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A Prayer about Seeing Our Salvation

by | Dec 29, 2022 | Christmas, Christmas, Daily Prayer, kingdom living

A Prayer about Seeing Our Salvation

Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation…Luke 2:29

Merciful God,

As we revisit this scene between Simeon 

and the eight-day-old Jesus, 

we pray you would write in us stories like Simeon’s:

Filled with the Holy Spirit…

Made righteous by Christ…

Waiting for your consolation…

Watching for our Savior…

Seeing him as our one and only salvation…

Illuminating his glory to all the peoples…

Believing that he alone makes us ready to die in peace.

Knowing our Savior has come, 

may we wait with confident hope 

for the day he will come again 

and restore us to himself. 

In Jesus’ saving name,

Amen.

Read Luke 2:25-32. 

A Prayer about the God Who Lives with Us

by | Dec 25, 2022 | Christmas, Christmas, Daily Prayer, gratitude, kingdom living

A Prayer about the God Who Lives with Us

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. Revelation 21:3

Faith-full God, Hope-filling God, Fully-loving God,

We celebrate your glory

as the shepherds celebrated before the manger 

and the wise men celebrated before the little one.

You have richly blessed us with

your arrival on earth, in earthy reality, 

coming to a stable,

sleeping with the sheep,

disrupting our expectations

 about the way things should be, 

showing us that your glory is clothed in your humility.

Thank you. May we never forget.

May we never romanticize 

the Christ out of Christmas.

Thank you, God, 

that you are coming again once-and-for-all, 

to end our

hearts’ waywardness.

Thank you that one day 

we will rest utterly in your Presence, 

never wandering off

down our own little kingdom paths. 

We look forward to the day 

when we will worship and delight in you

as we were created to do.

This Christmas season, 

may we wait well,

with an eye toward the future, 

the hope of the one day when all 

will finally and forever be well.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen!

Read Revelation 21:1-5. 

A Prayer about Being a Peace-Publisher

by | Dec 19, 2022 | Advent, Christmas, Christmas, Daily Prayer, kingdom living, Seasons & Holidays

A Prayer about Being a Peace-Publisher

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness… Isaiah 52:7

Lord God,

What a happy calling you have given us 

as your church:

To bring good news, 

to publish peace, 

to bring good news of happiness, 

to publish salvation,

to share the peace

that comes when “God reigns” (Isaiah 52:7). 

We have long 

longed for the peace 

you made possible 

through your King:

relief from every anxiety 

about work, health, home, family, 

joy in every effort 

to bring beauty to broken places,

kindness and gentleness and forgiveness 

in every difficult relationship, 

flourishing throughout your earth.

As we worship you in our churches today,

empower and embolden us, 

through the peace-producing work 

of your Spirit, 

to be people 

who bring peace far and wide,

people who make peace known 

in our lips and in our lives. 

In Jesus’ peace-bringing name. Amen.

Read Isaiah 52:1-10.

Get Elizabeth’s Advent devotional for free here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/34no8c805q.

A Prayer about the King of Kings

by | Dec 4, 2022 | Advent, Christmas, Christmas, Daily Prayer, kingdom living

A Prayer about the King of Kings

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” Revelation 11:15

Mighty King, Lord of Lords,

Over the coming weeks, 

many of us will hum or sing along 

to Handel’s famous Hallelujah chorus: 

“King of Kings, and Lord of Lords…

And he shall reign…

Forever and ever.”

We pray that we will not sing these words mindlessly, 

but that you, by your Spirit, 

would awaken our imaginations, 

that we might truly see 

this very baby who Gabriel said would 

“reign on the throne forever” (Luke 1:33), 

firmly planted on the throne in this very moment. 

We pray that our vision of this reality 

would shove aside bad news and fake news 

of the frail and faulty rulers of this world, 

that it would cheer our hearts 

with the goodness of the truest 

and best news about our Savior. 

He is the “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:6). 

He reigns now, and he will reign forever.

One day he will return and establish his kingdom, 

redeeming us and redeeming this earth, 

making all things new. 

In that day, we will bow before him, 

“reigning forever and ever” 

with him as his servants (Revelation 22:5). 

May we sing this good news loudly and cheerfully.

In the name of our Savior King. Amen.

Read Luke 1:33; Revelation 11:15; Revelation 19:6; Revelation 19:16; Revelation 22:5.

Get Elizabeth’s Advent devotional for free here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/34no8c805q.

A Prayer about Undeserved Grace

by | Nov 26, 2022 | Advent, Daily Prayer, Gospel living, kingdom living, Seasons & Holidays

A Prayer about Undeserved Grace

Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you! Luke 1:28

 Wondrous God,

As advent, the season of celebrating the wait for Christ to come, 

begins today, 

open our eyes to see the hope-full truth:

Grace is all about you! In Greek, 

the word for “favored” is “graced,” 

so Gabriel is really telling Mary, 

“Greetings, O graced one, the Lord is with you!” 

What make us “graced”? 

We are “graced” with your presence. 

In this season leading up to Christmas, 

may we exchange time stocking up on presents 

and for moments soaking up your presence. 

For indeed, that is the true meaning of Christmas—

you sent your Son to earth, 

fully God, fully human, 

a baby to be carried in the womb of Mary, 

the graced one. 

We didn’t deserve the present of your presence, 

but you were determined to give it! 

May we take time this season to rest 

in your life-giving, undeserved grace. 

In the name of our gracious Savior. Amen.

Read Luke 1:28; Ephesians 2:4-10. 

Get Elizabeth’s Advent devotional for free here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/34no8c805q.

 

A Prayer about Radical Transformation

by | Nov 24, 2022 | Daily Prayer, kingdom living, Prayer

A Prayer about Radical Transformation

But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Acts 8:3

Merciful God,

How good it is to read straight through the Bible 

because we return to radical redemption stories 

we might otherwise forget. 

This past week my reading took me back to this short paragraph 

about the persecution of the early church 

by a “Pharisee of Pharisees” 

who would soon become the apostle Paul, 

the man who wrote much of the New Testament. 

Show us through the true story of a man like Paul 

just how revolutionary the change in us, 

the change in others is, 

through the work of your Holy Spirit. 

A murderer becomes a missionary.

An addict becomes your adorer.

A grump becomes a gracious grandpa.

A sourpuss becomes a sweet servant.

Transforming Lord, 

give us a glimpse of what we might have become 

if we were not united with Christ 

so that we might have hope 

for those we might otherwise dismiss as hopeless. 

Show us the “Sauls” in our lives, 

that we may pray for them, 

that we may go to them, 

that they might have a life-changing encounter 

with Jesus. 

And while you’re at it, 

would you please give us a glimpse of the glory 

that awaits us 

when we see Jesus face to face 

and are truly made like him?

In Jesus’ transforming name. Amen.

Read Acts 8:1-3; Acts 9:1-31.