Morning Prayer
And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
Inspiration
Samson's power came from God, not from his beautiful locks of hair! He knew the origin of his strength and called out to the Lord to help him abolish his enemies. We have the power to overcome obstacles and hardships in our earthly life. We must remember that our strength comes from the Lord and contribute our tenacity to Him. We are grateful for His gracious character as He gifts us with skills to battle our enemies.
Prayer
Dear Father, We are grateful for the strength You have instilled in us. We could not stand against sin alone and we praise You for gifting us the power to conquer our sin. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Night Prayer
For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Inspiration
God commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, which is easier said than done. God loves us although we are challenging to love, and He extends mercy to us for actions that seem impossible to forgive. His love is available to everyone, and we must make our lives a reflection of His character. We trust the Holy Spirit to guide our hearts and teach us to act as commanded.
Prayer
Dear God, we trust Your Spirit to help us love each other as You love us. We desire to be a reflection of Your character to everyone we meet. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Devotion
Do We See and Hear?
Frances Taylor
Jesus spoke in parables to the people of his time as well as to us. Do we hear and understand what he is trying to tell us? We have heard and read the parable of the sower and the seed many times, and we have read the meaning of the parable as well so we understand what Jesus was saying. However, there are other parables such as the Workers in the Vineyard where everyone gets the same pay for very different amounts of work that sometimes make us shake our heads and wonder. The parables often speak of things we just don't have any experience with such as sowing seed, taking care of sheep, pruning vines, etc. Yes, those who live on farms understand, but those of us who are city-dwellers don't. However, we are meant to pay attention to the underlining truths. We learn from the sower, that we need to prepare our hearts to welcome God's word and continue to nurture it if we are to grow in our faith. From the workers, God is generous and sometimes we ...
