fbpx

A Prayer about the Lord’s Right Now Delight in Us

by | Jul 14, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about the Lord’s Right Now Delight in Us

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17

Lord, 

We believe; help our unbelief.

We believe you have already come into our midst 

in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

We believe you are a mighty one 

who has already saved us from our sins 

through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But in the next line of this magnificent verse, 

we stutter and stumble. 

We think that maybe you will rejoice in us 

some day in the future 

when we are more holy, 

that you will love us 

some day in the future 

when we never sin again,

that you will exult in us with loud singing 

some day in the future 

when we’ve finally earned our way to heaven.

But that’s not what Scripture tells us.

The gospel good news 

for all who trust in Jesus

is that right this minute, 

you are rejoicing over us, 

right this minute

you are quieting us with your love, 

right this minute

and you are exulting over us with loud singing. 

You saved us. 

You love us. 

You delight in us. 

You sing extra-loud over us, 

like the five-year-old who loves to sing 

at the top of his lungs 

because he’s so happy. 

Help us today to sit quietly 

and listen for the sound 

of your delight in us, 

and may that delight 

change the way we live and love 

today and every day. 

In Jesus’ saving name. Amen.

Read Zephaniah 3:14-20.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17

Lord, 

We believe; help our unbelief.

We believe you have already come into our midst 

in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

We believe you are a mighty one 

who has already saved us from our sins 

through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But in the next line of this magnificent verse, 

we stutter and stumble. 

We think that maybe you will rejoice in us 

some day in the future 

when we are more holy, 

that you will love us 

some day in the future 

when we never sin again,

that you will exult in us with loud singing 

some day in the future 

when we’ve finally earned our way to heaven.

But that’s not what Scripture tells us.

The gospel good news 

for all who trust in Jesus

is that right this minute, 

you are rejoicing over us, 

right this minute

you are quieting us with your love, 

right this minute

and you are exulting over us with loud singing. 

You saved us. 

You love us. 

You delight in us. 

You sing extra-loud over us, 

like the five-year-old who loves to sing 

at the top of his lungs 

because he’s so happy. 

Help us today to sit quietly 

and listen for the sound 

of your delight in us, 

and may that delight 

change the way we live and love 

today and every day. 

In Jesus’ saving name. Amen.

Read Zephaniah 3:14-20.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Mistaking Jesus for a Ghost

by | Jul 13, 2024 | Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Mistaking Jesus for a Ghost

But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. Matthew 14:26

Precious Jesus,

How kind you are 

to your weary and confused disciples. 

The disciples had earlier that day 

watched as you made five loaves and two fish 

into a feast for over five thousand people. 

Now they are out on the sea, 

and a fierce storm has come up, 

and they are frightened. 

When they see you walking toward them, 

they mistake you for a ghost. 

We confess, 

we too sometimes mistake your movement toward us 

for something frightening. 

We too sometimes lose sight 

of your compassion 

and your power. 

We too sometimes forget 

that you are the one who brings hope and calm 

in the midst of mighty maelstroms. 

When we are afraid and get confused about who you are, 

give us ears to hear 

the words you spoke to your disciples, 

“Take heart; it is I.

 Do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27). 

In your storm-calming name we ask. Amen.

Read Matthew 14:22-33. 



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Drawing Near to Jesus

by | Jul 12, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Drawing Near to Jesus

Let us then 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

King Jesus,

Yesterday, my daily prayer gang and I 

wondered at your sympathy, 

your capacity to suffer with us, 

to get inside our struggle with sin, 

even though you yourself are sinless.

Today, we pray that we would have the courage 

to draw near to your throne.

We don’t have to hunch in hiding 

like children of an unpredictable father 

who comes home drunk one day 

but is ready to play the next. 

We don’t have to cower in fear 

like children of a harsh father 

who might beat us bloody with a strap 

for our disobedience. 

You have changed all that, 

because you have died for our sins, 

taken our punishment on yourself, 

and passed through the heavens (Hebrews 4:14). 

You open your arms wide to us, 

inviting us to bring all of our sin and sorrow—

the rotten words we have spoken, 

the murderous thoughts we have entertained, 

the habitual sins we have indulged in, 

not to mention the harm inflicted on us by others’ sins. 

Whatever our suffering in this broken world, 

you are ruling over it from your throne. 

Whatever our need is, 

you welcome us to come to you, 

to lay it before you, 

and to receive your abundant mercy and grace 

as a balm to heal us and make us whole.

In your forgiving name. Amen.

Read Hebrews 4:14-16.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Jesus’ Sympathy for Us

by | Jul 11, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Jesus’ Sympathy for Us

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15

Gracious and Generous God,

How often do we pause to consider 

how a sympathetic Savior changes everything? 

As we bow before you today, 

may we grasp afresh 

the hope that is ours in our beloved Christ:

Jesus, in his sinless humanity, 

is sympathetic to our weakness.

How can this be?

In one of my favorite books, the author 

explains it so much better than I can:
“It is in our ‘weaknesses’ that Jesus sympathizes with us.” 

[Sympathize means “to suffer with.”]

“Sympathize here is not cool and detached pity…

In our pain, Jesus is pained; 

in our suffering, 

he feels the suffering as his own 

even though it isn’t…

His is a love that cannot be held back 

when he sees his people in pain.”* 

Oh, Lord, thank you for sending 

a suffering and sympathetic Savior. 

May we cling to our suffering Savior. 

May we rest in Christ’s sympathy for us, 

even as we battle sin, 

even as we suffer in a fallen world. 

In Jesus’ sympathetic name. Amen. 

Read Hebrews 4:14-16.

*(Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers, by Dane Ortlund, page 46).



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Entering God’s Rest

by | Jul 10, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Entering God’s Rest

For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. Hebrews 4:10

Lord of the Sabbath,

May we hear and heed these words in Hebrews. 

In our busy, noisy, rushing world, 

we often ignore your invitation to rest. 

Your people long ago ignored your invitation, 

choosing instead to serve other gods 

who seemed to offer them 

what they wanted when they wanted it. 

They refused to trust in you, 

and therefore you said,

“They shall not enter my rest” (Hebrews 4:5-6). 

You have given us everything we need 

for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), 

and all we must do is believe 

this good news, rest in it, 

and love out of it. 

Today and every day, 

may we still ourselves 

and say no to the world’s 

clanging demands 

in order to receive 

the profound rest 

you have offered us. 

May we truly cease striving 

and know that you are God (Psalm 46:10).

In the name of Jesus, who gave us rest. Amen.

Read Hebrews 4:1-13. 



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Feeling Desperate in Illness

by | Jul 9, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Feeling Desperate in Illness

For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.

2 Corinthians 1:8

Great Physician,

How grateful we are to know 

that you are also near to the broken-bodied 

and save those who are crushed in spirit and in hope for health (See Psalm 34:18).

Today, we bring our sick and suffering friends before you, 

asking for your help and your hope. 

We think of Jairus, 

who fell down at your feet 

and pleaded for his little daughter, 

saying she was “at the point of death.” 

How desperate he must have felt 

when you stopped to heal the hemorrhaging woman, 

who also was surely desperate, 

because she reached out and touched your robe 

even though she knew her illness made her unclean (Mark 5:21-43). 

How desperate Jairus must have felt 

when his friends ran to him 

and told him his daughter had died.

How desperate the apostle Paul must have been, 

after he asked (at least) three times 

that you would heal his thorn in the flesh and was told “no  (See (2 Corinthians 12:8).

And yet, Paul, who suffered much in his body

for the sake of the gospel, 

who, though he “despaired of life itself,” (2 Corinthians 1:8)

gave us the words we pray now,

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 

who comforts us in all our affliction, 

so that we may be able to comfort those 

who are in any affliction, 

with the comfort 

with which we ourselves are comforted 

by God. For as we share abundantly 

in Christ’s sufferings, 

so through Christ 

we share abundantly in comfort too….” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5).

In the hope of ultimate healing in your name we pray. Amen.

Read Mark 5:21-43; 2 Corinthians 1; 2 Corinthians 11:26-27. 



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker