Category: Daily Prayer

Our scripture this morning is Numbers 1:2 (NET).

Take a census of the entire Israelite community by their clans and families, counting the name of every individual male.

God took a large group of people who had lived in slavery for many years and was making a nation of them. He had promised descendants and land to Abraham, and that with God’s help, his family would be a blessing to everyone. The Book of Numbers, as we know it in English, refers to the census God directs. He is organizing His people to take possession of the Promised Land. Abraham’s family has grown to a population of over 600,000 through God’s blessing. God gives them very detailed instructions on how to move all the people and how they are to live. We must remember that while He made stars and galaxies, He also created the subatomic particles and elements that make up everything. With God, there is no small stuff – everything matters to our Creator.

Wise and wonderful God, while we struggle with a plan for this and a plan for that, You have a plan for everything that is. Help us to rely on Your strength and wisdom and not our own. In Your name we pray, Amen.

Our scripture this morning is Leviticus 26:45 (NET).

I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.

God tells us that the promise He made in the beginning is the same throughout history. He created us out of love and continues to love us, even in our selfishness and disobedience. While He accepts us, He loves us too much to leave us in our sinful state and has acted to redeem us. In Isaiah 43:1 we read “Don’t be afraid, for I will protect you. I call you by name, you are mine.” While God has made a promise to all of us as His people, He knows each of us individually and loves us in our uniqueness. We are “wonderfully and fearfully made” (Psalm 139:14) according to His plan, and sent to share His love with the world.

Heavenly Father, we know You created everything with a purpose, including us. Help us to see what You intend for us and go in Your name to bring the Good News everywhere. Amen.

Our scripture today is Leviticus 26:12 (NET).

I will walk among you, and I will be your God and you will be my people.

God again reminds us of the relationship we once shared, walking together in the garden. He offers us the chance to renew that relationship with Him and one another. Even though we have disobeyed, God has made a way for us to be forgiven through Christ’s sacrifice for us. At the time God determined, Jesus came and walked among us as a human, showing us what a life lived in God could really be. We are invited to be His people, but we must choose to do so; He will not force anyone. Our God calls us with loving, open hands.

Gracious God, we are sorry for the times we have failed You. Forgive us and bless us to be Your people, freed from sin by the blood of Jesus and sent to share Your love with everyone. Amen.

Our scripture this morning is Leviticus 26:1-2 (NET).

You must not make for yourselves idols, so you must not set up for yourselves a carved image or a pillar, and you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down before it, for I am the Lord your God. You must keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

Again God repeats guidance from the Ten Commandments: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below” (Exodus 20:4). God wants us to understand clearly our relationship with Him. We can’t be His people if we put something other than God on the throne. We might think the idea of “graven images” as the focus of our lives sounds silly, but what are our graven images? Money, power, prestige…anything that keeps our focus away from Him is an idol in our lives. In Matthew 24:2 Jesus tells them regarding the temple “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone will be left on another. All will be torn down!” An idol or a temple we construct is no longer needed, God has sent His Spirit to dwell in us as His holy temple.

Gracious God, in Your mercy You continue to offer us Your presence and the free gift of salvation through Jesus. Strengthen us in faith and send us to share the Good News everywhere. Amen.

Our scripture this morning is Leviticus 23:3 (NET).

Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy assembly. You must not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all the places where you live.

Why do we hear the same commandments repeated different places in scripture? Apparently we humans have a hearing problem, and once is never enough! God said this to us in Genesis 2:1-3. He repeats it to us in Exodus 20:8-11. Here He tells us once more, before outlining the annual remembrance celebrations. Notice the instruction about “holy assembly”, telling us that Sabbath is to be celebrated together as His people. When Jesus came He found we had hundreds of trivial instructions for Sabbath that we used to control each other rather than honoring God through gathering for worship. He tells us that God wants our attention for Sabbath, but He also wants us to use common sense and not judge each other about how we celebrate. Praise and worship, loud or quiet, God accepts our observance of His Sabbath.

Heavenly Father, help us to remember the importance of gathering for worship together in Your name. Forgive us for letting worldly things control our Sabbath. Help us to honor Christ’s sacrifice for us and live new lives in Him. Amen.

Our scripture this morning is Leviticus 7:37-38 (NET).

This is the law for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering, and the peace offering sacrifice, which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day he commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai.

God gave the Israelites very specific instructions for offerings and we may never fully understand their meaning to the people of that time. Offerings to God are not a new thing. This was the subject of the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4:3-5. God is trying to rebuild the relationship with His people that He intended at Creation. An offering is basically giving up something important to you, knowing God can use all our gifts for good. When Jesus came as our Savior, the perfect sacrifice for all time, the sacrificial system was no longer needed. Instead of our sacrifices, we focus on His, and go to share that sacrificial love with the world.

Loving Lord, You sent Your only Son to save us from our sin. No sacrifice we make could ever equal that. Bless us to give of our time, talent and treasure for the work of Your kingdom. Amen.

Our scripture this morning is Leviticus 19:18 (NET).

You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Jesus tells us in John 13:34 “I give you a new commandment – to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” While Jesus is always sincere in His teaching, it is a little ironic that He says a “new” commandment. God told His children this during their desert experience. Knowing scripture as many of His followers did, this statement would resonate with them as to how poorly we have done following this instruction. Jesus says it might as well be a new commandment! We must ask forgiveness for our lack of love and pray for strength to love everyone better.

Gracious God, in Your mercy You sent Your Son to save us. Help us to love one another as You first loved us. Amen.

Our scripture today is Leviticus 8:12 (NET).

He then poured some of the anointing oil on the head of Aaron and anointed him to consecrate him. 

Do you have a favorite book of the Bible? I‘ve heard people say Psalms, Acts, the Gospels – obviously they are all meant to show us God’s love. However, I have never had someone tell me their favorite is Leviticus. (If it is yours, my apologies!) Like everything in the Bible, we can see lessons about our nature, our issues and our relationships in Leviticus. The book takes its name from Levi, the tribe of Israel chosen for priestly service. Aaron was the first High Priest of Israel, and it is his anointing we read about in today’s verse. Leviticus is hard for modern readers. It deals with the rules and instructions for the priests as they perform the required sacrifices for the people. It deals with very fundamental laws for living together – remember that the Israelites were a community unto themselves the forty years they wandered in the desert. It is filled with very specific instructions that the people dealt with in everyday life, not just Sunday service! We need to see God loving His people so much He told them what He wanted in minute detail.

Heavenly Father, as You led Your people through the desert You taught us how to live together with You and each other. Help us to see that details matter, that everything You have taught us is for a reason and everything You created has a purpose. Amen.

Our scripture today is Exodus 40:34 (NET).

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

The Israelites had difficulties on the way to the Promised Land. They complained about conditions, food, leadership – sadly human behavior. They sinned badly while Moses was on the mountain with God. Through it all God was with them. He forgave them and gave specific instructions for the construction of a portable place where they could meet with Him. In this verse He sends His presence to fill the tabernacle. Later Jesus came as Immanuel, God with us. When He returned to the Father He promised us “another comforter” (John 14:16), the Holy Spirit. God is always there for us!

Wise and wonderful God, thank You for being a part of everything we do. Bless us to go in Your name to share the Gospel everywhere. Amen.

Our scripture this morning is Exodus 24:7 (NET).

He took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people, and they said, “We are willing to do and obey all that the Lord has spoken.”

If you look up “covenant” in a dictionary, you’ll find definitions like promise, treaty, and solemn agreement. All of these fit the gift God is giving His people, a chance to be connected to Him by faith, but also through His spoken promise, recorded by Moses. I have heard this called our surrender treaty. While surrendering ourselves to Him is necessary, this reads more like a partnership than one party claiming victory over another. God has gone from working through individuals to families, and now to a nation. His promise to Abraham is being fulfilled. Later, God will use His people to reach the world, as Jesus tells us in Acts 1. The New Covenant in His blood only holds us tighter in God’s love.

Gracious God, help us to reach out to others with Your love, remembering our blessing as Your covenant people. Send us to share the Good News everywhere. Amen.