A Prayer about Practicing Forgiveness throughout Our Lives

by Elizabeth | Jun 14, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Devotional

A Prayer about Practicing Forgiveness throughout Our Lives

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

Forgiving Father,

Secular studies have shown that people

who know they are dying

benefit from asking forgiveness

and granting forgiveness

at the end of life.

As Christians, this data does not surprise us,

for you command us to “forgive one another”

as you have forgiven us in Christ (Ephesians 4:32).

While it’s tricky to know how to forgive

someone who has abused or betrayed us,

in Christ, you have given us

all of the kindness and compassion we need to do so.

We must remember that forgiveness is not

minimizing the damage done

or excusing the offense.

It is naming, “You hurt me [in this way]

and I forgive you,

not in my own power,

but in the power of the Holy Spirit

working in me.

Similarly, to ask forgiveness of another,

we don’t excuse, or minimize, or blame-shift.

We simply say,

“I hurt you by [naming offense],

and I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?”

Forgiving Father, you have forgiven us

our gossip and greediness,

our lust for more and our lack of kindness,

our self-absorption and our self-promotion,

among the long list

of other betrayals

we have committed against you.

Because you have forgiven us in Christ,

help us to practice forgiving

and asking forgiveness,

not just at the end of our lives,

but every day of our lives.

In Jesus’ restoring name we ask. Amen.

Read Read Ephesians 1:7, 4:32; Matthew 18:21-35; Matthew 5:43-45.

A Prayer about Not Wavering in Worry

by Elizabeth | Jun 7, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Devotional, Gospel Coaching

A Prayer about Not Wavering in Worry

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. Psalm 125:1

Lord,

We want to be like Mount Zion, like Mount Rainier, like Mount Everest,

our faith and hope so firmly planted

in your grace, goodness, and generosity

that we never even tremble when uncertainty comes.

The reality is that we worry about little and large things,

what-if’s we can’t control:

what if the plane is delayed and I miss my flight,

what if my child doesn’t love Jesus,

what if it’s cancer?

Help us, by your Spirit,

to fix our hopes on Jesus,

who is always in the business of redeeming and restoring.

Remind us — it is true:

“As the mountains surround Jerusalem,

so you surround your people….” (Psalm 125:2)

Like a hen with its brood safely hidden under its wings,

we are safely ensconced in your perfect love.

Remind us — it is true: “from this time forth and forevermore….”

You are not just holding and helping us

today or in this one moment,

you are holding and helping us

every day in every moment.

Thank you for this unshakable hope.

In the name of our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray.

Amen.

Read Psalm 125.

A Prayer about Obedience

by Elizabeth | Jun 2, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Devotional

A Prayer about Obedience

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. John 15:10

Holy God,

In our world,

which preaches the message of autonomy and high self-esteem,

we confess,

the idea of obedience makes some of us cringe.

The word “obedience”

comes from an old English word,

“obeisance,”

which literally means to “bow down.”

Servants bowed down before their masters.

Subjects bowed down before the Queen.

We confess,

we far prefer to “bow up”

than to “bow down.”

And yet, because of the love with which you loved us,

because we are indeed “charity cases,”

as we confessed yesterday,

we can grow in our love of obedience.

For indeed, this is what our Savior did:

rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:7-8)

Gracious Lord, in Christ’s love,

by your Spirit,

you have given us the power to bow down,

to humble ourselves,

to make ourselves servants—

of you and of others.

And as Jesus told his disciples,

it is this abiding and obedience

that makes our joy complete (John 15:11).

Give us this abiding joy.

In Jesus’ loving name. Amen.

Read John 15:1-11.

Hope for Recovery: God Is With Me

by Elizabeth | Sep 28, 2021 | Devotional, Suffering, Weekly Gospel Meditation

Hope for Recovery: God Is With Me

Win books! This month, as we celebrate the one-year-birthday of From Recovery to Restoration: 60 Meditations for Finding Peace & Hope in Crisis, 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.

You Are with Me

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil, for you are with me;Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4, ESV

Traversing the road of recovery is not unlike walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Each journey is complex and mysterious, of uncertain length, and fraught with unknown fears. And yet, according to David, who journeyed through many dark valleys, we can “fear no evil,” because we are not alone. The Lord is closer than whispering distance, guarding and guiding us with his presence.

Imagine you find yourself in a narrow alleyway running between two high buildings in a dangerous urban area. No streetlights. No building lights. Stark starless night darkness. You can’t see the tips of your fingers, much less the end of the alleyway. It’s too late to return to the other side, before you saw what you saw, before the surgeon made the cut, before your loved one died. The recovery road has much in common with David’s valley of deep darkness.

Notice that David walks through this valley of deep darkness; he doesn’t run, even though he might be tempted to do so. Running isn’t usually an option when you’re recovering from disaster. Notice that David walks through this deep valley. There is no way around it; there is no turning back. The only way is to go through it, to get to the other side. Notice that David is alone in this deep darkness: “Even though I walk.” Even when we are in healthy community, we can feel isolated in recovery, as if no one else has ever walked this particular shadowland before.

How would it be possible to fear no evil in a place of such “suspense and surmise,” in which “the evil of evils is uncertainty”? The answer comes in the pivot point, verse four, “For you are with me.” Earlier, David told us that the Lord, third person, is his shepherd; now he addresses the Lord directly:

“You are with me.”

You, the King of kings, are with me.

You, the Lion of Judah, are with me.

You, the Crusher of Satan, are with me.

Take heart, dear friends. His light, the light that has overcome the darkness, has flooded this dark valley. The Lord, your Shepherd, who protects and guides you with his staff, is with you.

Prayer

Lord,

You are our Shepherd. We trust you to guide us, protect us, and secure us in this dark valley of deep uncertainty. Surround us with your love and mercy that we may never stray from you. Amen.

Further Encouragement

Read Psalm 23.

Listen to “God Is My Shepherd,” by Jon Foreman.

For Reflection

What dark valley are you walking through right now? What is uncertain and frightening? How does it help to know the Lord is your shepherd?

When You Can’t Share Your Prayer Requests

by Elizabeth | Sep 21, 2021 | Devotional, Suffering, Weekly Gospel Meditation

When You Can’t Share Your Prayer Requests

Win books! This month, as we celebrate the one-year-birthday of From Recovery to Restoration: 60 Meditations for Finding Peace & Hope in Crisis, 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.

Unspoken

For we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26

When our son was diagnosed with a brain tumor, I readily shared prayer requests for our many needs. Even as I shared, it occurred to me that many people do not ask for prayer because their crisis seems too painful or private to share. Maybe their daughter was harming herself, or their son was addicted to drugs, or their husband’s business was failing.

If you struggle to find a voice or a place to share your prayer requests, whether because of sorrow or shame or shock, take heart. The good news of the gospel is that your Father knows your needs before you ask, the Holy Spirit and the Son are interceding for you, and God has provided trustworthy people on this earth to pray for you. Let’s consider each of these provisions in turn.

First, Jesus, in teaching his disciples to pray simply and secretly, assured them, “your Father knows what you need even before you ask him” (Matthew 6:9). Unlike the robots Alexa or Siri, God always listens to our hearts and always understands our needs and requests, whether they’re spoken or unspoken.

Not only is the Father “attentive to our prayers” (1 Peter 5:12), he has also given us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and to join us in our “unutterable groanings” (Romans 8:26). As the Spirit groans in us, the Father translates our requests and transforms our hearts, providing for our deepest needs (Romans 8:27).

Not only is the Holy Spirit interceding for us, Jesus himself, the great High Priest actually sits on a throne beside his Father in heaven, interceding for us. According to Hebrews 7:25: “Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf” (NLT). What we cannot speak for ourselves, Jesus speaks for us.

In addition to his ever-present attention and his Spirit and his Son’s intercession, God has given us in-the-flesh warriors, his church, to pray for us. While you may not want to share private or painful prayer requests with the whole church, you can find relief and healing in sharing your needs with one trusted friend, ministry leader, or pastor (James 5:12). The Lord has provided us community in Christ so that we don’t have to carry the burdens of crisis alone.

Dear friend, when your crisis feels too painful to share, take heart. The Father who knows all of your needs before you ask has provided a powerful army of prayer warriors to come alongside you and do battle for you.

Prayer

Father,

You know the agony we feel when we can’t share the painful realities of our broken stories. Thank you for assuring us that your Son and your Spirit and your church groan alongside us. In Jesus’ advocating name we pray. Amen.

Further Encouragement

Read Matthew 6:5-8; Romans 8:25-34; Hebrews 7:25; James 5:12.

Listen to “Arise My Soul, Arise” by Indelible Grace.

For Reflection

If you have not been able to share your prayer needs during crisis, describe what that has been like. If you have felt free to share your prayer needs, describe what that has been like.

How to Wait Well in Crisis

by Elizabeth | Sep 14, 2021 | Devotional, Suffering, Weekly Gospel Meditation

How to Wait Well in Crisis

Win books! This month, as we celebrate the one-year-birthday of From Recovery to Restoration: 60 Meditations for Finding Peace & Hope in Crisis, 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.

Waiting or Whining?

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

And in his word I hope… Psalm 130:5, ESV

“Why does she get to graduate from PT when she’s only been here for two months, and I’ve been here for six?” My physical therapist responded kindly but firmly, “Not every shoulder surgery is the same. Some people have easier recoveries.” I turned my back to him and stuck out my tongue. Real mature. I was, without a doubt, becoming whiny in my wait to recover.

When we’ve been the victim of a crisis, we can easily turn to victimization as a way of life. Self-help and self-pity may look like the way out of our distress, but they often lead to more whining and less waiting on the Lord. In Psalm 130, David shows us the way out of the whine.

He cries out to the Lord from the depths of despair. His despair in this case is not caused by enemies pursuing him or by the brutal betrayal of King Saul, but by his own sin. David recognizes the dropdown knockout power of his own sin, “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3). He knows the Lord’s forgiveness for his sin is a sure cure for his worst injury.

As we wait for healing from a harmful loss or a painful injury, as we wait for homes to be rebuilt or hearts to be renewed, David teaches us how to wait well:

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

And in his word I hope;

My soul waits for the Lord,

More than watchmen wait for the morning,

More than watchmen wait for the morning” (Psalm 130:6).

To wait well, we must learn to turn our eyes away from ourselves and toward the Lord. We must become good watchmen for the Lord, seeking him in the darkness, certain that he will come soon, sure that his arrival will bring relief. As Jill Carrattini writes, we have every reason to hope as we wait, for “Christ himself can transform our watching and our waiting, our lives and our deaths, bringing light where death stings, tears discourage, and darkness haunts: the Light has already come!”

When our focus in waiting shifts from recouping losses to recognizing redemption, we see even more reason to hope, “For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption” (Psalm 130:7). Dear friend, as you endure this hard wait, keep watching for the Lord. In him, you will find the help you need for all of your distress.

Prayer

Lord,

We confess that we often become whiny as we wait for recovery. Help us, we pray, to see your plentiful redemption, to seek your forgiveness for our sins. Turn our faces toward you, and help us to see the dawn which has already arrived in our Savior Jesus Christ. In his very near name we ask. Amen.

Further Encouragement

Read Psalm 130.

Listen to “I Will Wait for You” by Shane and Shane https://youtu.be/dwovhY8zNQM.

For Reflection

Have you found yourself moving toward self-pity, or have you noticed yourself whining in your wait for recovery? What has that looked like? Write or say a prayer of confession, and thank God for his mercy.