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A Prayer about Who God Is and Why It Matters

by | Aug 2, 2023 | Daily Prayer, worship, gratitude

A Prayer about Who God Is and Why It Matters

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praises to my God all my life long. Psalm 146:1

God-Above, Maker of Heaven and Earth,

How often do we pause to consider who you are, 

your graciousness, 

your goodness, 

your generosity? 

Not often enough. 

When we take time to consider 

your “wondrous works” and “mighty acts,” 

we receive a blessing—

our worry shrinks and our confidence grows. 

Let’s start naming just a few of the things we praise you for:

You “uphold all who are falling 

and raise up all who are bowed down” (Psalm 145:15)

[Name why this matters to you or those you pray for.]

You are our help and our hope, 

the God “who made heaven and earth, the sea, 

and all that is in them” (Psalm 146:6).

[Name why this matters to you pr those you pray for.]

You “execute justice for the oppressed, 

you give food to the hungry” (Psalm 146:7).

[Name why this matters to you or those you pray for.]

You “lift up the humble; 

you cast the wicked to the ground” (Psalm 147:6).

[Name why this matters to you and those you pray for.]

You “take pleasure in your people; 

you adorn the humble with salvation” (Psalm 149:4).

[Name why this matters to you and those you pray for.]

Good and gracious Father, 

for all of these things and thousands more, 

we praise your name, 

we rejoice in you, 

we adore you, 

we give you glory. 

Develop in us a regular rhythm 

of praising all of your goodness.

In Jesus’ wonder-full name. Amen.

Read Psalms 145-150.



A Prayer about Overflowing Blessings

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

A Prayer about Overflowing Blessings

You prepare a feast for me 

in the presence of my enemies. 

You honor me by anointing my head with oil. 

My cup overflows with blessings. 

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me 

all the days of my life, 

and I will live in the house of the Lord 

forever. 

Psalm 23:5–6 

 

Heavenly Father,

You prepare a feast for us 

in the presence of our enemies.

You tend to us by anointing our head with oil (Psalm 23:5).

[Name ways the Lord has tended to you 

and fed you richly when you have been in trial or turmoil].

Our cups overflow with blessings. 

Surely your goodness and unfailing love 

will pursue us all the days of our lives (Psalm 23:5-6). 

[Name ways you have seen God’s blessings, 

goodness, and unfailing love every single day this week].

We will live in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23:6).

[Describe the security and hope of knowing 

that you are living in the Lord’s house forever, 

and no one can make you leave].

In the name of Jesus, our richest blessing,

Amen. 

Read Psalm 23.

 

Prayer about Praying for Miracles of Healing

by | Jul 30, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Prayer, Spiritual Growth

Prayer about Praying for Miracles of Healing

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, ‘If you will, you can make me clean.’ Mark 1:40

Life-Changing God,

Thank you for inviting us 

to bring all of our prayer requests before you, 

especially regarding healing. 

Throughout Scripture, we see you reversing the course of nature, 

healing supernaturally, 

as you did when the leper asked you to make him clean. 

Because you healed many people, 

we are invited to pray for healing.

And yet, may we remember, 

we should never treat you as a magician, 

asking you to wave a wand 

and reverse the course of nature. 

When our loved one is suffering and dying, 

eaten up with disease, 

may we pray to accept the reality of death

in your timing and in your way

as an answer to our prayer.

May we continue to lament the horror of death 

until the day Jesus returns to raise us all to new life 

in the new heavens and new earth.  

May we never forget 

your most miraculous healing work—

the raising of the spiritually dead 

to new life and eternal life. 

Lord, give us wisdom when we pray for healing, 

and give us acceptance of your every answer to prayer. 

In Jesus’ healing name. Amen.

Luke 2:29-31; James 1:4-5; Mark 1:40-44.



A Prayer about Telling Future Generations about Jesus

by | Jul 29, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Telling Future Generations about Jesus

Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. Psalm 22:30

Gracious Father,

Whether we have grandchildren or not, 

we admit Lord, 

we can collapse into worry 

about future generations. 

With all of the uncertainty 

about the economy, global health, politics, religious persecution, 

what will life be like for them? 

Faithful Lord, please recenter us 

that we may let go of our worry 

and pray about the matters that matter the most:

Show us how best to proclaim 

your righteousness, 

your goodness, 

and your grace 

to the future generations.

Show us how to humble ourselves 

that we might show future generations 

your love and delight in them.

Give us the words to tell the stories of our lives 

that reveal 

your kindness 

and wisdom 

and redemption.

Help us to live out 

our complete and utter dependence on you 

in a way that attracts future generations 

to a life of trust in you.

As we live and pray and speak the good news of the gospel, 

may future generations be drawn 

to seek your face, 

to trust in your salvation.

In Jesus’ child-loving name. Amen. 

Read Psalm 22:25-31; Psalm 78:1-8.



A Prayer about Forgiving Others

by | Jul 28, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Forgiving Others

And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. Matthew 6:12

Forgiving Lord,

Yesterday we prayed about believing in the forgiveness of sins, 

about really acknowledging the inexcusability of our own sin. 

Today, we pray about the complexity of forgiving others their sins. 

As C. S. Lewis pointed out, “Forgiving doesn’t mean excusing.”* 

So many times, we say, “But I can’t forgive that — 

they cheated me. 

They bullied me.

They abused me.” 

Exactly. 

They did something we are called to forgive. 

It is inexcusable. 

We don’t need to make excuses for what they did.**

We don’t need to say it was okay. 

We must forgive it. 

If our friend broke her promise, 

if our husband broke our hearts, 

if our boss broke our trust, 

we must forgive it. 

What does it mean to forgive? 

It is to look on their sin 

and name it for what it is, 

to pray to God 

that he will remove our resentment 

and our wish to make them pay. 

It is not necessarily to trust fully 

or to reconcile immediately 

or to restore relationship 

without the work of repentance and restoration. 

Father, you know we are utterly incapable 

of true forgiveness 

without the love and sacrifice of Christ 

working in and through us 

by your grace. 

Help us we pray 

to forgive those who sin against us. 

In the name of our forgiving Savior.

Amen

Read Matthew 6:12; 2 Corinthians 5:18; Colossians 3:13; Ephesians 4:32.

This prayer inspired by C.S. Lewis’s essay “On Forgiveness,” in The Weight of Glory and Other Essays

**As Lewis points out, we are also often better at making excuses for our own sin than we are for others. 



A Prayer about Forgiveness

by | Jul 27, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Forgiveness

And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. Matthew 6:12

Holy God,

Forgive us for our disbelief in the forgiveness of sins.

As C. S. Lewis points out, 

In the Apostles Creed, 

we say that we believe in the forgiveness of sins. 

But if we affirm this truth with our minds and our mouths, 

we must examine the way we actually live. 

And when it comes down to it, 

much of our confession of sin 

is really making a case for ourselves 

about why our sin is excusable: 

“We are so anxious to point these (excuses) out to God (and to ourselves) 

that we are apt to forget 

the really important thing; 

that is, the bit left over…

the bit which is inexcusable, 

but not, Thank God, unforgivable.”* 

As Lewis points out, 

if we don’t really believe God will forgive us our sins, 

we live in anxiety. 

What we need is “real forgiveness,” 

which looks 

“steadily at the sin, 

the sin which is left over without any excuse…

and seeing it in all its horror, dirt, meanness, and malice, 

and nevertheless being wholly reconciled 

to the man who has done it.”(135-136).

Oh, Lord, you have indeed looked at our sin 

and seen it for what it is. 

And you have sent your Son to die 

for that very same sin. 

And because we are united to him by faith, 

we are fully reconciled to you. 

This is an astonishing truth, 

seemingly too good to be true, 

and yet not too good to be real.

In the name of our Savior we pray.

Amen. 

Read Matthew 6:12; 1 John 1:9; Romans 1:18-2:1. Romans 5:6-11.

*This prayer inspired by C.S. Lewis’s essay “On Forgiveness,” in The Weight of Glory and Other Essays, 134-136.