Prayer of the "elders" in Revelation

Following the letters to the seven churches, the book of Revelation turns to a vision of a throne set in heaven. God sits on throne, surrounded by four beasts and 24 elders. The beasts are similar to creatures seen in visions in the Old Testament, especially Ezekiel. Meanwhile, the 24 elders seem to represent all of Judaism (12 tribes) and non-Judaism (12 apostles).

All symbolism aside -- which, admittedly, is tough! -- the end of chapter 4 has the 24 elders praying to God, in a powerfully-simple display of praise. The prayer is short, and, therefore, easy to memorize. It reads (Revelation 4:11, KJV),

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. 

"One Year Bible" reading plan

The start of the calendar year seems like an opportune time to begin a daily bible reading plan. One of my favorites is the One Year Bible. The plan takes you through the entire bible, with each day including a reading from (1) the Old Testament, (2) the New Testament, (3) Proverbs, and (4) Psalms. (The plan actually cycles through Psalms twice over the course of the calendar year.)

Each of those four segments proceeds through the bible "in order," meaning from beginning to end in the bible's modern format. Although that might seem a bit mechanical, I find that, by simultaneously emphasizing both the Old and New Testaments, the plan does a remarkable job of bringing the entire bible into harmony.

Publishers have release printed and e-book versions of the One Year Bible, but it is not necessary to purchase those. Rather, one can use the website itself as a guide of what to read, and when to read it.

(The being the 8th of January, I meant to post this a few days ago, but it's not too late to get started!)

Daily Light devotional

People wishing for assistance in their prayer lives have many (very good) options for daily "devotionals." One of my favorites is titled "Daily Light on the Daily Path," often shortened to "Daily Light." Originally assembled by Jonathan Bagster in the 19th century, the Daily Light devotional is unique in that it contains only Bible verses, without any additional commentary.

Twice a day (morning and evening) for each day of the year, the Daily Light devotional provides approximately 6-10 verses that all speak to a common theme. And owing to its age, the devotional is freely available from many places.

My favorite site -- which also seems to work well on mobile devices -- is: https://dailylightdevotional.org/

Give it a try, and see if it helps anchor your prayer life!

A prayer of contrition from Jeremiah

I enjoy the parts of the bible that offer self-contained prayers. While most of those prayers should be interpreted in the context of events in which they are presented, those prayers often have universal relevance.

One example appears in Jeremiah 3:22-25:

Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel ... We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the Lord our God ... and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.

What a great prayer of contrition! It contain humility, shame, and admission of guilt. But it also contains hope, in that it acknowledges that true hope for salvation comes from God. So although this prayer is specific to the circumstances of when it was written, it also applies to us, and our continual need to reaffirm our relationship with God.

Balaam's prophecy of "the Star"

The book of Numbers tells the story of Balaam, a sort of pagan sorcerer, who is summoned to curse the Israelites. Instead, God forces Balaam to bless the Israelites.

As part of Balaam's blessings, he issues a rather cryptic prophecy, which, as first, doesn't seem connected to the main story. That is, Balaam says (Numbers 24:17, KJV),

I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob.

So this "Star" -- who is not here and now at the time of Balaam -- will arise from Israel. Lest there be any doubt, Jesus, himself, clarifies the identity of the star, when he states (Revelation, 22:16, KJV),

I am the ... bright and morning star.

The bible circles back on itself like this many times like this. And perhaps the best way to catch those patterns is consistent, habitual reading of it.
 

Displeased the LORD.

The account of David and Bathsheba, contained mostly in 2 Samuel 11, is a riveting example of an otherwise faithful person making a bad decision, and then piling other bad decisions on top in a sad attempt to cover up his first bad decision.

The final two verses of that chapter imply that David might have successfully gotten away with his wicked scheme. But then comes the bone chilling final sentence of that chapter (2 Samuel 11:27, KJV),

But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

Yikes! We wouldn't want to be in David's shoes!

Of course, we often put ourselves in exactly those shoes. We engage in some action, concoct some scheme, or follow some path that directly violates God's commandments. We might not even consider God, and when we (temporarily) get away with it, we think no-harm-no-foul!

Before embarking upon any action, we must stop to contemplate whether it might displease God. Had David done that, he could have avoided some of the horrific grief that would soon fall upon him.

Why did God create us?

We'll never know the complete answer to that question, at least not during this lifetime. After all, God says (Isaiah 55:9, KJV),

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

But even though we can't completely grasp God's motivation, Paul provides a hint about why we were created. Actually, it's more than a hint; it's a direction on how to live! Paul states (Ephesians 2:10 KJV),

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

That is, God predestined, even before our birth, that we should pursue "good works" and "walk in them."

So if that's our main reason for existing, then it's especially distressful -- first to God, but also eventually to ourselves -- when we don't "walk in them," but rather follow our own earthly pursuits. Let us recommit our ways to God, and ask for forgiveness for the times we've failed to walk in his ways