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A Prayer about Praying Our Emotions

by | Oct 6, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Praying Our Emotions

As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:4

God of heaven,

Thank you for how your Word 

teaches us to pray. 

I confess, I don’t know where I got the idea 

that prayer needed to be formal and stiff 

and even a little stoic, 

because the Bible is full of people (including Jesus) 

laying their emotions before you in prayer (see Psalm 22, Psalm 88, Luke 22:39-46). 

May we not merely observe Nehemiah’s prayer, 

may we enter it, 

engaging you with the cries of our heart 

for the people we pray for, 

including ourselves. 

May we sit down (stop our busy rushing here and there) 

before you, the God of heaven. 

May we weep and mourn, 

not just for five minutes but for fifty days. 

May we focus our prayers 

through fasting, 

whether giving up food or phones or shopping or TV. 

As we still ourselves before you, 

may we hear your voice speaking 

confidence and comfort over us. 

As we get rid of the things we think are essential to our lives, 

may we see you, 

the maker of heaven and earth, 

at work even now, 

bringing your heavenly kingdom to bear 

on the trouble and shame of this broken world. 

In Jesus’ compassionate name. Amen.

Read Nehemiah 1. 





A Prayer about Great Trouble and Shame

by | Oct 5, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Great Trouble and Shame

The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire. Nehemiah 1:3 

For the next few days, we’ll be praying one of Nehemiah’s prayers. If you’d like to hear the sermon that inspired these prayers (preached by our pastor at Pinewoods, Joel Treick), click here. It will be the first one in a series called Gospel Rebuild. 

Redeeming Lord,

As Nehemiah prayed for hurting people 

he had never met in a place he had never visited, 

we lift up hurting friends, neighbors, strangers, 

and even enemies.

Many are in “great trouble” in this world,

as in the last couple of years, 

it feels like we have been pounded again and again 

by waves that knocked us down every time we almost stood up. 

Some suffer the loss of jobs or health or even relationships to Covid, 

others suffer the loss of homes and livelihoods 

to devastating natural disasters 

like hurricanes and earthquakes and wildfires. 

Still others suffer the ache of a lifelong dream 

seemingly stolen by circumstance. 

If “trouble” weren’t enough, 

there’s also the shame that plagues many.

Some suffer the shame 

of having sinned against people they loved; 

they wonder if they can ever repair 

the relationships they’ve severed. 

Some suffer the shame 

of having rebelled against you, 

thinking they knew better, 

and now they wonder if you’ll even have them back. 

Others suffer the shame of insecurity, 

thinking they’ll never win 

the spouse 

or promotion 

or the battle with infertility.

Lord, in the midst of “great trouble and shame,” 

we cry out. 

We remember your redemption and rescue 

throughout biblical history,

your redemption of the Israelites at the Red Sea, 

your return of the exiles to Jerusalem, 

your rebuilding of the walls there. 

But most of all, we remember 

your redemption on the cross, 

which is the very reason we can cry out 

with the “assurance of things hoped for, 

the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). 

Restore, renew, rebuild, redeem. 

For that is your way. 

And even as we pray for this restoration 

in our world today, 

we long for the day 

when we will no longer cry out 

about trouble and shame, 

because there will be no more crying or mourning or shame 

when you return. 

In your hope-full name. Amen.

Read Nehemiah 1:1-11.



A Prayer about Not Wearing Purple When We’re Old

by | Oct 4, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Not Wearing Purple When We’re Old

I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.

2 Timothy 4:7

Holy God,

With all due respect to the delightful poet Jenny Joseph, 

who wrote the humorous poem, “Warning” 

about how she would become a rebel when she was old 

and “wear purple with a red hat that doesn’t go,” 

help us to resist the temptation 

that often faces us as we age. 

We are told by our culture 

that we should relax and take it easy. 

While there’s nothing wrong with 

relaxing or enjoying life or even slowing down a bit, 

what we must resist is, to quote 87-year-old J.I. Packer, 

“practicing self-indulgence up to the limit….

[filling [our lives] with novelties and hobbies, 

anything and everything that will hold [our] interest.”*

Indeed, our spiritual gifts and calling to minister the gospel 

do not “wither with age.” 

You have called us to live each day to the full, 

going where you call us to go 

(even if it’s to a hospital bed to pray), 

doing what you give us to do. 

Until the end, we are called to present our aging bodies 

as “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to you….” 

Until the end, we must “not be conformed to this world, 

but be transformed by the renewing of our minds…” (Romans 12:1-2). 

Help us, Lord, to fight the good fight and to finish the race well.

In Jesus’ ancient name. Amen. 

Read Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 2 Timothy 4:6-8. 

*Quote is from J. I. Packer’s book Finishing Our Course with Joy: Guidance from God for Engaging with Our Aging



A Prayer about Encouraging the Faint-Hearted

by | Oct 3, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Encouraging the Faint-Hearted

Encourage the fainthearted, and help the weak… 

1 Thessalonians 5:14

Heavenly Father,

At times, our burdens become so great 

that we struggle 

to pray, 

to believe, 

to hope. 

At such times, 

we thank you for the church, 

the community of believers 

called to bear our burdens with us (Galatians 6:2). 

I remember when my kids were small 

and we had to walk a long way, 

my husband would sometimes lift them on his shoulders to give their weary legs a rest. 

From high above, 

they gained new perspective 

and a much-needed rest. 

In the same way, 

as we “encourage the fainthearted and help the weak,” may we give them 

the rest they desperately need. 

May we believe for them 

when they are struggling with doubt. 

May we hope for them 

when they are weary of waiting for redemption. 

May we endure hardship with them 

as they suffer. 

Lord, if we are the ones 

needing a rest, 

may we reach out for it 

and receive it. 

Lord, if we are the ones called and strengthened 

to give that rest, 

lead us to your weary ones who need it.

In Jesus’ burden-bearing name. Amen.

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:14; 1 Corinthians 13:7; Galatians 6:2. 



A Prayer about Answers to Prayer

by | Oct 2, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Answers to Prayer

Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Mark 11:23

 

Miracle-Working Father,

We confess, 

we’re a little confused about what Jesus said 

to his disciples about prayer. 

If someone suffering from mental illness 

truly believes that you will heal her psyche, 

will it come to pass?

If someone suffering from quadriplegia 

truly believes that you will make her walk, 

will it come to pass?

What do we make of Jesus’ words, 

“whatever you ask in prayer, 

believe that you have received it, 

and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24)? 

There are no easy answers to these questions. 

What we do know is that we are called to trust in you, 

and we are called to surrender to your will (Matthew 6:10). 

We are called to believe 

that you can toss a mountain into the sea, 

you can heal a hemorrhaging woman (Mark 5:25-34), 

and you can raise your Son from the dead. 

We are also called to pray as Jesus did, 

“Father, all things are possible for you…

Yet not what I will, but what you will…” (Mark 14:36).

Help us Lord, to persist in as-yet-unanswered prayer. 

Help us Lord, to submit to your will 

in the way you answer prayer, 

knowing that you always give us good gifts (Matthew 7:11), 

even if they are not the gifts we think we need.

In Jesus’ trustworthy name. Amen.

Read Mark 11:20-25; Mark 14:36; Matthew 6:9-13.



A Prayer about Surrendering Control as We Age

by | Oct 1, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Surrendering Control as We Age

And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ Luke 1:38

Eternal Lord,

Mary was a young woman when she spoke these words. 

What wisdom and faith she had, 

even though she was “troubled” at the news 

that she would give birth to your Son. 

May we learn from her at an early age 

to surrender control of our lives to you 

so that when we move into our later years 

we are more accepting of the loss of control 

we experience.

Many of us pride ourselves on our independence, 

on not needing anyone or anything. 

And then we notice that we can’t see as well at night 

and now we can’t drive ourselves to Wednesday night church. 

Some of us have been told by our adult children, 

the very children whose diapers we changed, 

that it’s not safe for us to live in our own houses anymore. 

Lord, it is hard! 

We need your wisdom; 

we need your mercy; 

we need your grace. 

In our own strength, 

we can’t face the losses of independence 

aging requires of us. 

Only by your Spirit, 

only in the power of our Savior’s blood, 

shed for us in his weakness on the cross, 

can we accept these limitations and losses. 

Help us dear Lord, 

and shape us more and more 

into the image of your Son 

as we get closer to meeting you in glory. 

In Jesus’ surrendering name. Amen.

Read Luke 1:26-38; 2 Corinthians 12:9-11.