Morning Prayer
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
Inspiration
Sometimes we think that our pastors and teachers are ‘more spiritual’ than the rest of us. They may have the ministry of the word, while the rest of us only do ‘ordinary’ things around the church like making meals and taking care of children. No matter what our role, we are all equipped by the Spirit to do good works for God’s kingdom—even if those works seem ‘ordinary’ to us.
Prayer
Father God, thank You for the gift of Your Spirit. Thank You for calling me to be a worker in Your kingdom and for equipping me for the tasks that You’ve set before me. Help me to understand my gifts and joyfully embrace my role, so that You may be glorified in all that I do. And use me to encourage others in using their gifts, too. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Night Prayer
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Inspiration
We despise the thought of a pile of dirty dishes in the sink. The outside is easy to clean; it's the caked-up residue on the inside that's so difficult to remove. Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees with dishes that have been wiped clean on the outside while dirty inside. The Pharisees took exceptional care of their outward appearance and neglected their inward spirits. We are guilty of allowing our hearts to be left filthy as well. We look and act as we should while our souls are full of darkness. We must continue to converse with the Holy Spirit daily and trust His guidance to cleanse our sinful nature.
Prayer
Dear God, Please forgive our sinful nature. We yearn for cleansing from within, so we are genuine witnesses to Your name. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
