A Prayer about Walking in the Way of Peace

by | Jan 15, 2021 | Daily Prayer

A Prayer about Walking in the Way of Peace

Prince of Peace,

It hasn’t even been a month since Christmas, 

but have we already forgotten what we celebrated on Christmas Day?

You are the “mighty savior” raised up for us;

You have “looked favorably on [your] people and redeemed them….”

You have “saved [us] from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us” (Luke 1:68-71).

You have given light to those “who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Luke 1:79).

You have come “to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79).

Prince of Peace, strengthen us today 

to walk in the very footsteps you walked, 

freed to love enemies, 

freed to offer peace, 

freed to sacrifice self-centeredness, 

because you have called us 

to execute your cosmic peacemaking plan. 

In the power of your peace-bringing name. Amen.

Read Luke 1:67-79.

A Prayer about the Death of Death

by | Jan 13, 2021 | Daily Prayer

A Prayer about the Death of Death

Heavenly Father,

On this day, the day after I learned

that my mother had passed away during the night due to COVID,

the affirmation that death has lost its sting brings profound comfort.

I hate COVID, and I hate death.

And yet, I firmly believe

that death was the entryway for my mom and all who believe

into life forever with their Savior.

One day, the day we most eagerly await,

Christ will return.

In that day, “He will swallow up death forever;

and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces…(Isaiah 25:8).

Until that day, I will remember that death does not have the last word.

Resurrection does.

In the name of our resurrected Savior I pray. Amen.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:50-58; Isaiah 25:6-12. 

Personal note: Thank you friends for all of your prayers for our family as we continue to grieve this sudden and shocking loss. My mother, though 83, was a very healthy woman. She rode her exercise bike for 30 minutes on January 4, her birthday. That same day she tested positive for COVID.

A Prayer about Being Made in God’s Image

by | Jan 12, 2021 | Bible study, Daily Prayer

A Prayer about Being Made in God’s Image

God, our Almighty King,

I confess, I rarely take time to be in awe of 

how you chose to create humankind. 

You made us “in [your] image, after [your] likeness” (Genesis 1:26). 

In the Hebrew, the words used describe a “representative of the king.” 

Lord, may we live and breathe the breath you breathed into us, 

may we seek in every moment of our days, to represent you, 

to show the world your majesty, might, and mercy,

to humble ourselves in the way of Jesus, 

the ultimate servant-King. 

Conform us to the likeness of your Son (Romans 8:29),

day by day, moment by moment, 

that we may show the world your glory. 

This is the work you have given us to do. 

In Jesus’ transforming name. Amen. 

Read Genesis 1:26-28, Romans 8:28-30. 

A Prayer about the Work of God

by | Jan 11, 2021 | Daily Prayer, Gospel Coaching, Work

A Prayer about the Work of God

Jesus, Bread of Life,

As we begin this week and this new year,

Forgive us for the ways we often work for food that perishes 

and not for the food that endures to eternal life. 

Draw us, today and every day, to feast on you, 

the Bread of Life, 

by reading your Word, 

by dining fully on your mercy and grace. 

Help us to see the crumbs that lie before us—worldly success, earthly accolades— 

as just that—crumbs, crumbs that will soon leave us hungry.

Help us to believe in you, the one whom God has sent, 

and as we believe, to do the work of God (John 6:29).

In your soul-filling name. Amen. 

Read John 6:22-40.

A Prayer about Honoring God with Our Lives

by | Jan 10, 2021 | Church, Daily Prayer

A Prayer about Honoring God with Our Lives

Lord God,

May it not be so! 

As we gather today whether together or apart, 

to worship you, may our hearts be near to you. 

May our worship of you not be 

merely “man-made rules learned by rote” (Isaiah 29:13).

Even as we sing your praise today, 

send us into this broken world as citizens of your kingdom, 

showing others we care more for them than we do ourselves 

by sacrificing our comfort and our agendas, 

disentangling ourselves from political enmeshments 

in earthly kingdoms, 

loving friends, neighbors, and especially enemies.

Such is the true worship you have called us to. 

By the power of your Spirit, and through faith in Christ, 

empower us to worship you with our whole heart, mind, soul, and body. 

In Jesus’ worship-worthy name. Amen. 

Read Isaiah 29:13-16.

A Prayer about the Creator and Ruler

by | Jan 9, 2021 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living

A Prayer about the Creator and Ruler

God, our King,

Forgive us. 

We bow down before earthly rulers, 

scrolling through feeds to discover their pronouncements, 

feeding off their power, 

obeying or giving lip-service to the decrees 

of a fallen man or woman. 

You merely spoke, words like, “Let there be light,” and light appeared. 

Again and again, through Genesis 1, 

“And God said,”

“And it was so….”

How could we doubt your power, your might, 

your right to rule over us?

How could we doubt your capacity to rule all of creation, 

since you spoke all of creation into existence?

Forgive us, Lord, and draw us to bow down before you 

as our Creator and King, the only One who has the right to demand our service.

In the name of the King who died that we might live we pray. Amen. 

Read Psalm 33.