[Membersandfriends] Monday, October 11, 2004

Sun Oct 10 22:01:58 PDT 2004

The Upper Room Daily Devotional -- E-mail Edition
Brought to You by Upper Room Ministries
Monday, October 11, 2004

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Nurture a Child

Nurture the spiritual life of a child -- send them a subscription to POCKETS, a devotional magazine for children, ages 6-12.  http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/desc.asp?item_id=12897&ep_id=246
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PRAYING FOR OTHERS
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John 17:1-25 (NRSV)

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

"I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

"I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

"Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me."

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Paul wrote, "I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus."
-- 1 Corinthians 1:4 (NIV)
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I have been reading THE UPPER ROOM daily devotional guide for many years.  It has been a source of inspiration and spiritual growth for me.  Recently I decided to say a prayer of thanksgiving for the person who wrote the meditation for the day and for each succeeding day.  I know I'll never meet the writers to say thank you.  But as a Christian, I know that we have a mediator who connects all believers.  Though the writers and I have not met, we communicate through Christ.

The meditation for each day is more meaningful to me now that I am praying for the writer as I reflect on his or her message.  James 5:16 encourages us to pray for one another.  I have found that prayer helps us as well as those for whom we pray.

Prayer:  Thank you, God, for people who are willing to tell about their experiences with you.  Thank you for Jesus, who taught us to pray, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."*  Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
When we pray for others, we hear more clearly what they are saying.

-- Galvin Beckendorf (Texas, U.S.A.)

PRAYER FOCUS: Those who write for and read THE UPPER ROOM

*Matthew 6:9-13, (NIV).
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RELATED READING ...

WRESTLING WITH GRACE: A Spirituality for the Rough Edges of Daily Life shows how to overcome obstacles with grace and how to bless the undesirables of life to open our spirits to deeper joy and love.
http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/desc.asp?ep_id=30&item_id=107690

PLEASE SHARE THIS MINISTRY with a friend. Invite them to sign up for the free E-Mail Devotional by visiting: http://www.upperroom.org/devotional/email/.

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The scripture quotation is from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible, copyright (c) 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.