Week 38 Day 4
I. Prayer to enter the Lord’s presence:
Be still for a moment. “Lord, I give the day that is now past to you. It is yours. I give the day that is to come to you; help me to see where you are working and to join you there. Speak to me during these moments. I commit them and myself to you.”
II. Prayer of Confession:
“Lord, you are faithful to forgive me and cleanse me of my sin when I confess it to you. I confess my sin(s) of ______________. Thank you for forgiveness.” (1 John 1:9)
III. Prayer of Thanksgiving:
Choose to be thankful, speak out loud of what God has done.
“Thank you, Father, for _________________. Fill my heart and my mouth with gratitude throughout this day.”
IV. Scripture Reflection
Read
1 Cor. 2:13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: 16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Reflect
The weapons of the world are human reason and human ability. The weapons of the Church are the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the people of God. Some have taken verse 15 to mean they don’t need to listen to the instruction of others. However, this is clearly foolish and unbiblical. In the first place the Bible is full of instruction on the importance of listening to others. In the second place someone else (Paul) is instructing the reader in this verse so clearly Paul did not believe his readers don’t need to listen to others. This passage is about Christians having access to wisdom that the world does not, namely, wisdom from the Word of God and wisdom from the Spirit of God. Because God has spoken to us in Word and Spirit we can and do have the “mind of Christ.” This is a profound statement. It means that our thoughts can and should more and more correspond to the thoughts that Christ has. When we see the world as he does we will more and more live in the world as he did. Notice that this passage deals with all three weapons. We have Paul (a human part of the Church), writing of the power of the Word and the Spirit of God.
Respond
Contemplate the battle in your mind. On the one hand you must do the work to take thoughts captive to Christ and on the other hand you have the mind of Christ. Which is it? Of course it is both. Thus we see the battle for control of your mind. Thank God for giving you access to eternal truth, to the mind of Christ. Ask God again to help you give your thoughts more consistently to Christ.
V. Prayer for others:
Pray specifically for the concerns of your life and the lives of others.
VI. Prayer of commitment:
“Lord God, I commit to love you with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength and with all my mind and to love my neighbor as myself. Empower me today to love you and others with everything that I am.” (Luke 10:27)
This Month’s Scripture Memory:
Colossians 3:12-14
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.