Listen and Pray through 2 Peter 1:2-8
Click the button below to listen and pray through this passage. This practice will take about 10 minutes.
Read
As you prepare to spend time in God’s presence, take a few moments to quiet your mind and body, and to acknowledge God’s presence. Imagine yourself stepping into a sacred place – a place where God is already waiting for you. He is near.
Today we’ll be in 2 Peter which begins with, “May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.”
So take a minute to settle in to God’s presence with some deep breaths. As you inhale imagine God’s grace and peace filling your heart. Let His peace calm your mind and His grace wash over any feelings of worry or fear. As you exhale, let those anxious feelings or thoughts go, bringing with them any tension they’ve been causing in your mind and body.
2 Peter 1:2-8
May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.
3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Listen & Reflect
Peter says, By HIS divine power, God has given you everything you need for living a godly life. Let this truth settle in to your soul today.
Repeat it to yourself: I have everything I need to live a godly life.
You have all you need because you KNOW the one who has called you to himself. Even now, God is drawing you near, inviting you to know him deeply. Spend a moment breaking down any walls you’ve been inadvertently keeping up between you and God, and allow yourself to be drawn nearer to his glory and excellence.
Because of his glory and excellence you are enabled to live into his divine nature and escape the corruption of the world and the corruption of your own desires. Or as the message puts it: You have received a ticket to participate in the life of God.
Peter also says, because of all this, we are compelled to respond.
Read verses 5-7 again.
How will you respond to God’s promises today?
From this passage we know we already have all we need but Peter calls us to supplement our faith as well. Like a well-balanced diet can be enhanced and reinforced by taking vitamins and supplements, we can boost our faith and build up this life in Christ even further by participating in our own growth process.
Here are the supplements Peter recommends. Read them slowly to let each one take root.
A generous portion of moral excellence or good character. Knowledge or spiritual understanding. Self-Control or alert discipline. Patient endurance or passionate patience. Godliness or reverent wonder. Brotherly affection or warm friendliness. Generous love for everyone.
Which of these supplements are you going to take today?
Spend another few moments in quietness before the Lord. Allow him to speak to you even further.
Pray
Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your divine power that has given me everything I need for life and godliness. Thank You for calling me by Your glory and goodness and for the precious promises that allow me to share in Your divinity. Help me to turn away from the corruption of this world and to seek the path of righteousness.
Lord, strengthen my faith and help me to grow in goodness. Teach me to walk in godliness, to show kindness to others, and to love unconditionally.
Help me to possess these qualities in increasing measure so that I may live a life that is fruitful and pleasing to You. May my heart reflect Your love, and may my life be a witness to the grace and peace that comes from knowing You.
I trust in Your promises, Lord. Guide me each day to become more like You.
Amen.