PART II: The Words & The Prayers
of The Life of The Cross, © 2008 (2nd ed. 2020), by Cathy Scott
Scroll down to the bottom of each chapter of the devotional
to read the prayer that accompanies the Scripture.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-–-this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write this to make our joy complete. (1 John 1:1-4)
1But now, this is what the Lord says-–-he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. (Isaiah 43:1)
3…I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing-kindness. 4I will build you up again, and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt… (Jeremiah 31:3-4a)
3‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ (Jeremiah 33:3)
10He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)
22“So you will be my people, and I will be your God.” (Jeremiah 30:22)
16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17)
8But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
12Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
12Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:12-14)
15“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-–-fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” (John 15:16)
27 …“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Luke 10:27)
8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -–- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8)
17Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. (Romans 10:17)
17For in the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)
22This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God, 24and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. (Romans 3: 22-26)
2 …He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds, we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:2b-6)
8 …“but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer. (Isaiah 54:8b)
10Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10)
8 …he will never leave you nor forsake you… (Deuteronomy 31:8)
27 …“Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27b)
16“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever-–-17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17)
5And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:5)
8”But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit, who lives in you. (Romans 8:11)
19Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. (1 Corinthians 6:19)
27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1Corinthians 12:27)
4There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)
26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:26)
2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-–-with great patience and careful instruction. (2 Timothy 4:2)
16[Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (Mark 16:15-18)
7“As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” (Matthew 10:7-8)
10Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)
26 …With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)
7For we live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
17 …And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 May have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 18 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:17b-21)
1Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. (Psalm 118:1)
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross,
so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness;
“by his wounds you have been healed.’
(1 Peter 2:24)
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PRAYER OF RELATIONSHIP
Father God, how honored and grateful I am to know that You—the LORD God Almighty—are my God and my Father. You made me in Your likeness. You alone, God, made the heavens and earth. You are the Creator of all. In Your sovereignty, Father. You could have designed the universe in any way that You so chose to design it, and You did. In Your perfect wisdom, Father, You chose to make me just as I am: fully dependent upon You always for all good things. You made me to be Your child eternally; one who never stops relying on Your perfect knowledge and understanding. You, God, are the good and loving perfect Father. The vastness of Your grace alone, given to me in Your Son, Christ Jesus, reveals to the world just how good and loving of a God and Father You are. Your perfection overwhelms me. So good and loving are You, Father, that You brought me Home to You before I was ever firstborn as lost. You saved me. You delivered me. You healed me and restored me. You gave me Your peace and joy that are beyond understanding. You made me to love when I didn’t know what love is. And You, God, what did You ask of me? To freely give to all others as You have always freely given to me.
[From The Life of The Cross, 2008, Cathy Scott]