Daily Devotional • December 22
A Reading from Matthew 3:1-12
1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
worship the Lord in holy splendor.
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf
and Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl
and strips the forest bare,
and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
11 May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace!
Meditation
If you’re like I am, when faced with a challenge — whether a commonplace one like a flat tire, or a catastrophic one like an illness or death — you’re probably tempted to act first and pray later. Maybe prayer is an afterthought, something you hastily offer before bed at the end of a long day. Or maybe you neglect prayer altogether, seeing prayer as something that can’t help.
This perspective on prayer, which is really a perspective on God’s power (or lack thereof), is understandable in our modern world. Modernity is characterized by the false belief that we can quantify the totality of the known world and direct this world to our ends via technology. Prayer, in all its mystery and complexity, in its “out-of-control-ness,” has no place in this modern mindset. And while we Christians may want to believe in the power of prayer, we often can’t help but be shaped by the view that prayer is useless — at best, a placebo for our nerves, at worst, a waste of time.
If we let it, today’s reading from Psalm 29 can shake us out of our complacency and remind us of God’s power, and with it, the power of prayer. “The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars,” says the Psalmist. “The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the woodlands bare.” When we think of God, think flames of fire, think earthquakes, think the dark, churning ocean at night. When we pray, this is the God we call upon. And he is a God of power, a God who is worth petitioning. Whether you need a little patience over Christmas, or a big save during a crisis, consider praying first, and acting second. He is waiting.
Elizabeth Hamilton’s writing has appeared in the Dallas Museum of Art, Southern Humanities Review, and Texas Monthly. She has an MFA from Seattle Pacific University. Find her work at elizabethannehamilton.com
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Church of the Province of Uganda
Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, Waco, Texas
