[Sample]
Daily Devotional Materials
for the
Week of the
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
– Monday –
Devotion
Pray without ceasing. – 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
Scoffers would have this text say that Christians should do nothing but pray all the time. But let us tell you what is meant. When a little child is with its mother, and plays or learns its lesson, or does this or that, does it not always speak with its mother at the same time? Is its little mouth ever long silent? And are there not many things it asks for? Do you now understand what it means to “pray without ceasing“? Wherever a Christian, a child of God, may be, and whatever he may do, he always knows that he is with his God, and that his God is with him. And so his heart is ever with God, and he has something to say to God all the time or some complaint or some petition to bring before Him, or to give thanks for something. And so our kind and loving God would have us do. ” Pray without ceasing.” – But a Christian must also have stated hours of the day for his daily prayers. He should say his morning and his evening prayer. He should say grace before and after meal. And once a day, at the very least, he should have private devotions, that is to say, he should read the Bible with devout attention, adding a prayer, or, perchance, a hymn. For should a Christian merely desire to partake of bodily food and not of spiritual food as well, every day? In every Christian household the father or the mother should see to it that family devotions are held every day. These devotions should he short and good, lest, on account of our sinful flesh, we be filled with tedium and disgust. But especially, my dear Christian, when cross and tribulation afflict you, remember the text: “Lord, in trouble have they visited Thee; they have poured out a prayer when Thy chastening was upon them.” – Isaiah 26:16.
PRAYER. – Lord God, my dearly beloved Father through Jesus Christ, my Savior, give to me, I implore Thee, Thy Holy Spirit, that I may pray to Thee without ceasing as it becomes me, Thy beloved child. Grant me grace to nourish my poor, weak, and sinful soul with Thy Word every day, that it may be kept unto eternal life, and that in this present life it may grow and wax strong in the fear and love of Thee. Amen.
I need Thy presence every passing hour:
What but Thy grace can foil the Tempter’s power?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me!
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless:
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness,
Where is death’s sting? where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me?
Hymn 40, 6. 7. (ELHB)
Bible Readings
MORNING:
Ephesians 6:18-24
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. 21 But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:22 Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts.23 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.
EVENING:
1 Kings 16:29- 17:24
29 And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years.30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him.31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. 32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.34 In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun.
17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. 2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.5 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.8 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. 15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.20 And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again. 22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.
Additional Materials
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