A Prayer about Praying for the Church

by | Sep 10, 2021 | Daily Prayer, Learning Story, Prayer

A Prayer about Praying for the Church

Precious Lord,

We continue praying Ephesians 1:15-23 for our friends and for our churches.

We pray that every single saint (person set-apart in Christ) 

will “understand the incredible greatness 

of your power for us who believe in you” (Ephesians 1:19).

[Name ways you see or need to see God’s power to the church in these days].

Mighty God, you 

“raised Christ from the dead and seated him 

in the place of honor at your right hand” (Ephesians 1:20).

May we bow down to King Jesus 

far more than we bow down to our personal agendas.

May we remember and live in the reality 

that the church is Christ’s body—

“it is made full and complete by Christ, 

who fills all things everywhere with himself” (Ephesians 1:23),

and may we worship joyfully 

in anticipation of the day 

when there will be no more division in the church ever again. 

In Jesus’ reigning name. Amen. 

Read Ephesians 1:15-23. 

A Prayer about What to Pray

by | Sep 9, 2021 | Daily Prayer, Prayer

A Prayer about What to Pray

[Hi Friends, this prayer is the first of two parts; stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow 😀]

Father of Glory,

Sometimes I don’t know how to pray for people I love, 

and then I remember that you’ve given us 

so many good prayers in your Word, 

like this one in Ephesians 1:15-23, 

Today, we join borrow these words 

to pray for our loved ones:

[try filling in the names of specific people in this prayer]

We thank you for [their] faith and love for people (Ephesians 1:15);

We ask you to give [them] 

“spiritual wisdom and insight 

so that [they]might grow in the knowledge of God” (Ephesians 1:1).

We pray that [their] “hearts would be flooded with light 

so [they] can understand the confident hope 

you’ve given to those you’ve called” (Ephesians 1:18).

In Jesus’ resurrecting name we ask.

Amen.

Read Ephesians 1:18-23.

How to Take Heart in Hard Times

by | Sep 7, 2021 | Devotional, Learning Story, Suffering, Weekly Gospel Meditation

How to Take Heart in Hard Times

Win books! This month, as we celebrate the one-year-birthday of From Recovery to Restoration, I’m giving away four books each week. See above for this week’s books. Enter for a chance to win. To have more chances to win, share about the book more often or share the excerpts on the blog and let me know how many times you shared. 

Today’s blog is an excerpt from the devotional. I’ll be sharing excerpts every week. You can continue to share and have chances to win different books each week. 

Be of Good Cheer

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. John 16:33 NKJV

Here on the Gulf Coast of Florida, hurricane season threatens every year, tossing its mighty winds and roaring waters through our mind’s eye, arousing fears of future devastation and memories of past disaster. It’s been about fifteen years since Hurricane Ivan wreaked its havoc on our hometown, Pensacola, Florida, leaving a swath of blue roofs in its wake. 

We’ve recovered. But some never did. Some lost homes, businesses, even marriages to the disaster. They may have found a new home or started a new business, but the heartache of the catastrophe lingers. Maybe you haven’t been hit by a hurricane; maybe it was a divorce, a sudden revelation of a spouse’s affair. Maybe you were slapped with a cancer diagnosis. Or maybe your twenty-three-year-old has just renounced her faith.

The hard reality is that we may never fully recover from some of the disasters we endure. How can we live with hope in a world in which some losses will never be recouped? Jesus, in his final words to his disciples, anticipated this question. Shortly before his brutal crucifixion for a trumped-up crime, he prepared his followers for the disasters that mark life in a fallen world: 

“In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NKJV). 

Jesus’ words confound many of us, because western culture has fed us a lie: “This world is all there is,” it tells us, “and the things in it are here to make us happy.” Jesus contradicts this lie, telling his disciples, “Yes, in this world, you will suffer. I’m teaching you how to live in my world, my kingdom. Not only that, when I die and am raised again, you will have the resurrection power to live a different life, a new life, to recover what was lost in the fall. When you suffer, remember these things I have told you, and you will have peace. Not only that, you can be ‘of good cheer,’ ‘take courage,’ ‘not be afraid,’ ‘take heart’—because ‘I have overcome the world.’”

One day, not yet, but “soon,” Jesus tells us, I will return (Revelation 22:7). Then you will live with me in a new world, the world you were really made for. In that day, all of the pain and sorrow of the disasters you have faced will be washed away. All the sin—the clawing to get your own way, the clashing against loved ones over small differences, the clinging to things you think will satisfy you—it will be over. Overcome. Defeated. By me—your King. Love, Jesus. 

Dear friends, let’s take heart. There is something better that awaits. It is beyond recovery. It is restoration. It is renewal. It is reunion. Cheer loudly and long. Jesus has overcome the world.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,

Thank you for setting us straight. We are far too focused on finding joy in the things of this world. Help us to trust you when we suffer, to know that in you alone we will find peace and hope. In your cheering name we pray. Amen.

Further Encouragement

Read John 16.

Listen to “What a Friend” by Sara Groves.

For Reflection

What hope do you find in Jesus’ words to his disciples? 

A Prayer about Labor that Saves

by | Sep 6, 2021 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living

A Prayer about Labor that Saves

Holy God,

Thank you for the apostle Paul’s honesty about his struggle with sin. 

I too struggle. 

On this Labor Day, the song that gets stuck in my head 

(even though it has nothing to do with the actual holiday), 

is “Rock of Ages.”

Today, I make Toplady’s my song, 

for it names the truth about me:

“Not the labors of my hands 

can fulfill thy law’s demands; 

could my zeal no respite know, 

could my tears forever flow, 

all for sin could not atone; 

thou must save, and thou alone.”

Thank you, that Jesus’ labor on the cross has saved us!

And because of this great news, 

lead me into your world to serve you 

and share this good news with others.

In Jesus’ saving name. Amen.

Read Romans 7:24-8:1.

A Prayer about Giving Thanks in Troubled Times

by | Sep 5, 2021 | Daily Prayer, gratitude

A Prayer about Giving Thanks in Troubled Times

Lord,

Yes, “let the redeemed of the Lord say so, 

whom [you have] redeemed from trouble” (Psalm 107:2).

Even if we have seen trouble, 

if we’ve been wandering 

in “desert wastes….

hungry and thirsty…

our souls fainting within” (Psalm 107:5), 

you have “delivered [us] from our distress” (Psalm 107:6).

[Name some of the troubles you’ve seen this week, 

and how the Lord has delivered you from your distress].

Some of us “sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,” 

either because of our own rebellion, 

or because of the pain of living in this fallen world (Psalm 107:10), 

and yet you have shown your “wondrous works to the children of man,” 

and so we thank you for your “steadfast love” (Psalm 107:8,15).

[Name some of the dark places you have experienced in your life, 

and how God showed his wondrous works to you].

And on and on we could go through this remarkable Psalm 107, 

which names the storms and desert places of our lives 

and demonstrates your kind redemption

 in every place we have ever walked. 

We thank you, Lord, and we praise you, 

as those you have redeemed from trouble.

In Jesus’ redeeming name. Amen. 

Read Psalm 107.