A Prayer about Our Hope in Broken Stories

by | Apr 25, 2025 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Our Hope in Broken Stories

They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Isaiah 61:4

Restoring God,

Today we lift up all who are in the middle of a story 

that feels like it has been torn up and tossed in the trash. 

The woman who has had three miscarriages in the past two years,

The child who just heard of her parent’s divorce,

The man who has received a cancer diagnosis, 

The people who experience marginalization 

because of their skin color or nationality…

The list goes on and on and on. 

Help us to look for what we really need to see 

in the midst of such stories: 

your restoring work that is happening even today 

and will be completed when Jesus returns.

Here is just some of the good news Jesus speaks to us through Isaiah: 

Instead of streaks of tears sullying your face, 

your face will shine with the oil of gladness

 and the hope of restoration (Isaiah 61:3).

No longer shriveled by sin and sadness, 

you will stand strong, 

planted firmly in the Lord’s steadfast love, 

like a mighty oak waving its leaf-laden branches 

in praise of the Lord’s glory (Isaiah 61:3).

The ruins of your life will be rebuilt, 

losses to the evil one will be restored, 

relationships ravaged by sin will be revived (Isaiah 61:4).

Help us to meditate on this future 

which you are writing into our broken stories even today.

In Jesus’ redeeming name. Amen.

Read Isaiah 61:1-11.



A Prayer about Boasting in Our Weakness

by | Apr 24, 2025 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Boasting in Our Weakness

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Cor. 12:10

All-Powerful God,

We confess, 

we in Western culture 

crave power, control, and independence.

 The last thing we want 

is to seem weak. 

And yet, weakness is the way of Christ, 

so it must be our way as well.

The apostle Paul understood that, 

so in the face of accusations 

that he wasn’t an apostle, 

he countered the boasting of the “super-apostles” 

with some boasting of his own:

“If I must boast, 

I will boast of the things 

that show my weakness” (2 Cor. 11:30). 

And then he mentions how he was lowered in a basket through the window of a wall in Damascus, of all places, 

a place he went to persecute Jews only to be knocked down on the road, 

struck blind, by his Lord and Savior himself. 

Paul shares many other weaknesses in 2 Corinthians, 

a book that’s all about weakness as the way 

of followers of Christ. 

He asked that you would relieve him from a “thorn in the flesh,” 

but you did not. 

Instead, you said, 

“My grace is sufficient for you, 

for my power is made perfect in your weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). 

Lord, we know we really are weak — 

[for each of these areas, name any weaknesses you have]

weak in our bodies,  

weak in our work,

weak in our wills,

weak in our faith,

weak in our hope,

weak in our love.

We believe 

that you your power is made perfect

in and through our weakness. 

Help our unbelief.

In Jesus’s name. Amen. 

Read 2 Corinthians 11:30-12:10.



A Prayer about Leaning into Brand New Things

by | Apr 23, 2025 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Leaning into Brand New Things

Behold, I am doing a new thing;

Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? Isaiah 43:19

Creator King,

Isaiah shared your hope with the Israelites

in a desperate season.

May we hear his call 

to “remember not the former things”—

old ways of entrenched sin, 

deeply rooted patterns of rebellion, 

relationships ripped apart by rudeness, 

lives lost to cancer or wrecked by addiction…

May we instead look toward the horizon 

and lean into the brand new things you are doing.

May we step faithfully

into the pathways 

carved through the wilderness 

by our Savior’s death and resurrection. 

May we drink deeply from the rivers of mercy 

that flow from the cross 

into the driest desert days of our lives. 

Wherever this word and prayer meets us today, Lord, 

strengthen us with the hope 

of the brand new thing 

you have already done; 

give us the faith to believe 

you will continue to do new things 

until we dwell with you forever 

in the new heavens and the new earth. 

In Jesus’ renewing name. Amen.

Read Isaiah 43:15-21. 



A Prayer about Not Missing the Obvious

by | Apr 22, 2025 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Not Missing the Obvious

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:27

Risen Lord,

This story reminds us that William Shakespeare 

was not the first person to use dramatic irony to humorous effect. 

You walked along the road with two of your followers all the way to Emmaus. 

They thought you were really out of it 

not to have heard anything about 

“Jesus of Nazareth, 

a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word…

and how our chief priests and rulers 

delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him” (Luke 24:19-20).

What did your heart feel 

when you heard their aching disappointment: 

“But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21)?

We don’t know, but we do know you gave these two followers 

the best Bible study ever, 

showing them how all of Scripture 

pointed to your redemption of not only Israel 

but of every tribe, tongue, nation, and people group (Luke 24:27).

You arrived at the village, 

accepting their invitation to dine with them.

You “took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them” (Luke 24:30). 

Only then were their “eyes opened and they recognized him” (Luke 24:31).

Lord, we have been given so much more opportunity 

to see you than these two followers. 

May we never be blind to your risen presence 

among us through the Holy Spirit. 

May we seek you in the Scriptures morning by morning, 

day by day, knowing the truth about you 

flashes at us from every direction like the neon signs on Broadway. 

And may we, in recognizing the reality of your resurrection, 

worship you by telling others this profoundly good news. 

In your ever-present name. Amen.

Read Luke 24:13-35.



A Prayer about Marvelous Nonsense

by | Apr 21, 2025 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Marvelous Nonsense

But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Luke 24:12

Risen Lord, 

We rejoice today, remembering the early days after your resurrection. 

The women had gone to the tomb looking for you 

and had been told by angels that you weren’t there, 

for you had risen. 

They did as instructed, 

running to tell the apostles the unbelievable good news.

But the apostles thought it was “an idle tale,” “nonsense,” 

even though you had told them on multiple occasions 

that you would rise from the dead (Mark 9:30-32; Matthew 16:21-28; Matthew 17:22-23). 

Lord, we live in a skeptical and cynical world, 

where belief in miracles is often scoffed at. 

Open our minds to study the Scriptures 

and our hearts to the unimaginable 

good news of the gospel. 

Make us like Peter, 

who ran to the tomb to see for himself, 

bent down, looked in, and saw your grave-clothes 

lying in an empty tomb. 

When he realized you were gone, 

he “marveled” at what had happened. 

Make us marvelers too. 

It is an amazing story. It is a marvel-ous story. 

It is a story that changes everything about life and death.

In your risen name. Amen.

Read Luke 24:1-12.