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A Prayer about Our Reason for Rejoicing

A Prayer about Our Reason for Rejoicing

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Philippians 4:4

Gracious Lord,

In these days of sorrow over wars and plagues and division, 

help us understand what Paul is not saying and what he is saying.

He’s not saying, 

Cheer up! Put on a happy face!

He’s not saying,

Fake it till you make it!

He is saying,

Because “our citizenship is in heaven, 

and from it we await a Savior, 

the Lord Jesus Christ, 

who will transform our lowly body 

to be like his glorious body…” (Philippians 3:20-21), 

we have every reason to rejoice.

We don’t have to put on a happy face, 

but we do need to remember 

all of our reasons for rejoicing, 

even in the midst of suffering:

You have made us righteous in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21);

You have made us your children (Ephesians 1:5);

You have made us citizens of your world, 

heaven, here and now (Philippians 3:20; Ephesians 2:6).

One day, soon, 

our Savior, the one who died for our sins, will return.

In that day, not only will he transform our lowly bodies, 

making them like his glorious body (can we believe it?!), 

he will transform the entire cosmos, 

“making all things new” (Revelation 21:5).

Today and every day, may we rejoice in all of this marvelously good news!

In Jesus’ transforming name. Amen. 

Read Philippians 4; Philippians 3:20-21. 

Read the whole Philippians series: https://www.elizabethturnage.com/daily-prayer



A Prayer about Being of the Same Mind

A Prayer about Being of the Same Mind

I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Philippians 4:2

Uniting Lord,

We confess, the apostle Paul 

could have called out any one of us here:

“I plead with [insert your name here] 

and [insert someone of a different mind here] 

to be of the same mind in the Lord.”

In the past few years, 

many believers who formerly worked 

side by side in the cause of the gospel, 

many whose names are in the book of life (Philippians 4:3), 

have been separated by any number of hot button issues. 

And while to each of us they may seem to be issues 

of love and kindness and generosity and unselfishness—

all issues that matter to you, 

our habits of name-calling 

and stubborn refusal to listen 

are not your ways. 

You are the Savior to whom Paul pointed 

when he urged us, 

“in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3-4). 

You are the Savior who made yourself nothing, 

taking the form of a servant, 

who obediently submitted to the humiliation of death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8). 

When we consider that you are “near,” 

both in the sense of “united” to us 

and in the sense that you’re returning soon, 

we will indeed “let [our] gentleness be known to all” (Philippians 4:5). 

In your sacrificial name. Amen.

Read Philippians 4; Ephesians 2:11-22.

Hi Friends,

Over the next few days, we’ll be praying through Philippians 4, a passage for our time. I hope you will join me in these prayers and spend some time meditating on Paul’s invitation to turn toward one another, to rejoice in the Lord, to replace anxiety with prayer, to dwell on things that are lovely and commendable, to know the peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding. 



A Prayer about Being Transformed by Love

A Prayer about Being Transformed by Love

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

Shaping Spirit,

Yesterday we meditated on the wondrous love of God. 

Today we ponder how that love changes us. 

We know when we read 1 Corinthians 13 

that it wasn’t originally written for a wedding; 

it was written to gently rebuke the Corinthians 

for a notable lack of love. 

Humbly we come to you, 

asking that your love would change us, 

that we might not be 

“noisy gongs” 

and “clanging cymbals” (1 Corinthians 13:1). 

Through your transforming power, 

may we not become “nothing,” 

people who seem outwardly spiritual 

but who have no love inside (1 Cor. 13:2-3). 

Instead, may we become people 

marked by the love of God:

[With each of these characteristics, name specific situations and/or specific people with whom you’d like to see the Spirit change you]:

Patient and kind 

Does not envy or boast

Is not arrogant or rude

Does not insist on its own way

Is not irritable or resentful

Does not rejoice at wrongdoing

Rejoices with the truth

Bears all things

Believes all things

Hopes all things

Endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

Holy Spirit, because the love of God never ends, 

we know you will never stop interceding for us 

to become more loving, 

more like Christ. 

We thank you for this good news 

and pray that we will see the fruit of your love 

blossoming in our lives 

and spreading its fragrant aroma. 

In Jesus’ perfectly loving name. Amen.

Read 1 Corinthians 13. 



A Prayer about Pondering the Depth of God’s Love

A Prayer about Pondering the Depth of God’s Love

Your love, God, is my song, and I will sing it!

I’m forever telling everyone how faithful you are.

I’ll never quit telling the story of your love. Psalm 89:1

Loving Father,

Slow us down in the busy scrolling and scrambling of the day 

to consider, to ponder, to meditate on

the wonders of your love.

Your love stretches far beyond the limits of the ocean, 

the very ocean you crafted in love (Ephesians 3:18-19).

Your love lasts forever and doesn’t waver daily 

based on our performance (Romans 5:8).

Your love secures us in our salvation 

and is eternally secure for those who trust in you (Romans 8:35-39).

Your love searches us out in our wandering 

and brings us home to your embrace (Luke 15:11-32). 

Your love befriends us in our loneliness 

and comforts us in our sorrow (John 15:15).

Most of all, your love changes us, 

transforming us from self-loving sinners 

who only like to talk about ourselves 

to God-loving saints 

who “never quit telling the story of your love” (Psalm 89:1). 

Loving Father, may we begin today 

swimming in the depths of your love, 

knowing we will never find the bottom.

In Jesus’ loving name. Amen.

Read Psalm 89. 



A Prayer about Endurance in Suffering

A Prayer about Endurance in Suffering

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 1:9

Precious Jesus,

In your Word, and by your Spirit, 

you have given us everything we need 

to persevere in every seemingly new tribulation. 

Even today as we consider Christians 

suffering for their faith throughout the world, 

we are reminded that the apostle John, 

at eighty-four-years-old, 

was sent by the Romans to rot and die 

on the island of Patmos 

because of his “testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 1:9). 

He speaks to your disciples who suffer today

 as a “partner in the tribulation 

and the kingdom 

and the patient endurance that are in Jesus.” 

As one Bible scholar puts it, 

“John does not urge his fellow-Christians 

to seek a means of escape from this tribulation, 

for he understood only too well 

that discipleship means suffering.”* 

Jesus, in light of the suffering of the martyrs 

throughout the ages, 

we pray that you would make us bold 

to partner with those in deep suffering, 

to persevere with the patient endurance 

that is our legacy as your sisters and brothers.

In your enduring name we pray. Amen. 

Read Revelation 1.

*See Graeme Goldsworthy, The Gospel in Revelation, 181. 



A Prayer about Growing in Wisdom

A Prayer about Growing in Wisdom

A wise man thinks ahead; a fool doesn’t, and even brags about it! In everything the prudent acts with knowledge, but a fool flaunts his folly.  Proverbs 13:16 

Wise and Gracious Father,

Thank you for giving us 

all of the knowledge we will ever need in Christ.

Grow us 

in “wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man” 

as you did your Son, 

our Lord and Savior (Luke 2:52).

May we never be like the fool, 

who fails to think ahead, 

who “opens wide his lips,” 

who “does not listen to rebuke,” 

who “craves and gets nothing” (Proverbs 13:16, 3, 1, 4).

Instead, shape us by your Spirit 

with the wisdom of Wisdom himself, Jesus. 

Make us wise people 

who heed instruction, 

who guard our mouths, 

preserving our lives (Proverbs 13:1-2), 

who plan ahead (Proverbs 13:6) 

and who “gather little by little” (Proverbs 13:11). 

As you shape us into your wise ambassadors, 

may we become people whose desires 

match your desires for us (Proverbs 13:12), 

whose wisdom brings wisdom to others 

and glory to you (Proverbs 13:20). 

In the name of our wise Savior, Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Read Proverbs 13.