DAILY TEXT, Sunday June 30, 2024. I give you a new commandment: love one another (John 13:34).

DAILY TEXT, Today Sunday June 30, 2024. I give you a new commandment: love one another (John 13:34).

Let us examine the Scriptures every day 2024.

Sunday June 30, 2024

I give you a new commandment: that you love one another; that, just as I have loved you, you may love one another (John 13:34).

The night before he died, Jesus prayed long and hard for his disciples, and asked his Father to protect them from the Evil One (John 17:15). What a great gesture of love! Although he was about to undergo a terrible trial, he was concerned for the well-being of his apostles. Like Jesus, we do not focus solely on our needs. Rather, we have the habit of praying for our brothers. In this way, we obey Jesus' command to love one another and show Jehovah how much we love our brothers. And we know that when we pray for other servants of Jehovah, we are not wasting our time. The Bible says that “the prayer of a righteous man has a powerful effect” (James 5:16). Our brothers need us to pray for them because they face many difficult situations. w22.07 23, 24 paras. 13-15.

Why should we pray for the brothers who lead us?

The brothers who lead the congregation are very grateful that we pray for them, and those prayers help them. This is how the apostle Paul felt. He wrote, “Pray also for me that when I open my mouth, words may be given to me so that I may boldly make known the sacred secret of good news” (Eph. 6:19). Today we also have very hard-working brothers who lead us. By asking Jehovah to bless everything they do, we show that we love them.

When might we be asked to pray in public, and what should we keep in mind?

We may sometimes be asked to pray in public. For example, a sister leading a Bible study may ask the sister accompanying her to say a prayer. The chaperone may not know the student well, and she may prefer to say the last sentence. This way she could adapt it to the student's needs.

What if a brother is asked to pray at a field service meeting or congregation meeting? The brothers who have this responsibility must keep in mind what the objective of the meeting is. The prayers are not to advise the congregation or to make announcements. For most meetings a total of five minutes is allotted for song and prayer. So the brother who prays does not have to “use many words,” especially at the beginning of the meeting (Matt. 6:7).

What will help us be ready for Jehovah's day of judgment?

As Jehovah's day of judgment approaches, we need to give even more importance to prayer. Speaking on this topic, Jesus said: “Keep awake and pray all the time that you may escape all these things that must happen” (Luke 21:36). If we pray constantly, we will stay awake spiritually and be ready when the day of Jehovah arrives.

What can we do so that our prayers are like pleasant-smelling incense?

What have we analyzed in this article? We greatly value the honor of praying to Jehovah. The most important matters to include in our prayers are those that have a direct relationship with Jehovah's purpose. We also give thanks for the Son of God and his Kingdom, and we pray for our brothers. And, of course, we can ask Jehovah to provide for our physical and spiritual needs. By thinking carefully about what we say in our prayers, we show that we value this extraordinary honor. To Jehovah, our words will be like pleasant-smelling incense, they will be “a pleasure to him” (Prov. 15:8).

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