1st January: Psalm 119:105-112 - 'Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.'

We begin the year with the words of verse 105: 'Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path'. This a great text with which to begin the year. It is a great starting-point for these studies in God's Word. As we journey through life with God and His Word, we discover that there is a Word from the Lord for every part of life's journey. There is never a time when God has nothing to say to His people. Sometimes, He speaks to us from places which seem rather unlikely. As we explore His Word, we learn that He is the true and living God, ever ready to bring to us something new, something fresh, something that will send us on our way rejoicing, something that will strengthen our faith, something to deepen our commitment to Christ, something to increase our love for the Saviour. As we receive God's Word - 'a lamp to our feet and a light to our path' - we are to pray, 'renew my life, O Lord, according to Your Word' (107).

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Praying Through God's Word: Old Testament

GENESIS
Genesis 1:1-3 Lord, help us to get our priorities right - Your priorities. May our lives be more centred on You - less centred on ourselves. Help us to listen for Your Word - not to jump straight in with our own words. Help us to open our hearts to Your Holy Spirit. May He move among us - in power, in love, in holiness, in victory. Transform our life, O Lord - May we live as a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). May we know the great blessing of knowing that Jesus, our Saviour, is always "God with us" (Matthew 1:23).
Genesis 1:4-13
Lord, when You speak to us, help us to say, ‘Your will be done’ (Matthew 6:10).
‘Let it be to me according to Your Word’ (Luke 1:38) - This was Mary’s prayer. May it also be our prayer. By ourselves, we are helpless and hopeless - Without Your help, we have no hope of doing Your will and pleasing You. We need Your Holy Spirit - May the Spirit’s ‘living water’ flow in us (John 7:37-39).Thank You, Lord, for the gift of Your Holy Sp…
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2nd January: Psalm 23:1-6 - 'You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.'

Turning to 'the Shepherd Psalm', we focus our attention on verse 5: 'You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows'. We are to feast on God's Word. We are to be filled with God's Spirit. The 'table' is the place of feasting. 'Oil' is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. As we feast on God's Word, we will have good cause to say, again and again, 'God is good': His 'goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life' (6). The Lord never fails us. He always comes with His life-giving Word, the Word of life, through which our life on earth becomes the beginning of life eternal, the pathway to a life in which the fullness of God's love will be revealed in a way that we can hardly begin to imagine: 'I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever' (6). This is what Christ is preparing for us (John 14:2)!
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3rd January: Psalm 42:1-11 - 'My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.'

As we read God's Word day-by-day, we are to pray for an increase of our desire for God: 'My soul thirsts for God, for the living God' (2). This is the spiritual experience, referred to in verse 7: 'Deep calls to deep'. This is what Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 2:10 - Through His Spirit , God is at work in us, revealing to us 'the deep things of God. God has given us His Spirit for this reason - 'that we may understand what God has freely given us' (1 Cor.2:12). God wants us to explore, with Him, the meaning of the great salvation which He has so graciously provided for us in Jesus Christ. Learning of God's salvation, we will say with the Psalmist, 'I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God' (11). This song of praise will grow strong in both our personal devotions - 'a prayer to the God of my life' (8) - and our public worship - going 'to the house of God' (4).
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