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closer to God

Matthew 6:10 "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." I encourage you to pray the Lord’s Prayer at least once a day, or more often if you feel led. Sometimes a line of the prayer will land with unexpected force as it touches a need in your life. Give it a try and see if it helps your faith walk too. Note: the “goal” of praying once a day is not about achievement. It is about love for God. God wants your heart oriented toward Him. He will change your heart and mind. The point is to learn to draw closer to God. Today’s verse is from the Lord’s Prayer in the Sermon on the Mount. It is a dual petition: for the establishment of God’s sovereign rule, and for the alignment of human life with His purpose. Thy Kingdom Come This phrase expresses a longing for God’s reign to be made tangible in the world. It acknowledges His sovereignty and asks that the Kingdom of Heaven displace lesser powers, so that justice, peace, and love govern both the lives of believer...
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The Lord’s Prayer

Matthew 6:9 "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name." Prayer will look different from person to person. As long as you are talking with God, you are doing it right. The important thing is to do it daily. We were reading from Psalm 103; there is a distinctive style to that writing. Today we turn to the Gospel of Matthew for his record of the prayer Jesus taught His disciples and the crowd gathered for the Sermon on the Mount. We call this the Lord’s Prayer. It is the model for how believers should pray. It instructs followers to address God as “Our Father in heaven,” emphasizing a communal relationship with God and acknowledging His sovereignty and majesty. The verse includes the petition “Hallowed be thy name,” which calls believers to honor, glorify, and reverence God’s character and identity in their lives. This opening sets the tone for prayer by prioritizing God’s glory and holiness before personal requests. It establishe...
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your crown

Psalms 103:4 "Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;" Today’s verse is a declaration of God’s redeeming love and compassion. The phrase “redeemeth thy life from destruction” points to God’s power to rescue believers from death, despair, and eternal destruction in hell. The image of being “crowned” speaks of honor, favor, and royal treatment. After rescuing people from ruin, God adorns them with lovingkindness (steadfast, covenantal love) and tender mercy. That change lifts believers from hopelessness to dignity and worth. It shows that God values them deeply and restores their identity by His grace. King David and the other writers of the Psalms had a gift for words and deep insight into faith in the one true God. Yesterday’s verse spoke of complete forgiveness of sin and healing from affliction. The Psalms remain an outstanding model for daily prayer. We do not have every phrase the psalmists used, but we can follow...
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forgiveness and healing

Psalms 103:3 "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;" Today’s verse points to a primary reason for praising the Lord. It highlights two major spiritual benefits: complete forgiveness of sin and healing from affliction. Forgiveness of iniquity. The term “iniquity” refers to twisted, distorted, or grave sin, both what we do and what we fail to do. Commentaries often note that this is the first and greatest benefit, because it restores the sinner to God’s favor and makes every other blessing possible. Healing of diseases. Some readings include physical healing. Many scholars, however, take the phrase primarily as spiritual disease or “soul maladies.” In the psalm’s parallelism, healing diseases is closely tied to forgiving iniquities: God addresses the root of human brokenness. Context of praise. This verse begins the psalmist’s recital of God’s “benefits” and urges the soul not to forget those mercies. Pardon stands at the center of worship. Recognizi...
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don't forget

Psalms 103:2 "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:" We are focusing on “Go to God in prayer daily,” the first part of the acrostic GRACED; a pattern of proven ways to grow closer to God. Sometimes we ask, “Why do I need to pray? God knows everything.” That question usually comes from a misunderstanding of what prayer does. Prayer is a conversation with God, but it is also a way God works on our hearts and minds. That idea is well expressed in the classic bluegrass song “Pray All Day” by the Legendary Marshall Family. The lyric goes, “Pray all day, pray all night, pray until you see the light”: hinting that prayer changes the person who prays. Yesterday we read verse 1 of Psalm 103 as an outstanding model for prayer. The phrase “O my soul” refers to the author’s inner self, while “all that is within me” takes in every faculty and power: thoughts, emotions, will, and physical existence. Today’s verse again urges us to “Bless the Lord” and explicitly warns...
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bless God

Psalms 103:1 "Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name." Lest week we began our study of the acrostic GRACED: G o to God in prayer daily. R ead God’s Word daily. A ttend worship regularly. C onnect in a study group. E ngage in service. D edicate yourself to the tithe and beyond. We want to keep this pattern at the forefront of our minds. These are proven ways to grow closer to God. Adopt them, and you will not be far from the kingdom of God. Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and you will have eternal life in heaven. This week we will focus on “Go to God in prayer daily.” We can be a little stubborn about prayer, asking, “Why do I need to pray? God knows everything.” This thinking comes from a misunderstanding of the function of prayer. There is a classic bluegrass line that puts it well: “Pray all day, pray all night, pray until you see the light.” Today’s verse is an outstanding model for our prayers. The phrase “O my soul” refers to the...
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closer to God

Mark 12:34 "And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask Him any question." Today’s verse shows that the scribe had rightly grasped the heart of the Law and the priority of inward devotion over outward ritual. That understanding placed him near the truth of the Gospel. Commentators note, however, that he was not yet fully in the Kingdom, because he had not yet received Jesus as the Messiah or committed himself to follow Him. The passage reminds us that intellectual agreement with God’s moral requirements is an important step, but entrance into the Kingdom requires personal faith and submission to Christ. We want to follow Jesus’ example: to stoop and serve others in humility and charity, even to wash one another’s feet. Jesus is not handing us rungs on a ladder we climb by our own effort. He is giving us a pattern to follow. So as we study the acrostic GRACED: G o to God in prayer d...
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