The First 15

Tuesday February 4, 2025

by Jan Davis

New Devotional

On February 10, 2025 we are pausing our First 15 devotionals and encouraging everybody to download the Lectio 365 App to serve as our daily devotional time for the rest of 2025. We feel like this is the best way to fully embrace our year-long focus on prayer because of the unique format the Lectio 365 App provides. To download the app, simply search “Lectio 365” in your app store or scan the QR code below. You can also stop by our Connecting Point this weekend and a member of our staff can help download it to your device. If you are unable to use an app as a resource and would prefer to receive this devotional via email, send us an email here and we will connect with you.

the FIRST 15

Today is Tuesday, February 4, and this week we are praying through the words of The Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition.

Opening Prayer

I am no longer my own, but Yours. Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed for You, or laid aside for You, exalted for You, or brought low for You. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal. And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are mine, and I am Yours. So be it. And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen. (The Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition)

Scripture Reading

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Reflection

John Wesley, the eighteenth century founder of the Methodist movement, believed that all Christians should reaffirm their covenant with God annually, so he created a special worship service for individuals to renew their commitment to God. At French Church in Spitalfields, London, England in August of 1755, Wesley held his first Covenant Service adapting words written earlier by Richard Alleine, an English Puritan spiritual leader.

Wesley published the Covenant Service in a pamphlet in 1780, and it was distributed to the people called Methodist. The worship service he developed was held annually for nearly a century in Great Britain and eventually brought to Methodist churches in the United States of America.

Today, the Covenant Service is often used by Methodist Christians as a Watch Night Service on New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, or the first Sunday in January. Our church, First Methodist Mansfield, holds the Wesley Covenant Service on the first Sunday in February with the celebration of the sacrament of Holy Communion. It is a perfect way to begin a new year, on our knees, renewing our covenant with God, our commitment to our church and our dedication to Christ’s kingdom.

The Covenant Prayer is the centerpiece of the service. The words focus us on our relationship with Christ, put us in a posture to serve Him and commit us to working for His kingdom in whatever way we are most needed.

We pray the words of the prayer, “Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will.” These words challenge me to the depths of my soul. They shake me from the inside out. They force me to realign my thinking about what it means to follow Jesus.

I sometimes find myself daydreaming about how I can be useful to God, but forget to surrender my will to His plans. When I pray, “Put me to what you will,” I give myself to whatever Jesus determines to be helpful and not what I think would be a good task or activity. When I pray, “Rank me with whom You will,” that means I can’t choose my friends, my coworkers, my station, or my importance in life. Christ decides who I will serve beside, sit beside, and work beside.

Ask: What might God be asking me to do that I would rather not? Does God want to rank me with someone who I consider beneath or above my station? Am I ready to say the words of the Covenant Prayer and mean them?

Pause and Pray

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, You loved me so much, You suffered on the cross and gave Yourself for me. Now I sit at the foot of the cross, remember Your suffering love and give myself to You. I am Yours, Jesus. I dedicate myself to live a life of humble, faithful service. So, put me to what You will. Rank me with whom You will. Show me where You are calling me to serve and who You are calling me to serve beside. Thank You for the opportunity to do good work for Your kingdom and bless the work that I do. Amen.

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