Psalm 119:81-88 New International Version (NIV) כ Kaph  81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation,     but I have put my hope in your word. 82 My eyes fail, looking for your promise;     I say, “When will you comfort me?” 83 Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke,     I do not forget your decrees. 84 How long must your servant wait?     When will you punish my persecutors? 85 The arrogant dig pits to trap me,     contrary to your law. 86 All your commands are trustworthy;     help me, for I am being persecuted without cause. 87 They almost wiped me from the earth,     but I have not forsaken your precepts. 88 In your unfailing love preserve my life,     that I may obey the statutes of your mouth. 

Psalm 119:81-88

The Daily Practice: a devotional tool from Platt Park Church for developing the habit of daily time with God

Learning to love God takes practice. Just like exercising a muscle, our hearts are trained to love from the bottom up, through the formation of our habits and practices. Discipleship is about curating our hearts to love God and the things that God loves. Forces of our culture train us to love things other than God all the time, but spiritual practices help us to be attentive and intentional about what my heart really loves and desires. Following Jesus is more a matter of hungering and thirsting than of knowing and believing and it is our habit forming practices that form our desires over time. May this daily practice tune your heart to sing His praise.

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Psalm 18:24-50 New International Version (NIV)   24 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,     according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.   25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful,     to the blameless you show yourself blameless, 26 to the pure you show yourself pure,     but to the devious you show yourself shrewd. 27 You save the humble     but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. 28 You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;     my God turns my darkness into light. 29 With your help I can advance against a troopa]">[a];      with my God I can scale a wall.   30 As for God, his way is perfect:     The Lord’s word is flawless;     he shields all who take refuge in him. 31 For who is God besides the Lord?     And who is the Rock except our God? 32 It is God who arms me with strength     and keeps my way secure. 33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;     he causes me to stand on the heights. 34 He trains my hands for battle;     my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35 You make your saving help my shield,     and your right hand sustains me;     your help has made me great. 36 You provide a broad path for my feet,     so that my ankles do not give way.   37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them;     I did not turn back till they were destroyed. 38 I crushed them so that they could not rise;     they fell beneath my feet. 39 You armed me with strength for battle;     you humbled my adversaries before me. 40 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,     and I destroyed my foes. 41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—     to the Lord, but he did not answer. 42 I beat them as fine as windblown dust;     I trampled themb]">[b] like mud in the streets. 43 You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;     you have made me the head of nations. People I did not know now serve me, 44     foreigners cower before me;     as soon as they hear of me, they obey me. 45 They all lose heart;     they come trembling from their strongholds.   46 The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!     Exalted be God my Savior! 47 He is the God who avenges me,     who subdues nations under me, 48     who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes;     from a violent man you rescued me. 49 Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;     I will sing the praises of your name.   50 He gives his king great victories;     he shows unfailing love to his anointed,     to David and to his descendants forever.  

Psalm 18:24-50

John 17:1-8 New International Version (NIV)  Jesus Prays to Be Glorified 17 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:  “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.  Jesus Prays for His Disciples  6 “I have revealed youa]">[a] to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.  

John 17:1-8

Philippians 3:12-21 New International Version (NIV)  12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Following Paul’s Example 15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained. 17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. 

Philippians 3:12-21

Habakkuk 3:1-18 New International Version (NIV)  Habakkuk’s Prayer 3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.a]">[a]  2 Lord, I have heard of your fame;     I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day,     in our time make them known;     in wrath remember mercy.   3 God came from Teman,     the Holy One from Mount Paran.b]">[b]  His glory covered the heavens     and his praise filled the earth. 4 His splendor was like the sunrise;     rays flashed from his hand,     where his power was hidden. 5 Plague went before him;     pestilence followed his steps. 6 He stood, and shook the earth;     he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled     and the age-old hills collapsed—     but he marches on forever. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,     the dwellings of Midian in anguish.   8 Were you angry with the rivers, Lord?     Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea     when you rode your horses     and your chariots to victory? 9 You uncovered your bow,     you called for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers; 10     the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by;     the deep roared     and lifted its waves on high.   11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens     at the glint of your flying arrows,     at the lightning of your flashing spear. 12 In wrath you strode through the earth     and in anger you threshed the nations. 13 You came out to deliver your people,     to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,     you stripped him from head to foot. 14 With his own spear you pierced his head     when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour     the wretched who were in hiding. 15 You trampled the sea with your horses,     churning the great waters.   16 I heard and my heart pounded,     my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones,     and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity     to come on the nation invading us. 17 Though the fig tree does not bud     and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails     and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen     and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,     I will be joyful in God my Savior.  

Habakkuk 3:1-18

Luke 18:9-14 New International Version (NIV)  The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” 

Psalm 119:81-88

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