Friday’s Verse:
From 1 Kings 18:27 ESV
At noon, Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”
Elijah clearly has never taken a class on how to speak nicely about religion. (I have taken one. It was not enjoyable.)
As the Prophets of Baal scream and jump around to gain their god's attention, Elijah suggests ideas. Maybe he’s on a journey. Maybe he’s sleeping. Or maybe he’s using the bathroom (translation dependent). Funny, yes, but with meaning. A god that can’t hear you can’t save you.
We can laugh at this and then look at ourselves. We don’t make an altar to Baal but we place so much trust in the things we can accomplish. Jobs, money, image and even religion. We continue to jump around, trying to prove that we will find security one day.
God will not need you to scream to gain his mercy. He showed up on Mount Carmel. Elijah prayed, and God showed up.
Grace means that God has already shown up in the form of Jesus Christ. On the cross, Jesus didn’t ask us to bleed to gain God's attention. He gave us his blood to save us from death.
Know that you don’t need to try to gain God's love tonight. You don’t need to yell at him to wake up. In Jesus, you are loved.
Today’s Prayers
Lord, help me to stop putting my trust in the things that can’t save me. Help me turn my heart to you and know that I am loved. In Your Son’s name I pray. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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