Daily Prayer
A Prayer about Weakness
Lord, I confess, I don’t like being weak at all. You say that weakness is the Christian’s way, but I was born and raised in America, by strong people who taught me to work hard and be tough. Not only that, but I’m afraid much of what I’ve observed in church ...
A Prayer about Not Worrying
Good Father, Once, after a hurricane, a friend told me how she handled her worry that her seventy-year-old house would be destroyed: “I stayed inside and thought happy thoughts.” There’s nothing wrong with thinking happy thoughts, but you have given us a much...
A Prayer about God’s Many-Splendored Creation
Creator and Redeemer, Thank you for the cheeping and chirping of the birds all around, for the carmine-winged cardinal hunched over her nest nearby, for the black-capped chickadees shadowed by the crape myrtles, for the yellow-beaked Harris’ hawk perched on the...
A Prayer about Being Dusty
Eternal Lord, We don’t like to admit it, but we’re a little dusty. Thankfully, though, you are transforming our dusty bodies into new beings. As the apostle Paul explains, we were born of the first Adam, a living being who was condemned by his sin to death, but...
A Prayer about Waiting with Patience
Redeeming God, Many of us are waiting right now: for graduation day, for a new baby to arrive, for a wedding day, for a new job or a new direction. Some are in hard waits: Waiting for the end to unemployment or the end to a marriage or the end of a loved one’s...
A Prayer about Enjoying Our Gifts
Father, We live in such a mixed-up world, where too often we envy gifts other people have (oh, she’s such a good hostess, he’s so good at fixing things, she’s so smart, he’s such a good dad)… And yet, you say that you gave each one of us different gifts through...
A Prayer about the Gift of Church
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are the three-in-one God, one God, three distinct persons, “the same in substance, equal in power and glory." (Westminster Shorter Catechism) In your very being, you demonstrate the essentiality of community for the Christian. ...
A Prayer of Gratitude for Children
Heavenly Father, On this, my older daughter’s birthday, and the day after Mother’s Day, I am counting my blessings for how you have worked through my children to humble me, to shape me, to redeem me. Whether we have children or not, may we recognize their value, ...
A Prayer about the Way to Love
Faithful God, As I reread the Ten Commandments you gave your people long long ago, I wonder if we have marginalized them. Do we still memorize them, and even more importantly, do we meditate on their meaning and purpose? More importantly than that, do we ask you...
A Prayer about Joy in Trial
Father of All Comfort, We admit, “joy” is not often our first response when our car won’t start or when we receive a difficult diagnosis or when our child struggles in school or when we have a bad day at work… And yet, you call us to “consider it a great joy” ...