Pathways Press.com

Written by Theodyssey, an organization that helps people encounter God and be radically changed by the truth of His love. This is an excerpt from their study “When We Pray.”

Surrender can feel risky. But Jesus invites us not to obey out of duty, but desire – desire shaped by God’s goodness and grace. As we recognize the brokenness in the world, we are invited to pray not with fear, but with hope: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done . . . on earth as it is in heaven.” The final phrase of this verse – “on earth as it is in heaven” – carries a powerful invitation. It’s not just hope for a future paradise; it is a call to present partnership…We don’t bring the Kingdom by our strength, but through lives aligned with His. Jesus’ prayer reveals that God longs to carry out His will through surrendered, faithful people. We are not spectators, but participants. In our everyday moments – at home, in classrooms, on job sites, in grocery stores, and traffic – the Kingdom has opportunities to break in. The Lord’s Prayer isn’t just about waiting for God to fix things. It’s about stepping into His work. When we pray for God’s will to be done, we’re offering our lives to that purpose. In our work, relationships, and choices, we are called to be bringers of the Kingdom.

For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. [1 Corinthians 3:9]

Written by Josh Moody, a contemporary pastor.  This is an excerpt from his work “5 Ways You Can Make a Difference to Change the World.”

The one institution that will last for eternity is the church. This (the local church) is the “city on a hill [which] cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). It’s this great insight that drove the famous Augustine to write “The City of God. ” Essentially, his argument throughout his magnum opus was that the church (not Rome) was the city – it was the city of God. As the Roman Empire crumbled and weakened, as that city became evidently weak, so Augustine wrote to persuade his readers that the city in which they should invest their lives was the city of God, that is, the church. This, of course, is also the lesson of Noah in the Old Testament. As God brings his judgment to the world, Noah is told to build a boat to be a rescue agent for his family and creation. What is the New Testament equivalent? The church! That’s why medieval cathedrals are built like upturned boats. So, with our lives, our time, and finances, invest not in any kind of “city” (or polis, using the Latin name for the city) but in the city of God, the church!

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. [Matthew 5:14]

Written by John Mark Comer, a contemporary pastor and author.

Good Father, 
For every breath I’ve breathed, 
I thank and remember you with love.  [Silence for two minutes]

For every meal, drink, and good night’s sleep, 
I thank and remember you with love.  [Silence for two minutes.]

For every friendship and loved one, 
I thank and remember you with love.  [Silence for two minutes]

For my very existence in this beautiful world,
I thank and remember you with love.  [Silence for two minutes]

Amen

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! [2 Corinthians 9:15]

Written by Francois Fenelon (1651-1715), a French archbishop, theologian, poet, and writer.

It takes work to enjoy even the easiest people. Here are two necessities for living in community and friendship: abandon your many high demands and patiently tolerate the other’s annoying behavior. Expect less; put up with more…The truth is that all of us, even those who seem nearly flawless, have scads of imperfections…We have a good number of faults ourselves…You are dealing with two flawed people (you and the other person), and no matter how good your relationship, it will eventually be difficult for both of you to endure the other.  This is why we must pick up the slack for the other person in the very place where that one struggles the most (the places where the person is the most annoying). We move toward the other’s defects, not away. When we do this, we obey God, walking the Jesus way. We do what the letter to the Galatians encourages us to do: allow love to balance out each other’s shortcomings…Each of us must do the hard work of participating in the ways God is cleaning us up. And part of your hard work is putting up with other people’s faults. You know how hard and painful it is when God cleans you up; so, why don’t you expend your energy trying to help others’ experience be less hard and less painful? Rather than condemning them, comfort them.

Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. [Galatians 6:2]

Written by Bennan Manning  (1934-2013), an American author, laicized priest, and public speaker. This is an excerpt from his book “The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus.”

One day Saint Francis and Brother Leo were walking down the road. Noticing Leo was depressed, Francis turned and asked, “Leo, do you know what it means to be pure of heart?” “Of course. It means to have no sins, faults or weaknesses to reproach myself for.” “Ah,” said Francis, “now I understand why you’re sad. We will always have something to reproach ourselves for.” “Right,” said Leo. “That’s why I despair of ever arriving at purity of heart.” “Leo, listen carefully to me. Don’t be so preoccupied with the purity of your heart. Turn and look at Jesus. Admire Him. Rejoice that He is what He is—your Brother, your Friend, your Lord and Savior. That, little brother, is what it means to be pure of heart. And once you’ve turned to Jesus, don’t turn back and look at yourself. Don’t wonder where you stand with Him.” “The sadness of not being perfect, the discovery that you really are sinful, is a feeling much too human, even borders on idolatry. Focus your vision outside yourself, on the beauty, graciousness and compassion of Jesus Christ. The pure of heart praise Him from sunrise to sundown.” “Even when they feel broken, feeble, distracted, insecure and uncertain, they are able to release it into His peace. A heart like that is stripped and filled—stripped of self and filled with the fullness of God. It is enough that Jesus is Lord. … Holiness is not a personal achievement. It’s an emptiness you discover in yourself. Instead of resenting it, you accept it and it becomes the free space where the Lord can create anew. To cry out, ‘You alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord,’ that is what it means to be pure of heart. And it doesn’t come by your Herculean efforts and threadbare resolutions…Hoard nothing of yourself; sweep the house clean. Sweep out even the attic, even the nagging, painful consciousness of your past. Accept being shipwrecked. Renounce everything that is heavy, even the weight of your sins. See only the compassion, the infinite patience and the tender love of Christ. Jesus is Lord. That suffices. Your guilt and reproach disappear into the nothingness of non-attention. You are no longer aware of yourself, like the sparrow aloft and free in the azure sky. Even the desire for holiness is transformed into a pure and simple desire for Jesus.” Leo listened gravely as he walked along beside Francis. Step by step he felt his heart grow lighter as a profound peace flooded his soul.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God [Matthew 5:8]

Today’s devotional, written by the Pray.com team, is based on Psalm 147.

Psalm 147 reminds us of the beauty and goodness of praising God. Singing praises is not just a duty; it is a delightful and fitting response to His greatness. Worship refreshes our spirits, draws us closer to God, and aligns our hearts with His purposes. It reminds us of His faithfulness and shifts our focus from our challenges to His goodness. Praise is described as both pleasant and comely—pleasing to God and a source of joy for us. When we sing to the Lord, we not only glorify Him but also experience His presence in a profound way. In worship, we find comfort, strength, and renewal for our souls. Take a moment to sing praises to God. Breathe out weariness, and breathe in the joy of worship. Let your praise reflect gratitude and love for the One who is always faithful and good.

Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! [Psalm 147:1]

Written by Jill Weber, a contemporary writer and spiritual director.

Jesus, you came as the fullness of God made flesh. Teach me more of you, that I might walk with you and the Father and the Holy Spirit, today and every day.  Amen.

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.  [Psalm 16:11]

Written by John Ortberg, a contemporary pastor, author, and speaker. This is an excerpt from his book “The Me I Want to Be.”

Surrender is not the same thing as passivity. God’s will for your life involves exercising creativity, making choices, and taking initiative. Surrender does not mean being a doormat. It does not mean you accept circumstances fatalistically. Often it means you will have to fight to challenge the status quo. It doesn’t mean that you stop using your mind, stop asking questions, or stop thinking critically. Instead, surrender is the glad and voluntary acknowledgment that there is a God, and it is not you. His purposes are wiser and better than your desires. Jesus does not come to rearrange the outside of your life the way you want. He comes to rearrange the inside of your life the way God wants.

And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. [Psalm 90:10]

Written by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), an Indian poet, writer, educator and environmentalist.  This is an excerpt from the book “The Heart of God.”

I know that the day will come when my sight of this earth shall be lost, and life will take its leave in silence, drawing the last curtain over my eyes. Yet stars will watch at night, and morning rise as before, and hours heave like sea waves casting up pleasures and pains. When I think of this end of my moments, the barrier of the moments breaks, and I see by the light of death Your world with its careless treasures. Rare is its lowliest seat; rare is its meanest of lives. Things that I longed for in vain and things that I got – let them pass. Let me but truly possess the things that I ever spurned and overlooked.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. [Ecclesiastes 2:10-11]

Written by Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929), an Indian Christian missionary and sadhu. This is an excerpt from his book “At the Master’s Feet.”

In place of perfection, agnostics and critics see only defects. Fault finding critics ask, “If there is an Almighty Creator of the world why are there defects in it, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, eclipses, pain, suffering, death, and the like?” The folly of this criticism is similar to that of an unlearned man who finds fault with an unfinished building or an incomplete picture. After a time, when he sees them fully finished, he is ashamed of his folly and ends by singing their praises. Thus too, God did not in one day give to this world its present form, nor will it in one day reach perfection. The whole creation moves onward to perfection and if it were possible for the man of this world to see from afar with the eyes of God the perfect world in which no defect appears, he too would bow in praise before Him and say, “All is very good.”

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. [Genesis 1:31]