ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
Jesus is OUR INTERCESSOR Knowing our temptations, God the Son intercedes for us. He opens the doors for us to boldly ask God the Father for mercy. Thus, God is both the initiation and conclusion of true prayer. Hebrews 4:14-16
Hebrews 4:14-16
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Praise Jesus for Interceding
Praise Jesus that he knows your temptation. Praise him for taking on flesh experiencing weakness. Praise Him that even though tempted he did not sin. Praise him for making a way for us to come in our need.
CONFESSION: Confess your sins to God and receive his continued mercy.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
THANKSGIVING: Giving thanks to God for his specific blessings in our lives.
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 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. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100
SUPPLICATION: Bringing our requests to God.
- Bring your personal prayer requests to God.
- Pray for Youth Horizons. Ask God to use their work to bring children to faith in Christ.
- Ask God to speak to you as you read the scriptures.
SCRIPTURE READING:
2 Corinthians 7 English Standard Version
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
Paul’s Joy
2 Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. 3 I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4 I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.
5 For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. 8 For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. 12 So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. 13 Therefore we are comforted.
And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. 14 For whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. 15 And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
Paul was brutally honest with his friends in Corinth. He said he had conflicts on the outside and fears within. How do you make sense out of Paul’s admission of fears when he wrote so much about faith and God’s peace? The best way to make sense of it is to understand that Paul was a man set apart by God for his purposes but he remained a man who lived in a mortal body with the normal pressures of human life. A key difference in how Paul dealt with his external and internal pressures and how many deal with theirs is that Paul did not allow his struggles to keep him from pursuing God and others. He was honest about them but he was not controlled by them. There is a crucial difference between having wounds and licking wounds. Licking wounds keeps them opened up. Licking wounds immobilizes us. Having wounds is part of life on the planet. Moving out into relationship with God in spite of our wounds serves to decrease our self-dependence and increase our dependence on God. Moving out into relationships with others in spite of our wounds can demonstrate great love and model humility. Seek to live with the balance of honesty with your struggles while not allowing those struggles to define you. It is a difficult but necessary balance to find.