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A Prayer about Being Open to Learning New Truths

by | Jul 4, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Being Open to Learning New Truths

“You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. John 9:34

Jesus, our Glorious Teacher,

Open our eyes, 

remove our blindness, 

that we may see more of your glory. 

Forgive us for any ways 

we are like the various groups 

in the story of the blind man you healed (John 9)—

the neighbors, who are only mildly skeptical, 

the Pharisees, who deny that you are from God, 

the Jews, who refuse to believe the miracle you worked, 

or even his own parents, 

who fear acknowledging the truth about you. 

Make us more like the blind man 

who received his sight 

and was able to see 

more than just the faces of his accusers. 

He said of you, “He is a prophet” (John 9: 17). 

He said of you, “If this man were not from God, 

he could do nothing” (John 9:33). 

He asked the Jews if they wanted to be your disciples, 

but they “reviled” him (John 9:28). 

Oh, Lord, free us from the error of the Pharisees, 

who believed they could see 

and because of their pride, 

their “guilt remain[ed]” (see John 9:41). 

Healing Lord, give us sight. 

Give us the ability to see that apart from you, 

we can do nothing, we know nothing. 

Give us the open heart to learn new things from you, 

new things about you, 

for you are “gentle and lowly” in heart, 

and from you, 

we will find rest for our souls and our bodies (see Matt. 11:29-30). 

In your glorious name we pray. Amen.

Read John 9:1-41. 



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about the Wisdom We So Desperately Need

by | Jul 1, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about the Wisdom We So Desperately Need

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
    and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. Proverbs 9:10

Awesome God,

In this confusing and chaotic world, 

how desperately we need your wisdom. 

Parents need your wisdom to know how to

help their children stay safe and on a wise path; 

adult children need your wisdom to know how to 

talk to their parents about letting go of the car keys; 

bosses need your wisdom to know how to 

steward their employees’ gifts, 

Patients need your wisdom 

to know which course of treatment to pursue.

and on and on…

Whoever we are, 

whatever our situation, 

we need your wisdom, 

whether we realize it or not. 

May we first realize that it is your wisdom we need, 

and then may we turn to you to find it. 

When we “fear” you, 

that is live in awe of you, 

live in gratitude of you, 

live seeking your Word, 

live listening to pastors and ministry leaders and wiser friends, 

you promise, 

we will grow in your wisdom. 

It is indeed through you, 

as Eugene Peterson puts it, 

that [our] life deepens, 

and the years of [our] life ripen. 

May we “live wisely” 

so that “wisdom will permeate [our] lives.” (Proverbs 9: 11, The MSG). 

Read Proverbs 9. 



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Loving Our Enemies

by | Jun 30, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Loving Our Enemies

But I say to you, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’ Matthew 5:44

Lord Jesus,

You knew we’d struggle

to love the friend who shared our shameful secret;

You knew we’d struggle 

to pray for the boss who unjustly let us go.

And yet, you commanded us to do 

what our hearts can’t do 

in their natural state—

love our enemies.

Why?

Because only in loving our enemy 

can we truly understand how you have loved us

—your enemy. 

For, indeed, while we were still sinners, 

rebels in your sight, 

you endured a beating 

that should have killed you. 

While we were still sinners, 

hating you and hating God, 

you felt the nails 

hammering you to the cross (Romans 5:6-8). 

Something happened there 

to change everything, 

to turn love upside down.

Now, empowered by your sacrificial love, 

enabled by your grace, 

we are sent out to do the impossible, 

to love our enemies 

and pray for those who persecute us.

In your enemy-loving name. Amen.

Read Matthew 5:43-48; Romans 5:6-11.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about the Questions God Asks

by | Jun 29, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about the Questions God Asks

Where have you come from, and where are you going? Genesis 16:8

Pursuing God

Thank you for chasing after us when we try to run away.

Like Hagar in the wilderness, 

we can run ourselves into the ground,

but you seek us, 

and you draw us out of our hiding, 

asking questions we really need to hear:

Where have you come from?

Where are you going?

Or, as you asked Adam and Eve 

when they “hid” from you after eating the fruit,

Where are you?

You don’t ask these questions 

because you don’t know the answers.

You don’t ask these questions 

because you want to trap us.

You ask them 

to invite us to see where we are, 

to see where we’ve been, 

to see where we’re headed without you. 

But you also ask them 

to reveal the most important thing 

we need to know—

where you are (right here with us), 

and who you are: 

“The God Who Hears, 

The God Who Sees,” 

the God who looks after us (Genesis 16:13). 

May we listen to your questions, 

letting them draw us 

to your loving and forgiving presence.

In the name of our Savior,

 Immanuel (“God-with-us”), we pray. Amen. 

Read Genesis 16:1-16.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Believing that God Is for Us

by | Jun 28, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Believing that God Is for Us

This I know, that God is for me. Psalm 56:9

Holy and Merciful God,

I admit, as I was reading this Psalm aloud in prayer the other day, 

I thought, how could David say these words so confidently: 

“This I know, that God is for me.” 

I thought about what a “big sinner” David was, 

and I wondered at his boldness to declare, 

right here in the middle of the Bible, 

that God was for him.

And then your Holy Spirit quietly spoke to my heart. 

Reminding me that I am certainly no less of a sinner 

than the “big sinner” David. 

Reminding me that you yourself called David, 

“a man after God’s own heart.” 

Even though you saw every one of his sins, 

“big and little.” 

Reminding me that we have all sinned 

and fallen short of your glory (Romans 3:23). 

Reminding me of the meaning of the atonement 

we prayed about yesterday: 

because Jesus bore the punishment for my sins on the cross, 

I am now reconciled to God. 

Indeed, “God is for me.” 

We too, as those who have known the freedom 

from our slavery to sin, 

can proclaim, 

loudly, 

boldly, 

confidently, 

“This I know, God is for me.” 

And even as we proclaim this truth, 

we can know in all of our ongoing battles 

with sin and suffering,

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

What astonishingly good news! 

In Jesus’ hope-giving name. Amen.

Read Psalm 56; Romans 8:31-39. 



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about the Price Paid for Us

by | Jun 27, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about the Price Paid for Us

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10

Holy God, Redeeming Son, Sanctifying Spirit,

How we thank you for the precious gift 

of a debt of our sins fully paid. 

Help us to understand this word “propitiation,” 

a word that’s hard to pronounce 

and even harder to understand 

in human terms.

No, Just God, 

you are not a violent, abusive father 

committing some sort of divine child abuse. 

Rather, you are a Holy God, 

justly wrathful toward sin. 

You planned, in “solidarity of mutual love,”*

with the Son and the Spirit, 

from the beginning of time, 

for the redemption of your beloved chosen people 

from our bondage to sin 

through the gift of your Son.

Jesus, you willingly submitted 

to being incarnated 

as the fully human, fully divine, 

perfectly sinless, only satisfactory 

substitute for our sins. 

Holy Spirit, it was only because you opened our eyes 

to see our helplessness 

to pay the debt of our sin 

and our hope-full gift 

in Christ’s sacrifice for us 

that we could “repent and believe” (Mark 1:15).  

Now, because of this mighty work of propitiation, 

we sing our gratitude: 

“Bearing shame and scoffing rude, 

In my place condemned he stood; 

Sealed my pardon with his blood: 

Hallelujah! What a Savior!”**

In this, truly, is love!

In Jesus’ redeeming name. Amen.

Read Romans 3:21-26; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 4:8-10; 1 John 2:1-2.

*Friends, if you want to read a helpful book explaining big theological words like “propitiation” and “limited atonement,” I highly recommend In My Place Condemned He Stood by J. I. Packer and Mark Dever.

**From the hymn, Man of Sorrows.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker