A Prayer about Being the Beautiful Community

by | Feb 7, 2021 | Daily Prayer

A Prayer about Being the Beautiful Community

(This prayer is based on Dr. Irwyn Ince’s book The Beautiful Community: Unity, Diversity, and the Church at Its Best (affiliate link)

Beautiful Lord,

As we gather for worship today, whether together or apart, 

may we look around us and consider a crucial question, 

“How well does our community reflect the beautiful community, 

the multifaceted, multiethnic, multiracial culture 

we will know when we dwell forever as your kingdom of priests?” 

We who are in the dominant culture in our churches should also ask, 

“Do I enjoy my dominant culture status? Am I willing to sacrifice 

my preferred and familiar ways of worship

(hymns or praise songs, 

hands raised or firmly clasped, 

kneeling or dancing) 

for the sake of my sisters and brothers?” 

Beautiful and beautifying Savior, 

one day, there will be no dominant culture in your new earth. 

May we actively live toward that day starting today. 

In your transforming name we pray. Amen. 

Read Revelation 5: 8-10, 7:9, 11:9, 14:6; Daniel 3:4

A Prayer about Signs of Redemption

by | Feb 6, 2021 | Bible study, Daily Prayer

A Prayer about Signs of Redemption

Almighty and Everlasting God,

Who has ever seen a rainbow 

and not dropped their jaw in wonder at the gleaming glory, 

the bright beauty emerging from the dark clouds of storm? 

As we read this true story in Scripture about how sin had gotten so bad 

that you flooded the earth and took the lives 

of those who rebelled against your loving provision, 

our jaws should also drop. Because you didn’t stop there. 

You provided a way out, the ark for Noah and his family and all the creatures. 

You provided a way out for us, our Savior Jesus Christ, 

your glory bursting into the dark hearts of our sin. 

We thank you and praise you for your undeserved grace, 

for rainbow signs of redemption 

and for every other sign 

that you are conforming us 

to the likeness of your Son by your Holy Spirit. 

In Jesus’ redeeming name. Amen. 

Read Genesis 9:1-17.

A Prayer Thanking God for His Covenant of Peace

by | Feb 5, 2021 | Daily Prayer

A Prayer Thanking God for His Covenant of Peace

Promise-keeping Father,

In this world so set on strife, what a profound promise this is:

Even where there is utter chaos on this earth, 

your steadfast love shall never leave us, 

your “covenant of peace shall not be removed” (Isaiah 54:10).

We don’t use the word covenant often in our everyday conversations, 

but we should use it more when we think about you. 

Your covenant is your unwavering, unbreakable, undivided, unimaginable, and undeserved 

commitment to love us and deliver us from our worst selves, 

to give us peace with you and peace with one another. 

Why would you make such a covenant with us? 

The Bible is clear—

it’s not because we were so numerous or powerful or special—

it’s because of your steadfast love and your compassion. 

We thank you for keeping your promises to us. 

May we joyfully serve you in gratitude for your grace.

In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Read Isaiah 54:8-10; Deuteronomy 7:6-11.

Getting Unstuck: The True Story of a Well-Loved Woman

by | Feb 2, 2021 | Lent, Weekly Gospel Meditation

Getting Unstuck: The True Story of a Well-Loved Woman

Dear Friends,

As February begins, we focus on three important stories in the calendar: Black history month, Valentine’s Day, and Lent, the beginning of a time to prepare our hearts for Easter. Today, I thought what better way to tie all of these themes together than to consider the truest love anyone has ever known, the love that transcends all human divides, the sacrificial love that transforms us wholly. Enjoy this excerpt from From Recovery to Restoration, and the story of a marginalized woman who became a true worshiper of Jesus. 

Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah? John 4:29, NLT

Recovery can make us feel stuck—stuck in isolation, stuck in guilt—whether legitimate or false, stuck in joylessness. The Samaritan woman of John 4 knew something about being stuck. She was stuck in a disastrous cycle of loving and losing men. Into this mucky rut, Jesus pursues her and pursues us, freeing us to do what we were made to do—to enjoy and glorify God.

The lonely Samaritan woman went daily at high noon to draw water, seeking to fill her thirst. She expected to be alone then, to escape the harsh glares of her disapproving community. Imagine her astonishment when a Jewish man crossed the cultural and racial divide to speak to her, a woman, a Samaritan. Imagine her astonishment when this Jewish teacher seemed to know “everything” about her, that the man she was currently living with was not her husband. Imagine her astonishment when this Jewish teacher didn’t splash condemnation on her but instead poured out the truth and hope that her thirsty heart craved (John 4:9-26).

Jesus did not come to condemn the Samaritan woman, nor did he come to condemn us; he came to expose our need for a Savior. He came to her and to us to restore us to community, to cover our shame, to fill our thirst. Jesus was on a mission from the Father, seeking out people who would “worship in spirit and in truth” (4:24 NLT), people who would enjoy and glorify God.

When the Samaritan woman reckoned with the truth about her condition and realized Jesus was the Messiah, she was instantly, radically changed. She dropped her water jar and headed to town, back to the very same people she had previously avoided, to share the good news: “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” (John 4:29 NLT). She was un-stuck. She moved freely and joyously, running un-self-consciously. She must hurry to tell others, because the news she had was so great to give.

The Samaritan woman’s radical transformation highlights Jesus’ mercy to us when we are stuck in the ruts of recovery. Jesus seeks us in our hiding to draw us into community with the triune God and with fellow believers. He seeks us in our joylessness to remind us of our joy in him. He seeks us in our thirst to supply the living water that frees us to worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

When we seek out the Jesus who has already sought us out, we will be restored as worshippers of the Father. We will be unstuck, freed to move far beyond the recovery room. We will run with the Samaritan woman, moving out into the world to tell others about the Messiah who came to save us from our sins. We will enjoy and glorify God.

Prayer

Jesus,

In this season, when we feel so stuck, we cry out to you. Free our hearts, souls, minds, and spirits so that we might tell others the good news about you. In your saving name. Amen.

Further Encouragement

Read John 4:1-42.

Listen to “Joyful, Joyful” by Casting Crowns at https://youtu.be/AfNS0nxHXhc.

For Reflection

In what ways do you feel stuck right now? Ask Jesus to free you to see God’s might and mercy in this area. 

From Recovery to Restoration cover

Get Hope for Troubling Times

Advance Review for From Recovery to Restoration

"When the storms of life crash into our lives, the devastation left behind is often overwhelming. Recovery and healing is slow and arduous. Elizabeth Turnage's devotional is for all those laboring toward recovery. From Recovery to Restoration is a hope-filled, gospel-laced, and Christ-exalting book which invites us into God's story of redemption and helps us see how he is at work to redeem and restore all things, even the aftermath of our personal losses, heartaches, and trials."

Christina Fox

Writer, Counselor, Speaker

author of A Heart Set Free: A Journey to Hope Through the Psalms of Lament.

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A Prayer for Grieving the Death of a Loved One

by | Jan 30, 2021 | Daily Prayer

A Prayer for Grieving the Death of a Loved One

Most merciful God,

Thank you for your Word, 

which offers joyous hope for those who die having trusted in Christ for salvation. 

Though you don’t give us all of the specifics, 

you do give us every reason to rejoice for them even as we grieve our loss:

On the cross, Jesus tells the thief, 

“Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

The apostle Paul says, “To live is Christ; to die is gain” 

and “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, 

for that is far better” (Philippians 1:21, 23).

And while our loved ones, having died, are instantly delighting in Christ’s presence,

there is an even greater day to come, for them, and for all believers who remain on earth. 

On that day when Jesus returns, 

the dead will be raised and given their resurrection bodies, 

and we who are still alive will be raised, 

and we will all live together with God, with one another,

in the new heavens and the new earth (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17; Revelation 21:1-4). 

In that day, as J. R. R. Tolkien put it, “Everything sad will come untrue.” 

May we grieve with hope, knowing our loved ones are enjoying Jesus, 

knowing we will one day all be rejoined to rejoice in life forever 

on a fully redeemed new earth.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; Luke 23:43; Philippians 1:21,23; Revelation 21:1-4.

Dear friends, if you know someone grieving the death of a loved one, please share this prayer with them. If you are grieving, and would like prayer, I will be happy to pray for you.