A Prayer about Believing God’s Love is Unfailing

by | Mar 28, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Death and Resurrection, Easter, Lent

A Prayer about Believing God’s Love is Unfailing

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

Steadfastly Loving God,

I haven’t done a study on it, 

but I’m willing to bet the word “love” ranks high 

as one of the most common words and themes in Scripture, 

especially as it is associated with you. 

Here are just a few of the things the Bible says about 

what your love means for us:

“See how very much our Father loves us, 

for He calls us His children, and that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1)

“But God showed His great love for us 

by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8).

“For this is how God loved the world: 

He gave His one and only Son, 

so that everyone who believes in Him 

will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)

“For the LORD corrects those He loves, 

just as a father corrects a child in whom He delights” (Proverbs 3:11-12).

The question we must answer is 

do we believe 

in your everlasting, 

unfailing, 

unearned, 

undeserved 

love for us? 

And if we do, 

how will we respond? 

Will we live in the security of your love, 

loving our neighbors 

and even ourselves (who we sometimes find hardest to love)? 

Will we live without fear, 

because your perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18)? 

Will we live in service to you, 

grateful for your love to us? 

Oh, loving Lord, may it be so!

May we rest and rejoice in your incomprehensible love for us, today and every day!

In Jesus’ sacrificially loving name. Amen.

Read 1 John 3:1-3; John 3:16; Proverbs 3:11-12; 1 John 4:7-21.

A Prayer about Jesus’ Determination

by | Mar 27, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Death and Resurrection, Easter, Lent

A Prayer about Jesus’ Determination

And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise. Mark 10:34.

Lord Jesus,

Enlarge our imaginations 

so that we might walk with you 

on the day you told your disciples 

this alarming news. 

You were marching resolutely toward Jerusalem, 

toward your certain suffering and death. 

Your face was “set like a flint” (Isaiah 50:7), 

unwavering as you headed toward your final destination. 

Your followers were both “amazed” and “afraid,” 

maybe because you had twice before told them 

what would happen in Jerusalem (Mark 10:32; 8:31; 9:31).

Lord Jesus, enliven our hearts 

that we might be amazed again—

amazed that you moved on toward your mission, 

knowing what you knew—

that your opponents would mock you 

and spit on you 

and flog you 

and kill you;

amazed that because you willingly endured this suffering, 

we have full forgiveness for our sins; 

amazed that you rose from the dead 

and that by believing in you we are raised to new life. 

In your amazing name. Amen.

Read Mark 10:32-34; Mark 8:31; Mark 9:31; Isaiah 50:7. 

A Prayer about the Unoffended Preacher

by | Mar 26, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Lent

A Prayer about the Unoffended Preacher

And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. Luke 4:29.

Lord Jesus,

Every time I read this story of you 

preaching in your hometown temple, 

I’m astonished that your own people 

hated you so much. 

You announced that you were the Messiah with the words, 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, 

because he has anointed me 

to proclaim good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18). 

How could anyone hate such a sermon? 

You gently but firmly 

reminded this hometown congregation 

that when God’s prophet is rejected, 

he is sent elsewhere (Luke 4:24-27). 

How did they respond? 

They sought to throw you off a cliff (Luke 4:29). 

Jesus, may we receive your words into our hearts 

and honor you in our lives. 

May we never attack you or others 

who tell us the hard truth about ourselves. 

May we walk in your ways, 

the gentle and strong ways 

of the one who “passed through their midst” 

and “went away” 

as the people of your town sought to kill you. 

In your unoffended name we pray. Amen. 

Read Luke 4:16-30.

A Prayer about Preparing for Eternal Glory

by | Mar 25, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Death and Resurrection, Lent

A Prayer about Preparing for Eternal Glory

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 1 Peter 5:10

Glorious Father,

We confess, 

we don’t often enough tear ourselves away 

from the busy demands of this world 

to think of the eternal glory just beyond. 

After all, we have baby showers we have to attend, 

emails we to answer, 

yards to mow.

What do we even mean by eternal glory?

Eternal glory is that to which we have been called, 

by “the God of all grace” “in Christ” (1 Peter 5:10). 

Eternal glory is the future glory “to be revealed in us” 

after “the sufferings of this present time” (Rom. 8:18). 

Eternal glory is that for which 

we and all of creation “groan inwardly” as we “wait eagerly” (Rom. 8:23).

Eternal glory is the glory for which 

the sufferings of this world prepare us. 

Eternal glory is so weighty 

that it will one day prove our sufferings 

to have been as light as a feather (2 Cor. 4:17-18).

In one sense, of course, we have already inherited this eternal glory 

if we are in Christ: “….those whom he justified he also glorified” (Rom. 8:30). 

And yet, our glory’s full fruition awaits the day of Christ’s return: 

“When Christ who is your life appears, 

then you will also appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:3).

Oh, Lord, draw our minds to contemplate the joys 

that await us in eternal glory, 

that we might live every day in anticipation of it.

In Jesus’ glorious name. Amen.

Read Romans 8:18-30; 1 Peter 5:6-11.

A Prayer about Becoming a Living Sacrifice

by | Mar 24, 2023 | Daily Prayer, kingdom living, Lent

A Prayer about Becoming a Living Sacrifice

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1

Merciful God,

What a remarkable calling you’ve given us, 

and how remarkable that you’ve also made it possible!

I wonder if we sometimes slip right by this verse, 

not noticing the “Therefore” 

and wondering what it’s there for. 

Because “from him and through him and to him” 

are all things, 

and only because of that reality, 

we are able to present our bodies 

as a living sacrifice. 

In Christ, we become living sacrifices, 

holy and acceptable to you. 

Now by the power of the Holy Spirit, 

we respond in worship, 

in gratitude for your mercy, 

giving you all things. 

We offer our work to you as a sacrifice, 

asking you to help us glorify you in it, 

whether the job is drudge-work or dream work.

We offer our relationships to you as a sacrifice, 

asking you to help us glorify you through them, 

to love neighbors and family and even enemies.

We offer our bodies to you as a living sacrifice,

asking you to help us glorify you in them, 

To care well for them and to thank you 

for how you have made them.

We offer our minds to you as a living sacrifice,

asking you to help us glorify you in them, 

seeking to instruct them with your wisdom.

And on and on we go, 

with everything that we have 

and everything that we are, 

giving it all back to you, 

because and through the One 

who gave himself as a living sacrifice for us. 

In his loving name we pray. Amen.

Read Romans 11:36-12:2.

A Prayer about a Strange Trade-Off

by | Mar 23, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Death and Resurrection, Lent

A Prayer about a Strange Trade-Off

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. 1 Peter 3:18

Holy and Merciful God,

Thank you for these show-stopping words from 1 Peter. 

This reality that we focus on in Lent 

should widen our eyes and slacken our jaws:

Christ suffered for sins (our sins). 

He who was fully God and fully man 

died in the flesh; 

he was raised in the spirit.

And now, we who believe in him 

will never suffer punishment for our sins again. 

Why would he do such a thing?

For one reason only: 

So that he might bring us to God, 

for we could not come near God before—

the unrighteous cannot be near the righteous (Psalm 5:5). 

But when Christ became sin for us, 

we became the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

Holy God, we admit, 

with our myopic human perspective, 

this great exchange makes no sense at all.

It only makes sense if you are an unfailingly loving God 

who would go to unimaginable extremes

to bring his beloved people to him. 

And that is what you are. 

How we praise you and thank you for this good news!

In Jesus’ substituting name. Amen.

Read 1 Peter 3:18; Psalm 5; 2 Corinthians 5:21.