Birth of John the Baptist

PRAYER PRACTICE

Prayer Journal – To begin your daily worship today, grab a pen and paper and write out a prayer to God. Not sure what to write? Try using ACTS to frame your prayer. Begin with adoration for who God is. Then move on to confession – being real about where you have fallen short in the last day or two. Give thanks to God for all that He gives (including forgiveness for the sin you just confessed!). And then finish with supplication – with your prayer requests to God. When you are done, tuck this away somewhere (so you can read it later and see how God has answered your prayers) and then move into hearing from God through His Word.

DAILY READING

Luke 1:57-80

DEVOTION / REFLECTION

Let It Begin With Me

by Judy Webb

When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. (Luke 1:57-58)

In these 23 verses from today’s readings, the word MERCY seemed to be highlighted on the page. Mercy: denotes kindness, love, loyalty. It is an emotional response and resulting action after encountering the suffering or affliction of another.

Elizabeth was barren, she grieved that fact and prayed for God to bless her and Zechariah with a child to love. In the Gospels, hurting people frequently cry out for mercy and Elizabeth most likely did so also. Her friends and family knew how much she wanted a child, so when God in His mercy, provided a baby, they shared in her joy.

I started to have thoughts that went down a different trail when first composing words about mercy, but was quickly stopped and felt nudged to take a fresh path. I am sensing that we need to practice mercy in many and differing ways. The world we are facing is in great need of mercy...God's mercy. We need His compassion, His direction, His grace and His wisdom. 

It doesn’t seem like there is much mercy in our world today. I know I struggle to feel mercy for those who think different from me and vocally condemn my beliefs. There are many in the world who are lost and confused, who haven’t been introduced to Jesus yet. Shouldn’t I be extending mercy to them? Shouldn’t I be the light in a dark world? It could begin with mercy, by extending a hand in friendship and peace. 

Another definition for mercy is, an emotional response and resulting action after encountering the suffering or affliction of another. I have to admit, I have not been real strong in the area of mercy. Many years ago, when I first started working for the pastor in charge of care, it was pointed out that I didn't have a merciful bone in my body. That soon changed once I was witness to the distress and pain and agony so many faced while going through life.

Jesus expects us to show mercy. Read these verses and see a few ways we are called to extend and to practice mercy. (Romans 12:8, Matthew 18:33, Matthew 5:7, 2 Corinthians 4:1, James 3:17). Mercy is a spiritual gift and those who possess it usually sense when someone is hurting and respond with love and understanding. Isn't that just what is missing in our world today? Love and Understanding? 

Father, reveal to me, areas where I can embrace and extend mercy to those around me. Fill me with the Holy Spirit so I can recognize how to practice mercy in all I do and say. 

Birth of John the Baptist

PRAYER PRACTICE

Spoken Prayer – Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.

DAILY READING

Luke 1:57-80

REFLECTION

He is Always Working

by Katie Borden

Something I find so incredible about God’s Spirit is how he brings the Scriptures to life, often highlighting a different facet of truth to us each time we come back to a passage.

As I pondered today’s reading, I was struck by the role the Spirit played in Zechariah’s life. I can’t help but notice that phrase in verse 67 right before Zechariah’s praise and prophecy: “Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit.” Zechariah doesn’t just will this song into being by his own fortitude. We are seeing evidence of the Holy Spirit at work.

But what about the months before this moment, the months Zechariah found himself without a voice, while he endured what I can only imagine was a painful silence? Where was God then? There is certainly nothing flashy about Zechariah’s inability to speak or Elizabeth’s wait for their child to be born.

Yet even then, I believe the Lord was working. Even before the evidence of his work is in plain sight, even before the birth of the fulfillment of his word, God is working. Zechariah’s song didn’t come out of nowhere. The child grew and was nurtured in Elizabeth’s womb, filled with the Holy Spirit, and then was born and named John as a fulfillment of the sign the angel had previously given to Zechariah (Luke 1:13-20). The Spirit then birthed praises from the mouth of Zechariah, bringing glory to God and proclamations of his goodness.

Perhaps you are finding yourself in a moment of your life where you are seeing how God is birthing fruit in you, and you cannot help but burst with praise. Give thanks to God for the ways he has made himself evident in your life. Shout it out! Sing it from the rooftops! Give testimony to what God has done. Thanks be to God!

But perhaps you find yourself in a season where it feels like you have nothing to show for your days. Perhaps it feels like in some way, God has brought a quiet over your life. Rest assured, the Spirit is working, even when you don’t see or feel evidence of that work. You can rest in his promises and assurance—rest in the hands of the God of mercy, peace, faithfulness, and redemption. Thanks be to God!

Holy Spirit, we thank you for how you are working in us and through us, even now, even today. You are good. Amen.