Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
Psalm 100: 1-5
“1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. 5 For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”
Understand:
Know that the LORD is a sure foundation for our praise. It is because the sovereign LORD has made us and welcomes us that we can come into His presence with confidence and praise. In verse four, we’re told to enter the gates in communal worship. Nothing unholy was allowed into the courts of the temple, yet we can enter His gates!
Apply:
How is this possible? Why can we enter His gates?
We can enter because of the blood of Christ. Hebrews chapter nine tells us that Christ is our high priest, who entered the Most Holy by spilling His own blood for us. He did this once for all time. He paid the price to set us free from sin forever. Jesus offered Himself without flaw to God by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is His blood that washes away the guilt of our sin! Sin is what leads to death; now that we’ve been washed, we can freely serve the living God. Christ is the go-between of a new covenant; He has set us free from sin! This is what fills our hearts with joy; it’s what makes the believer want to proclaim God’s goodness to the entire world. It’s why Paul says to “offer every part of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace!”
This is why we, like the Old Testament saints, can say, “Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.
Now offer Him your praise and worship.
Live:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)
Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.