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A Prayer about Hope in a Dark World

A Prayer about Hope in a Dark World

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14

Father, 

I confess, 

sometimes the darkness of this world 

seems all-encompassing. 

The depressing news, 

the bent toward meanness, 

the joy in judginess

…I see it everywhere—

in my own heart and in the hearts of others. 

What good news it is to remember then, 

that we who are in Christ

no longer live in the “domain of darkness.” 

You have transferred us and transformed us. 

Now we have a rich inheritance: 

“the inheritance of the saints in the light” (Colossians 1:12). 

Now we are freed from the tyrant Satan 

to serve you, our redeeming and forgiving King. 

Now our primary language is “thanksgiving” 

and our primary work is “endurance and patience and joy” (Colossians 1:11). 

Now we have been “strengthened with all power, 

according to his glorious might” (Colossians 1:11).

to live as citizens of the kingdom of the beloved Son.

So very gratefully we pray. Amen. 

Read Colossians 1:9-14.

A Prayer about Praying God’s Promises Back to Him

A Prayer about Praying God’s Promises Back to Him

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever. Exodus 32:13

Merciful Lord,

When we have blown it again, 

help us to remember how badly the Israelites had blown it. 

You had brought them out of slavery in Egypt, 

you had provided manna for them in the wilderness, 

you had promised to make them a great nation 

and to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey. 

Moses left to meet with you, 

and the next thing we know, 

the people are asking Aaron 

to “make us gods who shall go before us” (Exodus 32:1). 

And Aaron, Moses’ brother, 

the one you provided for Moses’ help, 

collects gold and fashion a golden calf. 

Holy Lord, do we really comprehend 

what an affront to your holiness this was? 

Moses did. 

He understood that he and his people deserved your wrath. 

And yet, he prayed your promises back to you. 

He did not collapse in self-contempt 

as some of us may do when we’ve blown it again. 

Instead, he reminded you 

of your power 

and your might 

and your plan. 

(As if you needed to be reminded.) 

On that basis, 

he asked for your mercy. 

On that basis, 

he asked for your continued presence. 

On that basis, he asked you to show him your glory (Exodus 32:18). 

Not only did you respond 

by giving Moses a glimpse of your glory 

that would not destroy him, 

you gave us Jesus, 

the very living presence of your glory. 

Because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, 

when we have blown it,

we can “with confidence 

draw near to the throne of grace, 

that we may receive mercy 

and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). 

What great good news this is!

Amen. 

Read Exodus 32-34.

A Prayer about Peace for Troubled Hearts

A Prayer about Peace for Troubled Hearts

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27

Lord Jesus,

Thank you for this profound promise 

for troubled hearts:

You leave us peace, your peace, 

which in the Bible refers to something way better 

than a day without car, or credit trouble.  

Your peace is “shalom,” 

a state of flourishing, 

wholeness, 

and harmony.

When our hearts are troubled—

aching because of good hopes dashed again and again and again, 

miserable because we have harmed one we love through our sin, 

agonized because we have suffered yet another setback in our recovery, 

you give us your peace, your rest, your hope, your wholeness. 

It is not the peace the world gives, 

it is the peace of the cross, 

for you spoke these words 

just before you died on a cross for us. 

It is the peace of restoration, 

for you died on that cross 

so that we who believe might be restored 

as children of the Father. 

It is the peace of the wholeness 

we will one day know 

in heart and mind and body and soul 

when you come again 

to bring the new heavens and the new earth. 

Because of your peace, 

we have every reason 

to obey your command:

“Let not your hearts be troubled; 

neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).

In your peace-bringing name. Amen.

Read John 14:1-30. 

A Prayer about Why God Sent His Son

A Prayer about Why God Sent His Son

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:17

Heavenly Father,

In these early days after Christmas, 

may we not immerse ourselves in the whirl of the world 

so fully that we lose our wonder 

at the profoundly good news of the incarnation: 

From the beginning, 

even when his fingers were tiny 

and his sounds were infant coos, 

Jesus was born for one purpose: 

that we, that the whole cosmos, might be “born again” (John 3:3). 

“How shall that be,” the Jewish leader, Nicodemus, 

asks? 

Jesus explains in some of the better known words of the Word: 

“For God so loved the world, 

that he gave his only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in him 

should not perish 

but should have eternal life” (John 3:16). 

This is the true gift of Christmas, 

but it gets even better. 

For all who have suffered the voices of contempt and condemnation, 

who have hung their heads in shame, 

you give more hope, 

“For God did not send his Son 

into the world to condemn the world, 

but to save the world through him” (John 3:17). 

Oh, gracious and merciful Father, 

what good news this is! 

May we live and love out of it today and every day.

In Jesus’ saving name. Amen.

Read John 3:1-21. 

A Prayer about Blessing the Lord at All Times

A Prayer about Blessing the Lord at All Times

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1

Gracious Lord,

We join David today in proclaiming your goodness:

May we bless you at all times—

times when we’ve acted supremely foolish, 

times when we are crushed in spirit, 

times when we are lost and afraid, 

not just times when you’ve blessed us 

with a new car 

or a new boyfriend 

or a new job. 

In all times, 

may we share our uncontainable awe 

at your greatness.

For indeed, with David we can affirm, 

We sought you, and you answered us,

And delivered us from all our fears—

fears of being rejected by our friends or family, 

fears of illness and death, 

fears of being unimportant or irrelevant (Psalm 34:4).

As we take in your glory, 

something amazing happens—

our faces begin to radiate with your dazzling light, 

and where we would have previously hidden in shame, 

We now turn that fiery light outward, 

and shame shrivels and withers away. 

Oh, Lord, indeed, we bless your name. 

You have saved us from all our fear and shame.

In Jesus’ praiseworthy name. Amen. 

Read Psalm 34:1-5. 

A Prayer about Seeing the Light

A Prayer about Seeing the Light

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Isaiah 60:1

 

Glorious God,

Though the twelfth day of Christmas 

has come and gone, 

the defrocked trees lie 

dried and withered by the curb, 

may we see the glory of Christ-with-us, 

the good news that our light has come, 

today and every day of this year.

Peel the scales from our eyes, 

so we may see the light

that has overcome the thick darkness, 

your grace, and your glory, 

your mercy and your kindness to us 

in Christ. 

Indeed, may all “nations come to your light, 

and kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isaiah 60:3). 

Open our eyes to see the great ingathering 

of your people, 

“the sons …come from afar…

the daughters carried on the hip…” (Isaiah 60:4). 

Radiate our hearts with this good news 

today and every day. 

In Jesus’ glorious name. Amen. 

Read Isaiah 60:1-5.