Daily Prayer, Day 15: Monday – My Eyes Have Seen Your Salvation

by | May 11, 2020 | Prayer Blog, Uncategorized

NEW TESTAMENT PRAYERS

Introduction

We are so glad you are joining us for these daily prayer posts. Over the next few weeks we are going to listen to the prayers we find in the Bible, and some of God’s most faithful saints and servants. Through their prayers, we will learn better how to pray and connect with our heavenly Father.

Each devotion will take less than ten minutes of your time.

  1. We will look at an insight from those who know something important about prayer.
  2. We will listen to the prayers of people in the Bible—people just like us. And to people who gained a deep measure of spiritual intimacy with God because they prayed.
  3. We will reflect, asking the same four questions each day that invites us to look and listen with intent.
  4. And we will pray, for it is in praying that we learn to pray. And it is in praying that the Spirit changes our hearts.

We want to encourage you to grab a journal or a notebook – something to write on as you walk through each prayer guide. Yes, it will add a few minutes to the time it takes to do the devotion, and it will also deepen your experience and shape your walk with God for years to come. This journal or notebook will be a keepsake to remind you of God’s faithfulness during this challenging season for all of us.

Look

“If prayer stands as the place where God and human beings meet, then I must learn about prayer. Most of my struggles in the Christian life circle around the same two themes: why God doesn’t act the way we want God to, and why I don’t act the way God wants me to. Prayer is the precise point where those themes converge.”
– Philip Yancey

Listen

Imagine waiting your whole life for a promise from God to come true. Old Simeon had heard God tell him he would not die before seeing the long-promised Messiah with his own eyes. Shortly after Jesus was born, His parents brought Him to the temple for the purification rite and the Holy Spirit nudged Simeon: “This is the one.” Simeon took Jesus in his arms and prayed:

Luke 2:29-32

29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”

 

 

 

Reflect

1. Having read the Word, sit silently for a minute and give God’s Word a moment to settle within you.

2. Re-read the verses slowly and write down some thoughts that resonate with you.

3. Ask the Spirit to help you see the deeper longings, desires or motives in your heart that those thoughts are pointing to. (for example: you may write down, “Simeon had confidence that now he could have peace of mind and let go.” The Spirit can help us see that deep within us, we all long for this kind of peace – the wholeness and completion that comes when God fulfills His promises.)

4. How does Simeon’s prayer help you see your circumstances, no matter how difficult, with a sense of gratitude for the way God shows Himself faithful to His promises in your life?

Pray

Think about some of the promises your eyes have already seen God fulfill, and some of the promises you are still waiting for. Using Simeon’s prayer to guide your prayer, thank God for His faithfulness to His Word, and express your desire that He fulfill all His promises.

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These devotionals are adapted from various sources, including The Book of Common Prayer, Fenelon: The Seeking Heart, Fellowship Bible Church Nashville, Handbook to Prayer by Kenneth Boa and others.