It Begins in Prayer – The Fifth Commandment

It Begins in Prayer

Exodus 20:12

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”

Today would be a good day to focus on praying for those you are called to honor–parents, employers, civil magistrates, church leaders, family members, neighbors, friends, people far and near. Certainly we honor others by bringing them before the Lord in prayers of thanksgiving and intercession. It’s a great way to begin focusing more consistently on others, so that you might honor them in everyday ways.

Thank the Lord for the many people He has put in your life.  Look to Him to guide you in honoring them day by day. Ask Him to enable you to show His steadfast love and faithfulness to them–even those who scorn the Lord and are not particularly friendly to you.  Plead with God to give you a ready mind, that you might remember to honor others, and abundant grace, to discover new ways of doing so.

If we get honoring others right before the Lord in prayer, we’ll get it right in the daily details of our lives.

Set some times today to meet with the Lord for the specific purpose of praying for those you are called to honor.

Daily meditation in the Law of God helps us along the path of holiness, righteousness, and goodness (Rom. 7:12). Order your copy of The Law of God, a compilation of the Mosaic Law for contemporary believers, by going to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.