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A Prayer about Receiving Christ

A Prayer about Receiving Christ

Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. Colossians 2:6

Precious Lord,

May we not rush past the first two clauses of this profound verse 

in our hurry to finish our daily Bible reading. 

First, let’s pause and ask, 

“Have we received Christ Jesus the Lord?” 

Have we been given this free gift 

and marveled at the wonder 

that we have been chosen as its recipient? 

Do we remember that you are a gift given to us by our Father, 

not because we deserved it or earned it 

but simply because of his abounding grace? 

Second, we should ask, “What is this gift we have received?” 

It is you, Christ, the “anointed One,” our King. 

It is you, Jesus, our Savior. 

It is you, our dear Lord, 

the one who rules over heaven and earth. 

What a treasure we have been given!  

What an honor to receive such a gift! 

When we have paused to consider the “unsearchable riches” 

we have received in you, 

then and only then, 

can we understand how to “walk in you.” 

To walk in you is to be filled by your Spirit, 

to be moved to action. 

We do not merely sit in our recliner, 

reveling in our gift. 

We live out of your riches in glory, 

knowing that we have all that we need 

because we have you. 

We act, believing what we have received, 

moving with confidence to tell others 

about the extraordinary gift 

of Christ Jesus our Lord.

In your beautiful name we pray. Amen.

Read Colossians 2:1-6. 



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Finding Rest in Prayer

A Prayer about Finding Rest in Prayer

…and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” Mark 1:37 

Rest-giving Jesus,

Today we return to our theme 

of finding rest in an anxious world. 

As we witness what you did, 

empower us to do the same:

You rose very early in the morning, 

and you went “out to a desolate place,” 

and you prayed (Mark 1:35). 

Lord, one thing is clear — 

we need to find quiet. 

In order to find rest, 

we must be intentional 

about getting away from the noisy demands 

of our cell phones 

and our self-talk, 

our crying babies 

and our screaming inboxes. 

Why must we get quiet? 

Because if we do not, 

we cannot hear you singing 

your delight over us (Zephaniah 3:14-17). 

If we do not get quiet, 

we cannot “stay on purpose,” 

as Vanessa pointed out in her talk*. 

If we don’t get quiet, 

when people come to us with their demands, 

“Everyone is looking for you” 

(bosses, employees, 

friends, spouses, 

children, grandchildren….), 

we will puff up with pride and think, 

“Oh, how important I am!” 

But you did not puff up with pride 

when your disciples told you that. 

No, you “stayed on purpose,” 

and you refused to yield 

to someone else’s purpose for you 

that was not your God-given purpose. 

You said, “Let us go on to the next towns, 

that I may preach there also, 

for that is why I came out” (Mark 1:38). 

Precious Jesus, 

forgive us for getting distracted, 

for not listening to 

your voice, 

to the Father’s voice, 

to the Spirit’s voice. 

Forgive us for hearing the demands and applause of “everyone”

 and thinking we must do as they say. 

Help us in our desperate weakness 

to follow you, 

to do our Father’s will. 

In your praying name. Amen.

Read Mark 1:35-39. 

This prayer, like yesterday’s, was inspired by this talk given by Vanessa Hawkins.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Knowing Our God-given Limits

A Prayer about Knowing Our God-given Limits

So Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases, and he cast out many demons.

Mark 1:33

Precious Jesus, 

As we live in your strength through your Spirit, 

may we learn to follow your lead in knowing when to say “enough.” 

Not too long ago,

I heard some wise words 

on saying no to the demands of our world.* 

Vanessa Hawkins, the speaker, 

pointed out that though people brought “all” who were sick, 

and the “whole” city was gathered, 

you chose to heal “many,” not all (Mark 1:32-33). 

We don’t know your ways, 

but we know you have the wisdom of limits, 

something we would do well to learn. 

So often we strive 

to do it all, 

to have it all, 

to be all things 

to all people. 

But you healed “many,” 

and then, as Vanessa pointed out, 

you went to sleep. 

The next morning 

you got up, “rose,” very early, 

to go out and pray (Mark 1:35).

Tomorrow we’ll consider how you found rest in prayer, 

as you heard your Father 

speak words of delight and purpose over you.

For today, we ask that you would send your Spirit 

to show us places 

where we may be trying to live beyond 

the very human limits 

you yourself submitted to. 

In your limit-giving name. Amen. 

Read Mark 1: 21-39.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about the God Who Hears Our Groans

A Prayer about the God Who Hears Our Groans

And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. 

Exodus 2:24–25

All-knowing God,

We are so grateful that we know 

that you know our very groans. 

You hear our groans, 

whether over grief due to a loved one’s death 

or the suffering of mental illness 

or the sorrow over wars and strivings. 

As you hear, you see us in our suffering, 

and you know us through and through. 

That knowledge leads you to act on our behalf. 

We who belong to you know 

that you have rescued us already 

from the worst slavery, 

the slavery to sin and death. 

But you don’t stop there. 

You continue your redemptive work 

in this hurting world, 

every moment till our Savior returns 

to fully establish his kingdom of shalom 

right here on this groaning earth. 

We are so grateful—

you never never forget 

your covenant with your people, 

sealed through your Spirit, 

kept through your faithfulness in your Son. 

And we are so grateful—

as you remember, you rescue. 

In Jesus’ hope-bringing name. Amen.

Read Exodus 2.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Ageism

A Prayer about Ageism

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

1 Timothy 5:1-2

Good Father,

Forgive us for the ways 

we sometimes marginalize older people. 

We do it in unnoticeable and unmistakeable ways: 

with sins of omission 

(not seeking ways to include the elderly 

by making churches and homes accessible 

in space, sight, and sound), 

or by sins of commission: 

grumbling about how slowly an older person moves

or how poorly they drive. 

You make it abundantly clear that all people, 

from cradle to grave, 

deserve dignity and honor, 

because we are created in your image (Gen. 1:26-27). 

The fifth commandment calls us to honor fathers and mothers, 

promising that doing so leads to lengthy life (Ex. 20:12). 

In 1 Timothy, Paul instructs Timothy,

“do not rebuke an older man harshly, 

but exhort him as if he were your father,” 

treat “older women as mothers,” 

and help widows in need (see 5: 1-3). 

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees 

for failing to care well for their parents (see Mark 7:9-13). 

Help us to see the subtle ways we marginalize the elderly. 

Help us to think of ways to honor the elderly 

and to welcome them in our lives.

In Jesus’s name. Amen.

Read Proverbs 16:31; Ecclesiastes 12; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10.



 

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about the Reality of Hell

A Prayer about the Reality of Hell

And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night. Revelation 14:11

Holy God,

Forgive us for our reluctance to talk about hell. 

When we refuse to consider its reality, 

we fail to understand the great goodness of the gospel, 

the hope of salvation to those who believe. 

We also fail to be like Jesus, 

who talked about hell 

more than anyone else in the entire Bible. 

He described it as “Gehenna” (Mark 9:43) 

a place out side Jerusalem 

where corpses and garbage 

rotted and burned. 

He said it was a place 

where the soul and body are destroyed  (Matt. 10:28) 

and the “fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:47). 

Yes, we must see hell rightly 

as the place of just punishment for all of our sins, 

and we must see you rightly, 

as a holy, good, and patient God, 

“slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, 

forgiving iniquity and transgression” (Numbers 14:18). 

We must see you as the righteous God 

who allowed your Son 

to suffer the torment of hell on the cross for us, 

that in him, we might never suffer its horror. 

And yes, Lord, we must share the good news 

of our hope in Jesus Christ, 

that others may turn from their sins 

and receive your gift of eternal life 

in everlasting glory.

Help us we pray, Lord, 

to believe your Word and to share its hope urgently.

In Jesus’s name. Amen. 

Read Matt. 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-311; Rev. 14:11. 

(This prayer based on an excerpt from my book, Preparing for Glory: Biblical Answers to 40 Questions about Living and Dying in Hope of Heaven. (Affiliate link).

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker