²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷ Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: ²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.  ³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation, ³¹ which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: ³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”  (Luke 2:25 – 32, New International Version)

²³ On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. ²⁵ You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  ²⁶ The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.’  ²⁷ Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. ²⁸ They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. ²⁹ Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. ³⁰ Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”  ³¹ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.  (Acts 4:23 – 31, New International Version)

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  (Ephesians 3:14 – 19, New International Version)

⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (Revelations 4:10 – 11, New International Version)

Theme:  Discipleship

Context:

Your thoughts on the Old Testament passages yesterday were heartwarming. Thanks!

Today, we will perform the same task for the New Testament, but we will exclude prayers by Jesus, because we will deal with those later.  Just as we saw with the Old Testament, the New Testament is replete with passionate prayers. 

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes had the following tag line in some commercials: “Taste them again for the first time.”  The objective of the advertisers was to entice customers to become excited about a cereal that they had gotten so familiar with that they forgot how good it tasted.  Sometimes we are blasé about passages of Scripture that we have become familiar with.  As we consider the prayers in the New Testament today, may the Holy Spirit inspire us to “taste them again for the first time.” 

Bible Passages:

Our Scripture passages for today reflect prayers from Simeon, the Early Church, the Apostle Paul, and the twenty-four elders in Revelation.  This is just a small sample of the prayers from the Gospels through to Revelation that reflect a passion for God. 

Please prayerfully read the Scripture passages above and consider the questions below.     

Questions:

• What inspiration do you take from the above prayers?
• Apart from the passages above and prayers by Jesus, are there any New Testament prayers that inspire you to pray?

Sharing your thoughts could be a big help to someone else.  Please leave a comment on the blog.