40 Days of Prayer 2026! Day 21
Welcome to day 21 of our 40 day challenge! Today, we are in Mark 12
(You can catch up on our Intro, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19, Day 20 if you missed them)
Mark 12:28-34
The Greatest Commandment
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[f] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
There is no commandment greater than loving God and loving our neighbor. It seems simple and straightforward, but it takes our whole lives just trying to do either well. Thankfully, we don’t have to do it on our own. While we’re commanded to love, we don’t provide this love. All we have to do is let the Lord fill us up to overflowing with it, and pass it on to others. That doesn’t mean it’s easy, and we’ll be called to give this love to even when it’s hard and inconvenient, but it’s always worth it. Because what we do to others, we do to Jesus, and He is worth it.
We won’t do this perfectly. But we will love others to the extent we accept God’s love to us. He fills us, and then we fill others. Over and over and over.
May we be so filled with the love of God that all we come in contact with feel His love.
Options for further journaling or discussion throughout the challenge:
- Choose a part of the passage to write out by hand. Writing by hand helps us slow down and focus on what the Lord might highlight for us in the passage. Our brains can focus and remember better by writing than just reading alone.
- Journal about what the passage brings to mind. Does the passage tell us anything about God? Does it tell us anything about our response to Him?
- Does your heart respond in gratitude to any part of the passage? Write or pray your gratitude to the Lord.
We’ll see you tomorrow for Day 22, in Ezek 37:1-14, John 11:1-45
♥ Samantha