Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 102:1-5
Ps 102:1-5
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come to you. 2 Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. 3 For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. 4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food. 5 Because of my loud groaning I am reduced to skin and bones.
Luke 18:9-14
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Who are we that we can come before the God of the universe, God who created heavens and earth and all that is in them? Why should we think we can approach him at our will and without an appointment? It is because not only is he the one and true God who made us and gives us life and breathe but because as his creation, he loves us. In fact, he loves us so much that he tells us to come to him with all of our cares and promises he will listen to us. We are his children and he wants only what is best for us both now and in eternity.
But to approach God, we must be humble in spirit. We do not and cannot tell God what is best or what he must do for us. The very act of prayer means we are asking – no begging – that God will provide our needs or deliver us from our trials or heal us when we are sick. We therefore pray according to his will and recognize that his will is best for us. He doesn’t owe us anything. We owe him all – all we are and all we have because he has given it to us for his glory.
O Lord my God, it is in absolute awe that I approach you as the ruler of the entire universe, the giver of life and sustainer of all things. I know you have given all this authority and power to you Son and my Savior. Give me a greater will to follow him and do his will in all things. Keep me from ever thinking that righteousness is from my own doing but is only because you have been merciful and forgiving to me in Jesus Christ. Please give your strength to those who are battling addictions and your patience and peace to those battling diseases. In Jesus name.
Robert
