Welcome to Week 23 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.
June 3
We observed last week the verbal relationship between "redemption" and "market." With that in mind, we turn our attention to a scene from a movie.
In the 1953 movie, The Robe, a Roman aristocrat named Marcellus Gallio, shops his way through a slave market. He eventually pays a high price for a Greek slave, Demetrius.
As soon as Marcellus purchases Demetrius, he gives the order for Demetrius to be unchained. Marcellus still understands that Demetrius belongs to him and will serve him, but Marcellus does not keep Demetrius in chains.
In your prayer time, meditate on the Marcellus-Demetrius transaction as a metaphor for the redemption we experience in Christ. Ask the Lord what your chains were. Ask Him who or what else may have "owned" you. Ask Him what it means for you to be free to belong to Him, free to serve Him.
In the 1953 movie, The Robe, a Roman aristocrat named Marcellus Gallio, shops his way through a slave market. He eventually pays a high price for a Greek slave, Demetrius.
As soon as Marcellus purchases Demetrius, he gives the order for Demetrius to be unchained. Marcellus still understands that Demetrius belongs to him and will serve him, but Marcellus does not keep Demetrius in chains.
In your prayer time, meditate on the Marcellus-Demetrius transaction as a metaphor for the redemption we experience in Christ. Ask the Lord what your chains were. Ask Him who or what else may have "owned" you. Ask Him what it means for you to be free to belong to Him, free to serve Him.
June 4
We observed last week the verbal relationship between "redemption" and "market." Then, yesterday, we turned our attention to a scene from a movie to help give us some additional insight into that relationship.
Today, we turn to another scene from another movie.
In the 1959 movie, Ben Hur, Judah is a Jewish man who is enslaved by the Romans and is forced to serve on a galley ship. Quintus Arrius, meanwhile, is a Roman commander who, for a time, commands the warship in which Judah serves in the galley.
Through a series of events, the two men grow to have a relationship that goes beyond their original roles as Jewish slave and Roman commander. Ultimately, we see a scene in which Quintus Arrius celebrates the completion of proceedings by which he adopts Judah as his son and heir.
In your prayer time, ponder the relationship between Quintus Arrius and Judah Ben-Hur as a metaphor for the redemption we experience in Christ. Meditate on the shift from "slave" to "son." Give thanks to the Lord for His gracious choice to adopt us.
Today, we turn to another scene from another movie.
In the 1959 movie, Ben Hur, Judah is a Jewish man who is enslaved by the Romans and is forced to serve on a galley ship. Quintus Arrius, meanwhile, is a Roman commander who, for a time, commands the warship in which Judah serves in the galley.
Through a series of events, the two men grow to have a relationship that goes beyond their original roles as Jewish slave and Roman commander. Ultimately, we see a scene in which Quintus Arrius celebrates the completion of proceedings by which he adopts Judah as his son and heir.
In your prayer time, ponder the relationship between Quintus Arrius and Judah Ben-Hur as a metaphor for the redemption we experience in Christ. Meditate on the shift from "slave" to "son." Give thanks to the Lord for His gracious choice to adopt us.
June 5
When the prodigal son reached the low point in his experience, he said to himself, "How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.'" (Luke 15:17-19 NASB)
The prodigal son embodies the hallmarks of repentance: a desire to return to the Father, a sense of his own unworthiness, and a willingness to be a servant.
But the Father....!
Jesus said, "But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.'" (Luke 15:22-24 NASB)
Here in the experience of the prodigal son we see at work again the same gospel principle that we explored yesterday: the shift from servant to son.
In your prayer time, reflect with the Lord on the story of the prodigal son and your own personal resonance with it. Express to Him your willingness to be even His servant. Listen for Him to assure you of His eagerness to embrace you as His child. Spend time just now delighting in that relationship, that assurance, and that embrace.
The prodigal son embodies the hallmarks of repentance: a desire to return to the Father, a sense of his own unworthiness, and a willingness to be a servant.
But the Father....!
Jesus said, "But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.'" (Luke 15:22-24 NASB)
Here in the experience of the prodigal son we see at work again the same gospel principle that we explored yesterday: the shift from servant to son.
In your prayer time, reflect with the Lord on the story of the prodigal son and your own personal resonance with it. Express to Him your willingness to be even His servant. Listen for Him to assure you of His eagerness to embrace you as His child. Spend time just now delighting in that relationship, that assurance, and that embrace.
JUne 6
Paul wrote to Titus: "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds." (Titus 2:11-14 NASB)
As you meditate on this passage, think like a journalist who is reporting on redemption. Specifically, your endeavor is to answer these basic questions: Who? How? Why?
Write down your answers to those questions.
In your prayer time, talk through those discoveries with the Lord.
As you meditate on this passage, think like a journalist who is reporting on redemption. Specifically, your endeavor is to answer these basic questions: Who? How? Why?
Write down your answers to those questions.
In your prayer time, talk through those discoveries with the Lord.
June 7
In each of the three stories referenced earlier this week (The Robe, Ben Hur, and the prodigal son), we observed a character going through a change in status. We understood that change in terms of redemption.
In yesterday's passage from Titus, what change did Paul attribute to redemption?
In your prayer time, consider with the Lord how Paul's understanding of the change that comes with redemption might apply to:
1) Demetrius
2) Judah Ben-Hur
3) the prodigal son
4) you
In yesterday's passage from Titus, what change did Paul attribute to redemption?
In your prayer time, consider with the Lord how Paul's understanding of the change that comes with redemption might apply to:
1) Demetrius
2) Judah Ben-Hur
3) the prodigal son
4) you
June 8
Consider this broad sweep of the testimony of Scripture.
Jacob bears witness to the Lord's angel "who has redeemed me from all evil."
Moses reminds the Israelites that the Lord "redeemed you from the house of slavery."
The Psalmist recalls when the Lord "redeemed (His people) from the adversary" and also "redeemed them from trouble."
Jeremiah speaks of how the Lord "redeemed (Jacob) from hands too strong for him."
Paul says that "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law."
And Revelation refers to those "who have been redeemed from the earth" and those who "have been redeemed from humankind as the first fruits for God and the Lamb."
Consider each of those testimonies in your prayer time.
Talk with the Lord about what each "redeemed from" reveals about Him.
Talk with the Lord about what each "redeemed from" means for you.
Jacob bears witness to the Lord's angel "who has redeemed me from all evil."
Moses reminds the Israelites that the Lord "redeemed you from the house of slavery."
The Psalmist recalls when the Lord "redeemed (His people) from the adversary" and also "redeemed them from trouble."
Jeremiah speaks of how the Lord "redeemed (Jacob) from hands too strong for him."
Paul says that "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law."
And Revelation refers to those "who have been redeemed from the earth" and those who "have been redeemed from humankind as the first fruits for God and the Lamb."
Consider each of those testimonies in your prayer time.
Talk with the Lord about what each "redeemed from" reveals about Him.
Talk with the Lord about what each "redeemed from" means for you.
June 9
As we conclude Week 23, we return to the Fanny Crosby lyrics:
"I think of my blessed Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long;
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song."
In light of all that we have discovered about redemption during these three weeks of considering the theme, call the Lord your "blessed Redeemer" in prayer.
Meditate on all that that title says about Him.
Meditate on what that title for Him means for you.
Praise Him for what He is as the Redeemer.
Thank Him out of your own experience of Him as your blessed Redeemer.
"I think of my blessed Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long;
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song."
In light of all that we have discovered about redemption during these three weeks of considering the theme, call the Lord your "blessed Redeemer" in prayer.
Meditate on all that that title says about Him.
Meditate on what that title for Him means for you.
Praise Him for what He is as the Redeemer.
Thank Him out of your own experience of Him as your blessed Redeemer.