Daily Devotions for April 2024

April 1, 2024. Prayer 1813. Ask Good Questions

Faith is about opening our heart to what can be.  Shortly before his arrest, Jesus spoke with his disciples about how to be after he would be taken from them.  In John 15:12 Jesus says, “love one another as I have loved you…I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit…whatever you ask, ask in my name that it may be given.”  Thomas asks Jesus, “we do not know where you are going.  How can we know the way?”  Jesus says that they will know the way as they have known and seen him.  We find our way by faith as we ask good questions about where God is leading us.

Dear God, help me turn my indecision and unknowing by asking good and open questions in your name. Amen.   

April 2, 2024. Prayer 1814. Gather Information

Increasing faith is about asking God to reveal more about truth and wonder.  In the days after Jesus was risen, comes accounts of his appearance with the disciples.  In John 21:25 Thomas had missed the most recent appearance and says to the others, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”  Thomas is actively gathering information.  The wounds of Jesus match the truth of Jesus’ life with them.  The risen nature of Jesus affirms the wonder of God.  To these, Thomas can’t resist.

Dear God, reveal to me the deepest truth and the widest wonder at life’s imponderables. Increase my faith! Amen.

April 3, 2024. Prayer 1815. Collaborate

Do we value and wish that all the best decisions come from a common-sense approach.  What if the best decision is not held in common.  What if what is held in common is in fact not on the side of life, equity, dignity, solidarity, community, and love?  After Jesus is risen, his message that comes to the group is about gathering together, sharing the words of faith, and forgiving the sins of anyone.  In John 20:22 he says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive, they are forgiven.”  Faith work is about collaborating with others, the truth, and the truth includes the willingness to love and forgive.

Dear God, let me be willing to hear what is right and wrong in community and speak the truth with love. Amen.

April 4, 2024. Prayer 1816. Choices

Deciding on faith includes the affirmation that God has chosen us.  In John 15:16 Jesus says to his disciples, “You did not chose me, but I chose you.”  Whenever we seek to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, sacrificing for the life and well-being of the other, we are choosing to live by faith.  Our faith is that God sent us to ask for life and life healed, redeemed, restored in abundance.  Jesus uses the example of a woman giving birth.  In John 16:21 she first has sorrow, “but when delivered she no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being has been born.”  Faith has us choose joy.

Dear God, with all the suffering in the world it is so hard to choose joy for my soul’s response. Increase my faith! Amen.

April 5, 2024. Prayer 1817. Reflect

Confidence in faith comes through reflection.  When the risen Jesus appears to Peter and restores him from the bitter regret of denial to the confidence of choosing to live out his faith, it comes with the call for continual reflection.  He sends Peter out to feed the sheep saying in John 21:18 “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”  Maturing in faith means we follow God’s choices not our own.

Dear God, open to me all the ways you would like me to go in this Eastertide. Limit not my horizon lines. Amen.  

Monday, April 8, 2024. Prayer 1818. Greetings!

In the weeks after Easter Sunday we read the accounts of the Risen Christ appearing to his loved ones.  We long to see our loved ones again after they have passed.  Our Easter Faith shows us that joy and peace can come back to us through a time of change and grief.  In Matthew 28:9 while Mary Magdelene and another companion were leaving the empty tomb “Suddenly Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’”  Our Easter Faith has a compelling commitment to uplift.  The Risen Christ comes to us in our shock and greets us in a way that lifts up our spirits and our lives to the full. Dear God, grant me to live my life with our Easter Faith. Greet us with great love and hopefulness! Amen.

Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Prayer 1819. Walking & Talking

Conversation along the way can make all the difference.  On the day Jesus rose, two of the disciples were headed out of town on the road to Emmaus.  In Luke 24:17 Jesus comes near to them asking “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” In conversation the disciples were retelling the story of what had happened to Jesus, how he was crucified, and that he was not found in the tomb.  Though Jesus was unrecognized by them, he interpreted all the things in the scriptures about him.  Later they said, “were not our hearts burning within us?” Faith is found in conversation.

Dear God, grant me companions on the way that we may recognize you in our life experiences. Amen.

Wednesday, April 10, 2024. Prayer 1820. Fish Dinner

Conversation around the dinner table is the time to share what has happened to us and find support and direction.  When the disciples were talking about Jesus, he appeared to them, offered his peace, showed them the wounds in his hands and feet.  They were disbelieving and wondering.  In Luke 24:41 Jesus said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”  They gave him broiled fish and he took and ate it.  While discussing everything in light of the scriptures, they were calmed and reoriented during dinner.  Following a death, it is so good to gather with loved ones around the table.

Dear God, bless those who have endured great loss to be gathered at table in the presence of love and faith. Amen.

April 11, 2024. Prayer 1821. Believing

It’s hard to believe it when a loved one is gone.  Doubts arise in the heart about our life going forward.  When Jesus was gone the disciples were gathered and talking about everything.  He appears to them and breathes new life into them in the Spirit.  Thomas had missed the moment.  He was disbelieving.  In John 20:27 he appears again and says to Thomas, “Put you finger here and see my hands. Do not doubt but believe.”  Thomas was blessed when looking at Jesus’ wounds.  Healing comes from telling the story of our woundedness and reaching out to each other for confidence and trust.  Dear God, bless me with the strength to acknowledge our woundedness and turn that into faithful witness. Amen.

April 12, 2024. Prayer 1822. Love Came Down at Easter

Our Easter Faith sends us out into the world by love to give and receive love.  When Peter had denied Jesus three times in his hour of need, he must have felt terrible.  Feelings of guilt and shame must have weighed heavy on his heart.  He would not be able to go on with Jesus’ mission.  The Risen Christ comes to speak with Peter in the heart.  In John 21: he asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?”  Peter is hurt.  He wants to love again, but must be wrestling with his actions.  Three times Jesus has Peter acknowledge that with that confession of love, Peter will go and “tend my sheep.”

Dear God, reach out to us with great love that we may turn from our self-doubts and trust in our Easter Faith. Amen.