A Prayer about Waiting with Patience

by | May 18, 2021 | Daily Prayer

A Prayer about Waiting with Patience

Redeeming God,

Many of us are waiting right now: 

for graduation day, 

for a new baby to arrive, 

for a wedding day, 

for a new job or a new direction.

Some are in hard waits: 

Waiting for the end to unemployment

 or the end to a marriage 

or the end of a loved one’s life. 

Whether we are waiting with anticipation 

or waiting in grief, 

we thank you for the saving hope you have given us: 

“we have the firstfruits of the Spirit” (Romans 8:23), 

that is, we know the benefits of being redeemed, 

but we still wait for something 

that will certainly come true: 

the day we experience all the benefits 

of our adoption as your children, 

the day we receive our fully healed and whole 

resurrection bodies (Romans 8:23). 

Because of this profound hope 

we have in your redemption and adoption, 

we can wait for anything on this earth with patience. 

In Jesus’ hope-full name. Amen. 

Read Romans 8:18-25. 

A Prayer about Enjoying Our Gifts

by | May 17, 2021 | Daily Prayer, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Enjoying Our Gifts

Father,

We live in such a mixed-up world, 

where too often we envy gifts other people have 

(oh, she’s such a good hostess, 

he’s so good at fixing things, 

she’s so smart, 

he’s such a good dad)…

And yet, you say 

that you gave each one of us different gifts 

through your Holy Spirit — 

things like 

“wise counsel, clear understanding, simple trust, 

healing the sick, miraculous acts, proclamation, 

distinguishing between spirits, tongues, 

interpretation of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:8-10). 

And you say that these gifts 

are for the building up of your kingdom. 

Help us, Lord, to thank you 

for the gifts you have given us 

and to deploy those gifts for the good of others 

and for your glory. 

In Jesus’ unifying name. Amen. 

Read 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. 

A Prayer about the Gift of Church

by | May 16, 2021 | Church, Daily Prayer

A Prayer about the Gift of Church

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

You are the three-in-one God, 

one God, three distinct persons,

“the same in substance, 

equal in power and glory.” (Westminster Shorter Catechism) 

In your very being, 

you demonstrate the essentiality of community 

for the Christian. 

We were never meant to go it alone. 

You saved a people, not a person. 

After a long season of virtual church, 

it’s easy to forget how to gather 

and how important it is to gather with our church. 

As we can more safely do so, 

let us prioritize seeing one another in person, 

listening alongside our fellow believers 

to the preaching of your gospel, 

joining our voices together 

in prayers of confession and adoration and petition, 

and sharing communion as we remember your sacrifice for us.

In Jesus’ beloved name. Amen. 

Read Acts 2:42-47.

A Prayer of Gratitude for Children

by | May 10, 2021 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living

A Prayer of Gratitude for Children

Heavenly Father,

On this, my older daughter’s birthday, 

and the day after Mother’s Day,

I am counting my blessings

 for how you have worked through my children 

to humble me, to shape me, to redeem me. 

Whether we have children or not, 

may we recognize their value, 

not in the child-centric way our culture does, 

but in the Jesus-centric way the Bible demonstrates. 

The disciples tried to shoo the children away 

when parents brought them to Jesus, 

but Jesus corrected them, 

saying that the “kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14). 

Why? Why does the kingdom of God belong to people like children? 

Because children in healthy families 

fully understand their dependence on their parents to supply all their needs. 

Healthy children don’t think it’s all up to them to make things happen, 

they don’t think they’re the ones in control of their own lives (except for three-year-olds), 

and they don’t think they’re stronger than they are. 

Healthy children turn to their parents for help, comfort, hope;

Healthy children do what their parents tell them to do, 

believing their parents have their good in mind.

And even though most children don’t act that way, we are your children, the children of the only perfect parent.

May we come to you as such children would. 

In Jesus’ calling name. Amen. 

Read Matthew 19:13-15.

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A Prayer about the Way to Love

by | May 8, 2021 | Daily Prayer, Scripture

A Prayer about the Way to Love

Faithful God,

As I reread the Ten Commandments you gave your people long long ago, 

I wonder if we have marginalized them. 

Do we still memorize them, 

and even more importantly, 

do we meditate on their meaning and purpose? 

More importantly than that, 

do we ask you for the power to live them out?

Do we remember that they were based on a covenant: 

You first loved us, 

and because we know that love through Jesus, 

we love you and others?

I love what Eugene Peterson says about these commandments:

He reminds us that the two tablets summarize our relationship with God and with others. 

And then he reminds us how the commandments define love: 

“For love isn’t a sentimental way of feeling 

but a sanctified way of living 

that respects the value of other people, 

respects their property,

and respects their reputation. 

Love sets the boundaries

around our relationship with God and with other people, 

not to keep us from enjoying those relationship, 

but so we can enjoy those relationships to the fullest” (Conversations: The Message Bible and Its Translator). 

Help us, Lord, 

to “walk in the all the way that you have commanded us, 

that we may live, and that it may go well with us…” (Deuteronomy 5:33).

In Jesus’ commandment-keeping name. Amen.

Read Deuteronomy 5:1-33.

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A Prayer about Joy in Trial

by | May 6, 2021 | Daily Prayer, Suffering

A Prayer about Joy in Trial

Father of All Comfort,

We admit, “joy” is not often our first response 

when our car won’t start 

or when we receive a difficult diagnosis 

or when our child struggles in school 

or when we have a bad day at work…

And yet, you call us to “consider it a great joy” 

when we encounter all kinds of trials. 

You must have a good reason, 

and your gospel has made that reason clear:

Trials test our faith (James 1:2). 

When our kids are happy and our health is good and work works, 

we don’t always recognize you as the giver of these good gifts; 

we don’t always recognize our desperate dependence on you. 

But when trials come, when storms bring rough waters, 

we must anchor ourselves to your steadfast love.

You will sustain us, 

and “steadfastness” will one day have its full effect: 

having gone through this trial, 

we will be “mature and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:4). 

Gracious Father, that is what we want most of all: 

to be more and more like Christ, 

who “for the joy set before him, endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

By his grace, teach us to “count it joy” when we face trials, 

and grow our endurance.

In Jesus’ joy-full name. Amen. 

Read James 1:1-4; Hebrews 12:1-11.

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