Psalm 33

I rejoice in you, Father. I praise you with melody and song. I sing a new song, and I shout for joy.

Your word, oh Lord, is right. You are all truth. You love righteousness and justice. The earth is full of your goodness.

The heavens were made by your word and all things by the breath of your mouth. Let the earth and all the inhabitants fear you and stand in awe of you.

Father, you have your eye on all of us who fear you, all of us who put our hope in your mercy.

You deliver my soul from death, and you feed me even in times of famine.

My soul is renewed and redeemed and joined with you now, Father. You are my life and my shield. My heart rejoices in you, and I trust in your holy name.

Your mercy is on me, and my hope is strong and sweet.

Psalm 2

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take council together against you, Lord, and against your Anointed. The nations rage, and people plot vain things.

But you, Father, sit in heaven and laugh. You hold them in derision. You speak to them in your wrath. You torment them in your deep displeasure.

Now, for those who are yours, you have decreed salvation. You have sent your only begotten son, and you have given him the nations for an inheritance. All the earth is his possession. He will break the rebellious with a rod of iron. He will dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.

However, you, Lord, in mercy and love, have brought me to my senses. You have opened my eyes that I can see you as Almighty God, and you have granted me repentance, and a new heart for you.

Now I have wisdom to see things as you see them, Father. I learned from your teachers. I serve the Lord Jesus with reverent fear, and I rejoice with honor and thanksgiving to Jesus as my Lord and your Christ, Father. I am blessed because my trust is in you! 

Mark 12; Galatians 2; Mark 12

Father, in obedience to your word, I render unto the government and the custom around me those worldly things that are of the world, but to you, Lord, I give what is yours. I give my heart, my attention, my obedience. I give my trust and my needs to you, for you, Father, are God. You are the one, and there is no other.

Today, by your grace, filled with your word and led by your Holy Spirit, I love you with all my heart and mind and soul and strength, and I love my neighbor as myself. I don’t always do that perfectly, but I do it purposefully, and you, Lord Jesus, perfect me in it and advocate for me when I fail.

By your grace and mercy, I am your son, Father, and I am a part of your kingdom now and forever. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live, because now Christ lives in me and loves me. You, Father, are the God of the Living.

Proverbs 3&2

Lord Jesus, in you, I have found wisdom, and I have gained understanding. Your divine wisdom is better than profits of silver or gold. Your wisdom in me, oh Lord, is better than rubies. Nothing else I could desire compares to your wisdom within me.

Your wisdom, Lord, enters my heart, and is pleasant to my soul. Discretion preserves me, and understanding keeps me and delivers me from evil.

I study your word, oh Lord, and it stays in my heart and mouth. My heart keeps your commands. Length of days and long life and peace become a part of me.

Mercy and truth fill me and hold onto me. I wear them like a garment. I write them on my heart. I live and commune with you, Father, as the apple of your eye. 

Ephesians 2; Mark 5&4; 1 Corinthians 6; Hebrews 13

Father, thank you for your grace and the gift of faith through which I am saved. Your faith in me has made me well. I go in peace, and I am safe from my afflictions. I am not afraid for I believe.

There was a time when I was slave to sin and self. I was not in my right mind, and I was untamed. By your word and your Holy Spirit, you spoke to me, Father, and I was set free of my chains and shackles, and given your divine nature.

By your atonement, Lord Jesus, I was cleansed of sin and clothed in your righteousness.

Now, I go home, and I tell my friends and any who want to listen to hear what great things you have done for me, Lord. You have had compassion on me. You have touched me, Lord.

Now I have peace, Lord Jesus, because I know you care for me. I am filled with faith because I know you are Lord of all creation and of eternity. I am not fearful because I belong to you, Lord Jesus. You bought me at a price, and you will never leave me or forsake me. 

Psalm 69; 1 John 1; Psalm 69

Hallelujah, Lord, your loving kindness is good. I was in trouble, and you did not hide your face from me. Instead, you heard me, and you came near to me. You took hold of my soul, and you redeemed it. You delivered me from my one real enemy, who was my selfish, sinful self.

You know my shame and my dishonor. My heart was broken and full of heaviness, but you granted me repentance. I confessed my sin, and you, Father, were faithful and just to forgive my sin and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness.

You delivered me out of the mire. Your salvation cleansed me and comforted me. You set me on high. I praise you, Father. I lift up your name, and I sing of your love and mercy for me and all those who are yours. I magnify you with Thanksgiving. 

Matthew 23; John 1

Father, I know that you longed to gather your children together like a hen would gather her chicks under her wings, but many people were not willing. I am willing, Lord. By grace you have given me a measure of faith, and I believe and receive Jesus as the Messiah and my Lord and Savior.

You have given me the right to become your child, Father. I have been born again, this time not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. No, this second birth is by your will, Father, and I am thankful.

You have shown me Jesus. I see he is the light and the life. He is your lamb, Father. He is the propitiation of my selfish, stubborn sin. He has baptized me with your Holy Spirit. Now I am alive forevermore and reconciled to you, Father. I live in your mercy and grace.

I have found you, Lord, the one of whom the prophets wrote. I follow you, Lord Jesus, and I see heavenly, angelic things.

Matthew 21&22

Hallelujah, Heavenly Father, you do not do things the way mankind does. Jesus is your Messiah, and many will reject him, but you make him your cornerstone. Everyone has to deal with your savior who is meek enough and strong enough to die to his self and give himself wholly to your kingship.

This is a stumbling stone for all of mankind. All are called by you to deal with Jesus. To decide and live accordingly; do you believe he is the Messiah or not, and if you say you believe where is the fruit and the obedience?

So, some fall on the stone and are broken. They come to an end of themselves. They see their sin, and they repent. They are born from above. They put off the old man, and they put on the new. They are clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus. They are the chosen, and I am one of them.

Many others are called, but they are not broken by the stumbling stone. They stubbornly resist and reject Christ Jesus. The truth of him as the only way to the Father, falls on them, and they are ground to powder. They were called, but they were never the chosen. 

Matthew 18, 19&20

Father, I forgive from my heart any who have hurt or offended me. I am joined to my wife, and we are one.

When my heart was hard years ago, I divorced, and I was wrong. I broke vows made to you, and that is a sin. I was an adulterer, but by your grace and forgiveness, I am no longer an adulterer.

Now, in Christ, I am redeemed. I am humble before you. Now I am one with my wife, and nothing will separate that.

I see you, Lord Jesus, in your scripture, and I believe in you, and I receive you as my Lord and Savior. I keep your commandments, and all that I have is yours. I follow you, Lord. I leave houses, lands, and lifestyles for your sake, Lord Jesus, and you provide for my needs and my peace, and I have eternal life.

It is not that I have earned or can earn anything from you, but by your grace, you are merciful. You do what you want with your kingdom. You do good to me. I was last in character and maturity, and you have chosen to make me first.

Matthew 15; Philippians 4; Ephesians 3

Praise you, Lord Jesus, my heart is near you. Your word is my doctrine. I have been planted by you. I am yours. By your grace through faith, I have been born again. With your word, and in communion with your spirit, I keep watch over my heart.

I meditate on things that are true and noble, just and pure, lovely and of good report. I keep my eyes on that which I have learned and received, and heard and seen in you, Lord Jesus, things that have virtue and that are praiseworthy. Those are the things I meditate on and you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are with me in all of that.

In that way I have learned to be content whether I abound or suffer need. I am Christ’s, and because you, Lord Jesus, are mine, I can do all these things through you, because it is your spirit in me who strengthens me.

You, Lord, supply everything I need according to your riches in glory. You grant me, according to those glorious riches, to be strengthened with might by your Holy Spirit, who dwells and works in my inner man.