Monday June 13, 2022

Today is Monday, June 13 and this week we are studying Paul’s letter to the Ephesians chapter two.

As I enter this time of prayer, I pause to become still. I silence my thoughts and center myself on the presence of the God who loves me.

Pause and Pray

Holy Lord God, I am here to grow closer to you and to hear what message you have for me. Reveal more of yourself through these holy scriptures and speak to my heart today. Amen.

I rejoice in God’s presence today with the words of Psalm 16.

No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.

My body rests in safety.

For you will not leave my soul among the dead

or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.

You will show me the way of life,

granting me the joy of your presence

and the pleasures of living with you forever.

Psalm 16:9-11 (NLT)

Pause and Pray

The opening of the letter to the Ephesians is an expression of our spiritual blessings from the Father, from the Son, and from the Holy Spirit. In the next section, Paul continues to proclaim the great news of the redemption God provides through Jesus Christ. He shares the dismal state of our lives because of the curse of the original sin and the sobering truth of our need for reconciliation.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. Ephesians 2:1-2

I cannot forget my past. Looking back on the condition that Jesus saved me from helps me see my desperate need for God’s grace and mercy. Since I was born into a world inhabited by corruption and I was cursed with a sinful nature, my soul was separated from a loving and holy God. That old life influenced by the adversary was marked by death. I was destined to both a physical death and spiritual deadness. However, God had a rescue plan in Christ all along. He did not leave me dead in my transgressions and sins. He chose me, redeemed me, and sealed me as one of his own.

Ask: What was my life like when I was dead in my transgressions and sins? How did I follow the ways of the world? What is different now that I am reconciled in Christ?

Pause and Pray

Gracious Lord, I praise you for your goodness and mercy you have poured out on me through your son, Jesus Christ. I was dead in my sins in which I used to live when I followed the ways of the world. I am helpless without your amazing grace. I reread the words from Ephesians and seek your message for me today.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. Ephesians 2:1-2

Ask: What image, word or phrase stands out to me when I slowly read this passage? What is God trying to say to me through these words of scripture?

As I meditate on these ancient words today, I consider how I have experienced God in the world around me. How have I seen the adversary at work and how have I seen God at work? Perhaps there is a circumstance or a person the Holy Spirit brings to mind that I need to pray for. Who needs to know the great news of God’s rescue plan for their life? How can I invite God’s redeeming love into the world around me?

Pause and Pray

Come, Holy Spirit and breathe your life in me. Fill my sinful heart and my weary soul with your power. Bring me from death to life. Bring me from dark to light. Bring me from despair to your marvelous glory. You alone are my God. Help me to see the ways you are redeeming the world in Christ today. Amen.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. Romans 5:12-14

I leave this time of prayer rejoicing to be a sinner reconciled by Christ. I go and proclaim the good news of God’s rescue plan in this lost and broken world.

Amen