22 / Only After
Pilgrims, Last Judgment (detail) / Gislebertus (?) / 1130-35
Morning meditation
Read John 2:13-22
What stands out to you about this passage?
Describe how you think Jesus felt walking into the temple and seeing the chaos happening there.
Why do you think Jesus cleared the deck that day?
—Scripture Notes and Additional Questions
Morning Prayer
This week we are asking GOD for a heart for missions each morning:
Wake me up, Lord, when I am too pleased to only be concerned with my own world. When my dreams are focused on what I can see because I am nearsighted. When I arrive safely because I sailed too close to home.
Wake me up, Lord, when the abundance of things I possess robs my thirst for others to find You. Having fallen in love with my own life, I have ceased to dream outside the borders of my comfort zone. And in my efforts to build a perfect life, I have allowed my vision of all nations worshipping You to dim.
Wake me up, Lord, to pray more boldly, to expand my heart across the seas. Where missionaries do the deep and lonely work of reaching those far from You. Where they lose sight of their home land, but find true life in seeing the salvation of many.
I ask You to push back the small borders of my vision and unite my heart with missionaries around the world. Make us one in Spirit and give us the strength, courage, hope and love to accomplish our assignment to see every tribe and tongue worship You.
—Adapted from disturb us, lord - Attributed to Sir Francis Drake - 1577
Download this smart phone wallpaper as a reminder to pray all day long!
Today’s motivation
“The more we think about, talk about, and write about something happening, we improve the probability of that thing happening.” We are 21 days in and some data suggests that a habit can be formed in 21 days. Is that the case for you? Are you writing down your goals? (journaling) Are you thinking about them and how you plan to accomplish them? (meditating) If you want to truly succeed at something you’ve got to put in the time and work, and most of us can’t afford not to.
—today’s motivation complements of DJVONFIRE
keep daily goals in focus
Think about your goals this way…
☑️ Emotional - Sacrificing is hard. But if it’s not hard, we don’t do it. Keep going!
☑️ Mental - Setting aside money to give it away is hard. But if it’s not hard, we don’t do it. Keep going!
☑️ Physical - Fasting and hitting your fitness goals is hard. But if it’s not hard, we don’t do it. Keep going!
Evening Prayer
Set an alarm for this evening so you remember to end your day with God.
Lord, I don’t need a sign in order for You to prove your authority in my life. I believe that you willingly went to the cross to save me from destruction. It’s so humbling to think that You see value in me. I am valuable enough for You to lay down Your life for me! Your body was broken for me, for my healing. Your blood was shed to cover my sin. You rose on the third day to deliver every promise of God to my front door. I could never say enough about it. Thank you Jesus. Amen.
Pray for our world. There are some many things in our world that we can pray for—pick a couple and get after it:
Poverty: More than 70 percent of people in the world own less than $10,000
Religious Conflict and War: Terrorism and the rise of religiously-motivated insurgent groups have forced the hand of several governments.
Social Polarization: Polarization has skyrocketed with the rise of social movements across the world.
Government Accountability: Throughout the world, political scandals have led to a distrust of government.
Education: Inequality between genders in specific parts of the world has emerged as a large part of the problem.
Food and Water: 1 in 9 people lack access to clean water across the world and the same ratio are malnourished.
Health in Developing Nations: Covid. Also, statistics have widely shown that access to clean and affordable living conditions has lagged in the developing world.
Discrimination: This covers a wide breadth of issues and takes several forms such as race, gender, wages, income inequality and education.
Physical Fitness: The lack of physical fitness programs and extra-curricular activities have created significant issues that could affect future health.