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A Prayer about Seeking Shalom in Places of Exile

by | Nov 22, 2022 | Gospel living, kingdom living

A Prayer about Seeking Shalom in Places of Exile

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. Jeremiah 29:7

Redeeming God,

What a seemingly strange command. 

Your rebellious people 

have been exiled to Babylon, 

a pagan nation, 

and yet, you instructed them 

to seek the welfare of the city, 

its shalom, its universal flourishing and wholeness.

 In the same way, 

whether we live in a city or country 

we would never have chosen 

or an apartment with roommates we wished lived elsewhere 

or a neighborhood that has no people like us, 

you call us to seek the welfare 

of the places you have placed us. 

You work through us 

to bless every people 

with your peace and hope 

and beauty and truth, 

and one day your Holy City will move to us, 

and you will dwell with us, 

and we will know the future and the hope 

you have planned for us. 

Because of this truth, 

may we live and love today and every day

 for the sake of our neighbors’ welfare.

In Jesus’ restoring name. Amen.

Read Jeremiah 29:4-14. 

 

A Prayer about Thanking God for True Meaning in Life

by | Nov 17, 2022 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, kingdom living

A Prayer about Thanking God for True Meaning in Life

What I’ve finally concluded is that so-called wisdom and knowledge are mindless and witless—nothing but spitting into the wind. Ecclesiastes 1:17

Author God,

I admit, I always struggle 

when my daily reading brings me to Ecclesiastes. 

The words seem sarcastic and cynical, 

and I need wise scholars to show me hope in these words. 

And yet, the more I read, 

the more I realize how we can relate to the “Teacher.”

We too can invest our time and energy 

into acquiring both wisdom and knowledge. 

We too can find it leaving us empty and sad. 

We too can try to find meaning in life

in various pleasures—relationships, work, food, drink, etc., 

and we too can find those leaving us empty and sad. 

So where do we find meaning, 

and what does allow us to enjoy your good gifts 

here and now? 

Thanks be to God, 

we know the One who brings meaning to life—

Jesus, our Wisdom and purpose. 

In Christ, you are working 

through every moment of every day 

to make us more like Christ; 

this transformation gives meaning to our lives. 

In Christ, you are working through us 

to bring grace and hope to others; 

this purpose gives meaning to our lives. 

Thank you, God, for giving us the wisdom of Christ 

to see beyond this fallen world, 

to see that indeed, 

everything “under the sun” 

is not “smoke, nothing but smoke” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). 

You are working it all together 

for our good and your glory, even now.

Amen.

Read Ecclesiastes 1. 

 

A Prayer about Our Need for Cleansing

by | Nov 12, 2022 | Daily Prayer, kingdom living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Our Need for Cleansing

‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins be like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.’ Isaiah 1:18

Forgiving Lord,

It’s easy to read about the sins of Judah 

back in the days of the evil kings 

and think, “Oh, we’re not like that!”

 I mean, after all, we’re not like Sodom, 

who mixed their worship with pagan worship (Isaiah 1:10-11). 

(Or are we?). 

Our hands are not “full of blood” (Isaiah 1:15). 

(Or, are they?)

To Judah, you commanded, 

“Cease to do evil, learn to do good; 

seek justice, correct oppression; 

bring justice to the fatherless, 

plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:16-17). 

Do we recognize our own sins

in your calling to seek justice and to correct oppression? 

Lord, by your Spirit, 

show us just how dark 

our sinful hearts can be 

so that we can fully rejoice 

in how bright and healing 

your forgiveness of our sins is. 

Show us how bloody our hands can be

so that we can see how fully 

you have cleansed us, 

like an ink-stained sheet bleached white. 

With gratitude for your forgiveness, 

may we move into this broken world 

with your redeeming love. 

In Jesus’ cleansing name. Amen.

Read Isaiah 1:1-20.

 

A Prayer about Desiring a Better Country

by | Nov 7, 2022 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, kingdom living

A Prayer about Desiring a Better Country

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. Hebrews 11:13

Lord God, Architect and Builder of the City with Foundations,

Remind us today of what you have told us over and over: 

this world is not our home—yet. 

One day, our Savior, King Jesus, 

who submitted himself to estrangement 

for the sake of our sins, 

will return to this earth. 

In that day, he will bring with him 

“the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, 

coming down out of heaven from God, 

prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2). 

I admit, that’s such a mixed metaphor 

it’s hard to get my mind around, 

but this I know. 

In that day, we will, 

like Abraham and Sarah and Moses and Rahab 

and all the other saints mentioned in Hebrews 11, “

receive the things promised,” 

the things we “greet…from afar” (Hebrews 11:13). 

We will settle in the homeland 

we have always sought (Hebrews 11:14). 

We will no longer be “strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13). 

Today and every day, Lord, 

keep our eyes fixed on the horizon, 

looking for that “better country” 

our hearts deeply desire, 

the heavenly one, 

for we know that you have prepared for us a city. 

Until that day comes, 

may we invite others to join us 

as strangers and exiles on this earth, 

as citizens of your heavenly kingdom. 

In Jesus’ anticipated name. Amen. 

Read Hebrews 11:8-16; Revelation 21:1-5.

 

A Prayer about Why the Gospel is Such Good News

by | Nov 6, 2022 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, kingdom living

A Prayer about Why the Gospel is Such Good News

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark 1:1

Good Father,

Our world seems to be drawn to bad news, 

so much so that we can even watch it 24 hours a day on TV, on our phones, on our tablets.

And yet, our souls truly long for good news, 

and your gospel is precisely that. 

The word gospel literally translates as “good news.” 

This good news is “of Jesus Christ,” 

meaning it belongs to Jesus the Messiah, 

the King of your kingdom. 

This good news is also about Jesus Christ. 

It is true that it is [almost] unbelievably good news, 

for the story goes that you sent your Son, 

a divine King,

into the world as a human baby 

born from a virgin’s womb. 

But not only that, you sent your Son, 

your sinless Son, 

who perfectly satisfied you, 

as the Savior for your sinful people, 

who could never satisfy you. 

Good Father, help us to grasp this truth—

we could never earn your love. 

We could never pay the debt of our sin. 

Nothing we have done in our lives 

makes us good enough to be forgiven. 

And in that is the amazingly good news: 

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, 

so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). 

Father, how we thank you for your goodness to us in Christ. 

May we live in gratitude for this good news, 

and may we share it with everyone we meet.

In Jesus’ good name. Amen.

Read Mark 1:1-11. 

 

A Prayer about Eternal Glory

by | Oct 29, 2022 | aging, dying, and death, Daily Prayer, Death and Resurrection, Gospel living, kingdom living, Numbering Our Days, Suffering

A Prayer about Eternal Glory

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 1 Peter 5:10

Heavenly Father,

Enlarge our imaginations that we might see what glory awaits us in Christ!

In this fallen world, we suffer, 

but “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing 

with the glory that is to be revealed to us” and in us (Romans 8:18).

Because we are in Christ, we have a glorious inheritance 

which we will receive when he returns:

We will be…

Confirmed: 

You, our Father, will welcome us, saying, 

“Yes, this is my beloved child!” 

Restored: 

like the ultimate fixer-upper, 

healed of the wounds of sin, 

healed of the brokenness of our bodies, 

made like Christ, 

fully shining with the glory of Christ!

Strengthened: 

strong in Christ’s strength, 

no longer able to sin.

Established: 

Established on thrones 

as those who reign with Christ 

over the new heavens and new earth, 

and we will “reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:5). 

(Just call me Queen Elizabeth!)

Oh, Father, the glories that await us in heaven 

do seem too good to be true! 

How we long for the day 

we will see you face to face, 

the day your glory 

will become fully and finally our glory.  

In Jesus’ glorious name. Amen.

Read Romans 8:18-30; 1 Peter 5:10; 2 Timothy 2:10.