Welcome to Week 17 of A 2020 Prayer Life!
What follows is a series of daily meditations and exercises to help us develop our individual prayer lives. This represents a one-day-at-a-time process. Don't short-circuit the process by reading ahead. Simply read and do each day what is offered for that day.
What follows is a series of daily meditations and exercises to help us develop our individual prayer lives. This represents a one-day-at-a-time process. Don't short-circuit the process by reading ahead. Simply read and do each day what is offered for that day.
April 22
At the end of Psalm 96, we read a passage that feels to us very much like a hymn of praise:
"Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all it contains; let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord, for..." (Psalm 96:11-13a NASB)
From other Psalms, we are accustomed to this sort of universal call to praise. But such a call to praise is generally accompanied by a reason to praise. Hence the word "for." The Lord should be praised because of certain reasons.
Right now, make a quick, written list of the first five reasons that come to your mind why the Lord should be praised.
Now, after having jotted down the first five things that came to your mind, expand your list. Spend another two minutes more patiently and thoughtfully fleshing out your list.
In your prayer time just now, praise the Lord according to those lists.
"Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all it contains; let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord, for..." (Psalm 96:11-13a NASB)
From other Psalms, we are accustomed to this sort of universal call to praise. But such a call to praise is generally accompanied by a reason to praise. Hence the word "for." The Lord should be praised because of certain reasons.
Right now, make a quick, written list of the first five reasons that come to your mind why the Lord should be praised.
Now, after having jotted down the first five things that came to your mind, expand your list. Spend another two minutes more patiently and thoughtfully fleshing out your list.
In your prayer time just now, praise the Lord according to those lists.
April 23
We observed yesterday in Psalm 96 that the Psalmist expresses a kind of universal call to praise. And then he gives his reason for praise:
"...for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness." (Psalms 96:13b NASB)
Did that reason appear on your lists yesterday? Does the prospect of the Lord coming to judge occur to you as a reason for praise?
In your prayer time just now, talk to the Lord about the promise that He is coming to judge the earth.
Ask Him what that will look like.
Ask Him about the significance of Him coming to judge (as opposed to our traditional experience of people coming to a judge rather than the judge coming to them).
Ask Him why that is a cause for rejoicing and celebration.
Praise Him for it.
"...for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness." (Psalms 96:13b NASB)
Did that reason appear on your lists yesterday? Does the prospect of the Lord coming to judge occur to you as a reason for praise?
In your prayer time just now, talk to the Lord about the promise that He is coming to judge the earth.
Ask Him what that will look like.
Ask Him about the significance of Him coming to judge (as opposed to our traditional experience of people coming to a judge rather than the judge coming to them).
Ask Him why that is a cause for rejoicing and celebration.
Praise Him for it.
April 24
The Psalmist regards it as good news -- a reason for praise -- that the Lord "is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth." (Psalm 96:13 NASB)
While our association with the phrase "judgment day" is generally ominous and dreadful, the Psalmist anticipated the day of the Lord's judgment. The judge, you see, is the one to whom we turn to make things right. The judge is the one before whom wrongs are brought in order to be set right.
God is the ultimate Judge. He is the One we look to in order to make all things right. We catch a glimpse of what that will look like in the Book of Revelation: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4 NIV)
In your prayer time, meditate upon the Lord as the Judge whose coming we anticipate. Thank Him for the prospect. Praise Him that His good plan is to make all things right.
While our association with the phrase "judgment day" is generally ominous and dreadful, the Psalmist anticipated the day of the Lord's judgment. The judge, you see, is the one to whom we turn to make things right. The judge is the one before whom wrongs are brought in order to be set right.
God is the ultimate Judge. He is the One we look to in order to make all things right. We catch a glimpse of what that will look like in the Book of Revelation: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4 NIV)
In your prayer time, meditate upon the Lord as the Judge whose coming we anticipate. Thank Him for the prospect. Praise Him that His good plan is to make all things right.
April 25
When the Apostle Paul preached in Athens, he told his audience that God "has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." (Acts 17:31 NASB)
Paul identifies Jesus as the One who will judge in the end. And this is a fundamental truth we affirm in the Apostles' Creed when we say of Him, "from thence (the right hand of God) He shall come to judge the quick and the dead."
In your prayer time now, meditate on Jesus' role as the final Judge. Ask Him what that will look like. Ask Him what our experience of that will be. Praise Him for His authority over all. Thank Him for His grace toward us.
Paul identifies Jesus as the One who will judge in the end. And this is a fundamental truth we affirm in the Apostles' Creed when we say of Him, "from thence (the right hand of God) He shall come to judge the quick and the dead."
In your prayer time now, meditate on Jesus' role as the final Judge. Ask Him what that will look like. Ask Him what our experience of that will be. Praise Him for His authority over all. Thank Him for His grace toward us.
April 26
Two days ago, we noted that the judge is the one who makes things right. Yesterday we discovered that Jesus is the One appointed to be the final Judge. Today, then, we want to give some thought to how Jesus makes things right.
Paul says that we are "justified as a gift by (God's) grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" and that "having been justified by (Jesus') blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." (Romans 3:24, 5:9 NASB)
Paul connects our justification to Jesus. The underlying Greek word for "justified" is a derivative of the Greek word that means "right," "righteous," "innocent," and such. To justify, then, is to make right.
In your prayer time just now, meditate on the truth that your Judge and your Savior are the same Person.
Contemplate the relationship between those two roles.
Rejoice in the Lord who doesn't just make things right, but also makes you right.
Paul says that we are "justified as a gift by (God's) grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" and that "having been justified by (Jesus') blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." (Romans 3:24, 5:9 NASB)
Paul connects our justification to Jesus. The underlying Greek word for "justified" is a derivative of the Greek word that means "right," "righteous," "innocent," and such. To justify, then, is to make right.
In your prayer time just now, meditate on the truth that your Judge and your Savior are the same Person.
Contemplate the relationship between those two roles.
Rejoice in the Lord who doesn't just make things right, but also makes you right.
April 27
Abraham asked a question that was actually an affirmation of faith: "Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25 NIV)
As we have spent several weeks meditating on the Lord as Judge, we want to make our own affirmations of faith about Him, and then turn those into praise and thanksgiving.
Affirm that the Lord is the ultimate authority, the final Judge, and praise Him for that.
Affirm that He is the One before whom everyone will one day stand, and praise Him for that.
Affirm that He is the righteous Judge to whom we appeal, and thank Him for that.
Affirm that He is the Judge who is indignant every day, and praise and thank Him for that.
Affirm that He is the One to whom we must give an account, and thank Him for that.
Affirm that He is the Judge we can trust to make things right, and thank Him for that.
Affirm that He is the One to whom Satan makes accusations against us, and thank Him for His grace toward us.
Affirm that the Judge is also our Savior and thank and praise Him for that.
As we have spent several weeks meditating on the Lord as Judge, we want to make our own affirmations of faith about Him, and then turn those into praise and thanksgiving.
Affirm that the Lord is the ultimate authority, the final Judge, and praise Him for that.
Affirm that He is the One before whom everyone will one day stand, and praise Him for that.
Affirm that He is the righteous Judge to whom we appeal, and thank Him for that.
Affirm that He is the Judge who is indignant every day, and praise and thank Him for that.
Affirm that He is the One to whom we must give an account, and thank Him for that.
Affirm that He is the Judge we can trust to make things right, and thank Him for that.
Affirm that He is the One to whom Satan makes accusations against us, and thank Him for His grace toward us.
Affirm that the Judge is also our Savior and thank and praise Him for that.
April 28
As we conclude Week 17, we want to pray through a verse from a Charles Wesley hymn.
"Rejoice in glorious hope!
Jesus the Judge shall come,
and take his servants up
to their eternal home.
We soon shall hear
th'archangel's voice; the trump of God
shall sound, rejoice!"
Make your prayer time just now a time of rejoicing.
Rejoice that Jesus is the Judge.
Rejoice that He comes to make things right.
Rejoice that His coming will mark the final triumph of God over evil.
Rejoice that our salvation in Him means for us an eternal home with Him.
"Rejoice in glorious hope!
Jesus the Judge shall come,
and take his servants up
to their eternal home.
We soon shall hear
th'archangel's voice; the trump of God
shall sound, rejoice!"
Make your prayer time just now a time of rejoicing.
Rejoice that Jesus is the Judge.
Rejoice that He comes to make things right.
Rejoice that His coming will mark the final triumph of God over evil.
Rejoice that our salvation in Him means for us an eternal home with Him.