1 March 2024
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Romans 8:26-28 Seeking renewal in prayerIn the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches our hearts, knows what the Spirit intends, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with God’s will.
Doesn’t praying mean shirking one’s responsibilities and taking refuge in the peace and quiet of a church for a pleasant spiritual break? Isn’t it more "Christian" to get involved in some kind of (...)
1 February 2024
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Mark 4:35-41 Opting for trustOn that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to the disciples, "Let us go across to the other side." And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! (...)
1 January 2024
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Isaiah 61:1-3a: Opening a Path of HopeThe Spirit of the Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit (...)
1 December 2023
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)James 1:27 - 2:9: Keep from Being Polluted by the WorldReligion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for (...)
1 November 2023
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Matthew 6:5-6: Praying in PrivateJesus said, “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:5-6)
There are only a few passages in the gospels where Jesus gives concrete advice, with the result that here a literal (...)
1 October 2023
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Psalm 35: Resisting DespairContend, Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me. Take up shield and armor; arise and come to my aid. Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Say to me, “I am your salvation.” May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plot my ruin be turned back in dismay. May they be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away; may their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them. Since they (...)
1 September 2023
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Revelation 7: The Lord’s RedeemedAfter this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” Then I heard the number (...)
1 August 2023
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)1 John 3:1-3: Becoming like ChristSee what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. (1 John 1:1-3)
Saint Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons in the second century, (...)
1 July 2023
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Psalm 118: Into a Broad PlaceO give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. With the Lord on my side I do not fear. What can mortals do to me? The Lord is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. It is better (...)
1 June 2023
Bible Meditations & Prayers (by language)Monthly Bible Meditation (en)Ephesians 4:11-16: Speaking the Truth in LoveThe gifts Christ gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. (...)