A Day of Prayer, Day 3

WORD OF THE DAY, ROMANS 1:1-12, DAYS 1-3

A prayer for each day and each time we open the Word of God, the Holy Bible:
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Psalm 19:14 New Living Translation (NLT)
14 May the words of my mouth
    and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
--New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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DAYS, DATES, AND READINGS
Day 1 = 04.18.2015. Romans 1:1-4.
Day 2 = 04.19.2015. Romans 1:8-12.
Day 3= A Day of Prayer.
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I will share something on my heart today instead.

It's a news story:

"Video: Islamic State kills Ethiopian Christians in Libya"

See this link: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/video-islamic-state-kills-ethiopian-christians-libya

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I am reeling. You? (Prayer journal your thoughts.)

Back on February 15, 2015, ISIS beheaded 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians. (Prayer journal your thoughts.)

Do you see why I am upset and really cannot focus? How about you? 

I am taking some time today to pray about this and search the Bible for... something... Encouragement? Understanding? 

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2 Thessalonians 1:3-8 Expanded Bible (EXB)

3 We ·must [ought to] always thank God for you, brothers and sisters. This is only right, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love that every one of you has for each other is increasing. 4 So we ·brag [boast] about you to the other churches of God. We tell them about the way you ·continue to be strong [persevere; endure] and have faith even though you are being ·treated badly [persecuted] and are suffering many ·troubles [trials; hardships].

5 This is ·proof [evidence] that God is ·right [just; righteous] in his judgment. ·He wants you to be counted […so that you will be considered; or …to make you] worthy of his kingdom for which you are suffering. 6 [L For] God ·will do what is right [is just/righteous]. He will ·give trouble to [pay back with trials/hardship] those who ·trouble [inflict trials/hardships on] you. 7 And he will give rest to you who are ·troubled [suffering trials/hardships] and to us also when the Lord Jesus ·appears [is revealed] ·with blazing fire from heaven [orfrom heaven; C “with blazing fire” may go with the next sentence] with his powerful angels. 8 Then he will ·punish [or punish with blazing fire] those who do not know God [Jer. 10:25] and who do not obey the ·Good News about [Gospel of] our Lord Jesus.

-- Expanded Bible (EXB)

The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.

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2 Corinthians 4:6-18 Living Bible (TLB)

6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made us understand that it is the brightness of his glory that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 But this precious treasure—this light and power that now shine within us—is held in a perishable container, that is, in our weak bodies. Everyone can see that the glorious power within must be from God and is not our own.

8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken. We are perplexed because we don’t know why things happen as they do, but we don’t give up and quit. 9 We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. 10 These bodies of ours are constantly facing death just as Jesus did; so it is clear to all that it is only the living Christ within who keeps us safe.

11 Yes, we live under constant danger to our lives because we serve the Lord, but this gives us constant opportunities to show forth the power of Jesus Christ within our dying bodies. 12 Because of our preaching we face death, but it has resulted in eternal life for you.

13 We boldly say what we believe, trusting God to care for us, just as the psalm writer did when he said, “I believe and therefore I speak.” 14 We know that the same God who brought the Lord Jesus back from death will also bring us back to life again with Jesus and present us to him along with you. 15 These sufferings of ours are for your benefit. And the more of you who are won to Christ, the more there are to thank him for his great kindness, and the more the Lord is glorified.

16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our inner strength in the Lord is growing every day. 17 These troubles and sufferings of ours are, after all, quite small and won’t last very long. Yet this short time of distress will result in God’s richest blessing upon us forever and ever! 18 So we do not look at what we can see right now, the troubles all around us, but we look forward to the joys in heaven which we have not yet seen. The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.

-- Living Bible (TLB)

The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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