Devotion and prayer “Day of Praise”

Good morning!

Here's the scripture and prayer that I'll be preaching from the parking lot of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Birmingham/Hoover, AL at our weekly Wednesday 11:45 a.m. central time worship on Facebook Live (www.Facebook.com/ctkbham) and will then be posted both on our Facebook page and our website, www.ctkbham.org. I trust you'll be encouraged as God promises when we share his word with one another and to all.

Romans 12:1-2 — "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

Mighty and Merciful God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
We praise you, for you are the Author and Creator of all that has being. We also thank you for plainly showing us that you made and then redeemed all things through Christ to be in a vibrant (not tired) and purposeful (not shallow) relationship with you, now and forever. And you, Lord, are always faithful to the relationship with us for which you made and redeemed us, even when we're not.
Indeed, you show us, Lord, that we rarely, if ever, connect the dots between your dedication to us and to what we then dedicate our lives. What a tragedy of disconnectedness and despair we've brought on ourselves.
But you, O God, are faithful. You made us to have and know our everlasting purpose in everything we do, and you work tirelessly through your Son and Holy Spirit to awaken us to the joy in you that awaits us in all that we say and do.
Indeed, you have created absolutely everyone of us with a trajectory-transforming gift that, (when used to your glory and to work with others that you've gifted in the body), unleashes your Holy Spirit's incomparable fruit and blessings. According to your word through Paul in Romans 12:6-8, help us to discover if you've primarily gifted us to be
an agent of hope which you call a prophet,
or one who loves to lift up others which you call a servant,
or one who helps people know with great certainty which you call a teacher,
or an agent of perseverance which you call an exhorter,
or one who models your generosity which you call a giver,
or an agent of teamwork which you call a leader,
or one who has great patience and compassion which you call a mercy.
Move and help us, Lord, to discover, develop, and dedicate the use of these your gifts so as to bring both glory to you and also an everlasting purpose and direction in Christ to all who are before us.
In Jesus's name, Amen 🙏