Daily Prayer
A Prayer about Listening to God
Speaking Lord, as we begin this week, many of us think about the work we need to do. What if we began instead by thinking of prayer as our most important work? And then, what if we began our prayer by listening to you rather than listing our many needs? Not that...
A Prayer about Making Loving Decisions
Loving God, Many of us desperately need wisdom and clarity about tough decisions. I love how this verse tells us to begin with your love. Our love actually begins with knowledge of your contra-conditional love for us. As we grow in knowing that your love secures...
A Prayer about Turning Darkness into Light
Brilliant Lord, Even as we think of the beautiful fireworks lighting up the dark night, we remember how you have far more brilliantly illuminated our darkness. To those surrounded by the isolating darkness of sorrow, grief, or depression, you have come to...
A Prayer about Cheerful Giving
Generous Father, What a mind-boggling statement about giving. Frankly, it’s not always what we hear in the church. Some churches hesitate to speak about giving because of the fear that people will feel manipulated. Other churches work the crowd, twisting arms and...
A Prayer about Thanking God for Creation
Lord God, It is indeed good to give thanks to you— when days are easy and when they’re not. Today, I thank you for some of my favorite things about your extraordinary creation: The teal-turquoise-marine of the Gulf of Mexico and the sugary velvet feel of the white...
A Prayer about the Questions God Asks
Pursuing God Thank you for chasing after us when we try to run away. Like Hagar in the wilderness, we can run ourselves into the ground, but you seek us, and you draw us out of our hiding, asking questions we really need to hear: Where have you come from? Where are...
A Prayer about Being Perfect
Heavenly Father, As a recovering perfectionist, I confess, this verse always makes me anxious when I first read it. But then I reread Dr. Doriani’s commentary on Matthew, and he reminds me, the command is also a promise as phrased in Greek, “You shall be perfect...
A Prayer about the Wisdom Parents Need
Good Father, It’s sad to say but still true that some verses in the Bible have been misused to do a lot of harm. Many parents misunderstand this verse because of poor teaching. Some of us have been told that all we have to do is plant our kids in Sunday school...
A Prayer about Rehearsing for Our Wedding Day
Lord Jesus In this wedding season, may every celebration of a man and woman being joined together lead us to dream of the day when we, your church, will become your ready bride, clothed “with fine linen, bright and pure” (Revelation 19:8). Today we may wrestle ...
A Prayer about Feeling Anger
Faithful Lord, Thank you for feelings. We confess, too many of us have mistakenly believed that Christians aren’t supposed to feel feelings, especially negative ones. And yet, your word is filled with feelings, yes, even negative ones: sorrow, lament, anger,...