’s daily mercies. Mercy is not the same thing as justice or love. Mercy is what you show to those who have done wrong. We need God’s mercy, every day, even on the days when we say our prayers, write our offering check, and watch three different services online. We need mercy in those moments too. God’s presence brings security and contentment, it is true, but that does not flow from our righteousness but from a righteousness which is given to us, but which must be put upon us from God.
Count this as a reminder for this day. God has put that righteousness on you in Christ. That truth allows you to own everything that is wrong in your life and see it anew as something which God has forgiven in Christ. If life seems to be pressing in on you hard right now it is not the truth. God has shown mercy. Out of that contentment and security flows great possibilities for change, both in your heart and in this world.
Rev. Phillip Brandt, MDiv, PhD
Join us tomorrow for the study of Philippians on WebEx. Contact me if you need the link.
Blessings
Pr Fred
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