Finals Week Prayer by Ian Gaston

Lord,

I come to you in hope that you will be with me through the next weeks as I trudge my way through finals. Specifically, I want to ask for three things: discipline, so that I can stay focused...; patience, so that I acknowledge that studying takes time and I should not freak out as my brain feels like exploding; and finally for knowledge so that I know what to study. Please guide me through these last weeks of the semester and bring me through these finals filled with your joy and peace.

Amen.

                                                          http://lifeteen.com/college-students-finals-prayer/

Advent 1

Matthew 4:18-19 As [Jesus] walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”

Have you ever stepped into the unknown? It can be scary. There may be much that’s unknown when you make a new beginning. The fishermen took a giant step into the unknown when they got out of their boats to follow Jesus. Where would he take them? What would they do? What would happen? There was no way for them to know. But they knew enough to trust Jesus and to accept his invitation.

It was costly discipleship for the fishermen to follow Jesus. They let go of important things. But they were ready for the new life that Jesus offered them. They were ready for a new beginning, even if they didn’t know all it would mean or everything that would happen.

We make a new beginning this Advent. Jesus calls us to step into a new life and an unknown future. We can trust and not hold back. He will find us there.

                                          Forward Day by Day