A Prayer about Being Busy

by | Aug 11, 2025 | Daily Prayer

A Prayer about Being Busy

Do you like being busy?

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing is necessary.” Luke 10:41

Gentle Jesus,

How many times must you beckon us to come to you, 

to lay down our heavy burdens of busying about, 

and to pick up your light and easy burden? (See Matt. 11:28-30).

We confess, we are a busy people, 

buzzing about with our many plans.

We confess, 

we are a distracted, 

anxious, 

and troubled people, 

rushing about to do the many things, 

when you say only one thing is necessary.

Thank you for calling us again and again 

to come to you, 

to be still, 

to cease striving, 

to know that you are God. (See Ps. 46:10). 

Thank you for reminding us 

that we find salvation in “returning and rest,”

strength in “quietness and trust” (See Isaiah 30:15).

Help us, Lord, we pray, 

to turn from our consumption with the many things, 

to enjoy the good Sabbath you give us, 

and the good rest you offer. 

We profess —you are the “one thing.” 

Help us to live what we believe. 

Amen.

Read Luke 10:38-42; Psalm 46:10; Isaiah 30:15; Matthew 11:28-30. 

A Prayer about Worshipping like We’re in Heaven

by | Aug 9, 2025 | Daily Prayer, worship, gratitude

A Prayer about Worshipping like We’re in Heaven

Would you like to worship like you’re already in heaven?

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ Revelation 7:9-10

Mighty God,

Open our eyes, 

that we may truly see the magnificent worship 

taking place in heaven. 

Engage our hearts 

that we might worship you today in our churches 

as a foretaste of the day 

we will worship you eternally 

with all of the saints.

When we peek into heaven with John, 

the author of Revelation, 

we see “a great multitude”—

what an encouragement in a day 

when it seems so few want to worship you. 

In heaven, the deacons couldn’t even count the attendance.

Who are these people? 

They are people 

from Uganda and Ukraine, 

Mexico and Monaco, 

Cambodia and Côte d’Ivoire, 

people from every country A to Z, 

who speak every language ever spoken. 

What do they do? 

With the angels 

and the elders 

and the other living creatures, 

they fall on their faces 

before the throne, 

worshiping you.

What do they say? 

“Amen!

Blessing and glory and wisdom 

and thanksgiving and honor and power and might 

be to our God forever and ever! 

Amen” (Revelation 7:12). 

Oh, Lord, may this true story of worship 

change our worship today.

In Jesus’ worthy name. Amen.

Read Revelation 7. 

A Prayer about Comfort for Caregivers

by | Aug 9, 2025 | Daily Prayer

A Prayer about Comfort for Caregivers

A Prayer about Comfort for Caregivers 

Do you know a caregiver who needs comfort?

In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Matthew 26:12

Precious Jesus,

Thank you for this affirmation 

of Mary’s tender caregiving actions. 

May we remember 

that while she cared for you before you died, 

she could not save you. 

May we see that she, unlike the disciples, 

seemed to believe you 

when you said you would die, 

and that she came alongside you 

to help you die well.

We pray today for all caregivers 

who are watching their loved ones die. 

Fill them with your surpassing peace 

in the midst of anxious moments bedside. 

As beepers blare or breathing becomes shallow, 

remind them that it is neither in their job description 

nor in their power 

to prevent their loved one’s death. 

Free them from any guilt or sense of failure 

about the care they have given. 

Give them the hope of resurrection, 

the hope that their loved one will soon be well 

in a way they never can be on this earth.

And send us, Lord, to comfort the caregiver, 

to sit with her, 

to listen to her, 

to cry with her, 

to feed her, 

to care for her 

in her grief and sorrow. 

Give us the wisdom and insight only your Holy Spirit can give 

about how to care for the caregiver 

in these agonizing moments.  

In your caregiving name. Amen.

Read Matthew 26:6-13, 25:31-46. 

 

A Prayer about Becoming Weak and Inefficient

by | Aug 8, 2025 | Daily Prayer, Learning Story

A Prayer about Becoming Weak and Inefficient

Do you love to be efficient and strong?

…but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint Isaiah 40:31.

Gracious Lord,

I remember memorizing this verse 

as an achievement-oriented high school student, 

a fifteen-year-old eager to renew my strength 

and to run and not be weary. 

It’s easy to see now how I misunderstood 

a lot of what this verse was about, 

but I confess, in our achievement-oriented, 

efficiency-seeking society, 

it’s not always easy to remember 

that the gospel isn’t about strength, 

accomplishment, 

or efficiency.

Indeed, you were speaking to the Israelites in exile 

in these verses, 

assuring them in the midst of their frailty, 

in the aftermath of their sinful rebellion, 

that you would send a Savior:

“Comfort, comfort my people, 

says your God. 

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, 

and cry to her that her warfare has ended, 

that her iniquity is pardoned” (Isaiah 40:1).

Oh, patient and merciful God, 

help us to see that in our weakness, 

you alone are our strength; 

that in our idol of efficiency, 

you alone are our salvation. 

Help us to learn to wait on you, 

to watch to see 

what you are doing in our lives 

and in this world 

through the transforming love of Jesus Christ.

In Jesus’ perfectly sufficient name. Amen.

Read Isaiah 40. 

 

A Prayer about God’s Grace for Our Sin

by | Aug 6, 2025 | Daily Prayer, Learning Story

A Prayer about God’s Grace for Our Sin

Will you join me in asking God to examine our hearts?

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Romans 1:29-31.

Merciful Lord,

It’s impossible to read the list of sins 

describing people who don’t “see fit to acknowledge God,” 

and not see ourselves somewhere in it—

have I ever gossiped, 

speaking ill of people behind their backs? 

Have I ever been boastful and haughty, 

thinking I know the right thing to do 

about raising children, 

protecting from disease, 

or even teaching Bible study? 

Was I ever disobedient to my parents as a teenager? 

Have I ever wanted to possess what someone else has? 

Have I ever not only done these things 

but given approval to others who do them (Romans 1:32)? 

If so, I deserve to die for my sins (Romans 1:32).

I have, and I do.

And yet. 

By your mercy, 

through your undeserved grace, 

you have turned my heart toward Jesus 

as my only hope for salvation. 

Although I will continue to struggle 

with some of these sins 

until the day you take me home, 

“There is therefore now no condemnation 

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

Lord, help us to take stock of our sins. 

Forgive us when we judge others’ sins 

more harshly than our own. 

Open our hearts to our one true hope for salvation. 

And empower us to fight the battle 

against besetting sin 

through the might of your sanctifying Spirit. 

In Jesus’ saving name. Amen. 

Read Romans 1:18-32; Romans 7:7-8:1.

A Prayer about Who God Is and Why It Matters

by | Aug 5, 2025 | Daily Prayer, Learning Story

A Prayer about Who God Is and Why It Matters

Do you know how praising the Lord can change you and your prayers? 

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praises to my God all my life long. Psalm 146:1

God-Above, Maker of Heaven and Earth,

How often do we pause to consider who you are, 

your graciousness, 

your goodness, 

your generosity? 

Not often enough. 

When we take time to consider 

your “wondrous works” and “mighty acts,” 

we receive a blessing—

our worry shrinks and our confidence grows. 

Let’s start naming just a few of the things we praise you for:

You “uphold all who are falling 

and raise up all who are bowed down” (Psalm 145:15)

[Name why this matters to you or those you pray for.]

You are our help and our hope, 

the God “who made heaven and earth, the sea, 

and all that is in them” (Psalm 146:6).

[Name why this matters to you or those you pray for.]

You “execute justice for the oppressed, 

you give food to the hungry” (Psalm 146:7).

[Name why this matters to you or those you pray for.]

You “lift up the humble; 

you cast the wicked to the ground” (Psalm 147:6).

[Name why this matters to you and those you pray for.]

You “take pleasure in your people; 

you adorn the humble with salvation” (Psalm 149:4).

[Name why this matters to you and those you pray for.]

Good and gracious Father, 

for all of these things and thousands more, 

we praise your name, 

we rejoice in you, 

we adore you, 

we give you glory. 

Develop in us a regular rhythm 

of praising all of your goodness.

In Jesus’ wonder-full name. Amen.

Read one or more from Psalms 145-150.