77.2 The Centurion Asks Healing For His Servant

(Matthew 8:5-13)

When Jesus entered Capernaum, a Roman officer met him and begged for help: "Sir, my servant is sick in bed at home, unable to move and suffering terribly."

"I will go and make him well," Jesus said.
"Oh, no, sir," answered the officer. "I do not deserve to have you come into my house. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. I, too, am a man under the authority of superior officers, and I have soldiers under me. I order this one, 'Go!' and he goes; and I order that one, 'Come!' and he comes; and I order my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it."

When Jesus heard this, he was surprised and said to the people following him, "I tell you, I have never found anyone in Israel with faith like this. I assure you that many will come from the east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of heaven. But those who should be in the Kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness, where they will cry and gnash their teeth." Then Jesus said to the officer, "Go home, and what you believe will be done for you."

And the officer's servant was healed that very moment.

77.1 Moses Prays For His People After They Have Sinned

(Deuteronomy 9:15-21)

"So I turned and went down the mountain, carrying the two stone tablets on which the covenant was written. Flames of fire were coming from the mountain,. I saw that you had already disobeyed the command that the Lord your God had given you, and that you had sinned against him by making yourselves a metal idol in the form of a bull-calf.  So there in front of you I threw the stone tablets down and broke them to pieces. Then once again I lay face downward in the Lord's presence for forty days and nights and did not eat or drink anything. I did this because you had sinned against the Lord and had made him angry. I was afraid of the Lord's fierce anger, because he was furious enough to destroy you; but once again the Lord listened to me. The Lord was also angry enough with Aaron to kill him, so I prayed for Aaron at the same time. I took that sinful thing that you had made- that metal bull-calf and threw it into the fire. Then I broke it in pieces, ground it to dust, and threw the dust into the stream that flowed down the mountain.

76.4 The Lord Helps Those Who Do Good

(Psalm 80)

Listen to us, O Shepherd of Israel;
hear us, leader of your flock.
Seated on your throne above the winged creatures,
reveal yourself to the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Show us your strength; come and save us!

Bring us back, o God!
Show us your mercy , and we will be saved!

How much longer, Lord God Almighty,
will you be angry with your people's prayers?
You have given us sorrow to eat,
a large cup of tears to drink.
You let the surrounding nations
fight over our land; our enemies insult us.

Bring us back, Almighty God!
Show us your mercy, and we will be saved!

You brought a grapevine out of Egypt;
you drove out other nations and planted it in their land.
You cleared a place for it to grow;
its roots went deep, and it spread out over the whole land.
It covered the hills with its shade;
its branches overshadowed the giant cedars.
It extended its branches to the Mediterranean Sea
and as far as the Euphrates River.
Why did you break down the fences around it?
Now anyone passing by can steal its grapes;
wild hogs trample it down, and wild animals feed on it.

Turn to us, Almighty God!
Look down from heaven at us;
come and save your people!
Come and save this grapevine that you planted,
this young vine you made grow so strong!

Our enemies have set it on fire and cut it down;
look at them in anger and destroy them!
Preserve and protect the people you have chosen,
the nation you made so strong.
We will never turn away from you again;
keep us alive, and we will praise you.

Bring us back, Lord God Almighty.
Show us your mercy, and we will be saved.

76.3 Stephen Prays For His Killers

(Acts 7:54-60)

As the members of the Council listened to Stephen, they became furious and ground their teeth at him in anger. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw God's glory and Jesus standing at the right side of God. "Look!" he said. "I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!"

With a loud cry the Council members covered their ears with their hands. Then they all rushed at him at once, threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses left their cloaks in the care of a young man named Saul. They kept on stoning Stephen as he called out to the Lord, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" He knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord! Do not remember this sin against them!" He said this and died.

76.2 Samuel Prays For Forgiveness Of Sins

(1 Samuel 7:2-6)

The Covenant Box of the Lord stayed in Kiriath Jearim a long time, some twenty years. During this time all the Israelites cried to the Lord for help.

Samuel said to the people of Israel, "If you are going to turn to the Lord with all your hearts, you must get rid of all the foreign gods and the images of the goddess Astarte. Dedicate yourselves completely to the Lord and worship only him, and he will rescue you from the power of the Philistines." So the Israelites got rid of their idols of Baal and Astarte, and worship only the Lord.

Then Samuel called for all the Israelites to meet at the Mizpah, telling them, "I will pray to the Lord for you there." So they all gathered at Mizpah. They drew some water and poured it out as an offering to the Lord and fasted that whole day. They said, "We have sinned against the Lord." (It was a Mizpah where Samuel settled disputed among the Israelites.)