A Prayer about Finding True Justice

by | Sep 19, 2022 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living

A Prayer about Finding True Justice

How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Psalm 82:2

Judge of the Earth,

All it took me was a stint on jury duty 

to realize how poorly qualified 

I am to serve on a jury. 

I want to believe I could be fair and impartial, 

to believe the defendant is innocent until proven guilty. 

And yet, I know in my heart how quickly 

I can jump to conclusions, 

how quickly I can judge another, 

how I think I know the whole story when I don’t. 

Help me to relinquish my daily “jury duty” to you, 

the judge of the earth.

You see the intentions of the heart perfectly.

You defend the weak and the fatherless.

You uphold the cause of the poor and oppressed.

You rescue the weak and the needy.

You deliver the weak and the needy 

from the hand of the wicked (Psalm 82:3-4). 

And through Jesus, who died 

so that we may be acquitted for our sins, 

you have called and empowered us to be like you. 

Send us out into this broken world 

to love the weak and needy as you do. 

In Jesus’ sacrificial name. Amen.

Read Psalm 82:1-8. 

A Prayer about the One God Who Unites Diverse People

by | Sep 18, 2022 | Gospel living, Scripture

A Prayer about the One God Who Unites Diverse People

 In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.’ -Isaiah 19:24–25 (ESV)

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Isaiah stunned the Israelites 

by prophesying that fierce enemies, 

Egypt, Assyria, and Israel, 

would one day be blessed and gathered by you 

as one people to worship and glorify you.

You, diverse in person and yet wholly one God, 

united in purpose, 

have spread your glory over all the earth. 

You have reconciled sinners to yourself, 

you are redeeming the entire cosmos, 

and you are healing every division.

If the Egyptians and Assyrians and Israelites 

will one day gather together to worship you, 

surely we can move beyond 

political, racial, economic, and even theological differences 

to worship and glorify your name. 

Make us one as you are One, Holy Trinity.

In Jesus’ reuniting name. Amen. 

Read Isaiah 19:23-24; Galatians 3:7-9; Ephesians 2:11-22; Revelation 7:9-10.

A Prayer about a Craving for God’s Word

by | Sep 17, 2022 | Daily Prayer, Scripture

A Prayer about a Craving for God’s Word

More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Psalm 19:10.

Author God,

We confess, 

we spend so much time reading, watching, and listening 

to stuff that fills us like cotton candy, 

leaving us empty and irritable thirty minutes later. 

Help us to put the screens aside 

that we might develop a craving for your Word. 

Unlike much of what we read in our feeds today, 

your Word is perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true, and righteous,:

It revives the soul;

It makes wise the simple (Ps. 19:7);

It leads the heart to rejoice;

It enlightens the eyes (Ps. 19:8);

It keeps us from sin;

It rewards those who keep it (Ps. 19:11);

It endures forever (Ps. 19:9). 

Seed in us a craving for your Word, 

so that when we consume some, 

we crave more. 

For indeed, your Word shows us the hope of salvation in Jesus, 

the only hope we have to be 

“declared innocent from hidden faults; 

kept back from presumptuous sins” (Ps. 19:3).

As we consume your Word, Lord, 

may it change the words we speak, 

the thoughts we think, 

so that our thoughts and words will be “acceptable in your sight” (Ps. 19:14).

In the name of the Living Word, Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Read Psalm 19.  

A Prayer about Hope When All Seems Lost

by | Sep 16, 2022 | Daily Prayer, Grief, Suffering

A Prayer about Hope When All Seems Lost

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. Lamentations 3:22

Faithful Lord,

Sometimes we feel like Jeremiah,

seeing so much devastation and sin and sorrow all around.

Thank you for putting these hopeful verses 

right in the middle of the lament over Jerusalem’s fall.

When we feel 

that “peace has been stripped away,” (Lamentations 3:17, NLT), 

may we hear you singing over us,

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.”

When we feel 

that “everything we had hoped for from the Lord has been lost” (Lamentations 3:19),

may we hear you singing over us,

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.”

When we feel 

that we will “never forget this awful time” (Lamentations 3:20, NLT), 

May we hear you singing over us,

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.”

In the midst of our grief, 

we are grateful 

that you gave us such honest words in Scripture 

to cry out to you, 

we are grateful for your response

 to our lament,

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; 

[my] mercies never come to an end.” 

In Jesus’ faith-full name.

Amen

Read Lamentations 3.

A Prayer about Our To-Not-Do List for Today

by | Sep 15, 2022 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living

A Prayer about Our To-Not-Do List for Today

You shall not murder. Exodus 20:13

Lord God,

Thank you for placing these verses 

in Exodus in front of me 

and the accompanying Heidelberg catechism question and answer 105: 

What does God require in the sixth commandment?

“I am not 

to belittle, 

hate, 

insult, 

or kill my neighbor, 

not by 

my thoughts, 

my words, 

my look, 

my gesture, 

and certainly not 

by actual deeds. 

I am not 

to be party to this 

in others. 

I am to put away 

all desires for revenge.”

It’s sobering to read these words, Lord, 

to be faced with how many ways 

we murder our neighbor 

every single day all throughout the day.

We cry out, “Wretched people that we are! 

Who will deliver us from this body of death?”

“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord….

There is therefore now no condemnation 

for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 7:24, 8:1).

Draw us to quick repentance, Lord, 

when we murder our neighbor. 

By your transforming Spirit, 

change us into people 

who “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly” 

with you and with others (Micah 6:2). 

Help us to “love one another” 

and to “outdo one another in showing honor” (Romans 12:10). 

In your forgiving name. Amen.

Read Leviticus 19:1; Exodus 20:1-17; Matthew 5:21-22.