Monday October 31, 2022

Today is Monday, October 31st, and this week we are studying the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter six.

I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to quiet my mind, and to focus on the presence of God.

Pause and Pray

Come, Holy Spirit. As I draw close to you, help me to know you more clearly. Reveal what you want me to notice in this passage today. Amen.

I praise the Lord with the words of Psalm 86.

Teach me your way, Lord,
that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
Psalm 86:11-12

Pause and Pray

Today we continue to look at Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has just addressed our obsession with money and the false hope we put in accumulating “treasures on earth” for ourselves. We are just like the original audience of this sermon; we often think material wealth will bring us happiness.

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Matthew 6:24

Jesus made it clear that I will be serving something or someone. The Greek word for serve is douleuō, which means to give oneself up to yield obedience. It is impossible to fully yield obedience to both. If I am trying to be transformed by both God and the world, I cannot have peace. It’s no wonder my soul reflects the weight of my torn allegiance. When I am in Christ, I will never fully enjoy the broken state of the world and when I am bound to things of the world, I will never fully enjoy Christ.

Ask: What have I given my time, actions, thoughts, and energy up to recently? Are these things serving God or the world?

Pause and Pray

Worthy Master, you are worth loving with my whole heart. Help me to be devoted to you and you alone. I reread the words from Matthew and seek your message for me today.

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24

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?

Jesus uses strong language to get his point across. He wants this message to be abundantly clear. In the context of this passage, what does it mean to hate or despise? What does it mean to be devoted to or to love?

Pause and Pray

Holy Spirit, guide me and give me wisdom to order my life in a way that fixes my attention to God. For he alone is worthy of my whole heart and soul. Amen.

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 10:12

I leave this time of prayer ready and eager to serve God in all I do and say.

Amen