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A Prayer about Hospitality

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

A Prayer about Hospitality

Where do you get that living water? John 4:11

Lord Jesus,

What a host you are! 

We confess, in our world, 

especially for those of us who live in the southern part of the U.S., 

we are confused about hospitality. 

We often think it’s all about 

cleaning up our homes, 

baking blueberry pie, 

and inviting people to dinner. 

And there’s nothing wrong with that. 

But help us to see your hospitality, 

your welcome of a stranger, 

in this beautiful and true story in John 4. 

You were weary and thirsty. 

You asked a Samaritan woman (an outcast in that culture) 

to give you a drink of water. 

She was shocked. 

And then you began talking with her 

about the living water you could offer her. 

She was curious. 

“Where do you get this living water?” 

Then, shockingly, you raised one of the topics 

we definitely are told 

not to discuss in polite dinner table conversation—

her sex life: 

“You have had five husbands, 

and the one you have now is not your husband” (John 4:18). 

But you didn’t say it to shame her. 

You said it to invite her to the truth: 

she needed you to give her the living water 

that would wash her sins away. 

She left her meeting with you thrilled, ecstatic, 

eager to invite her townspeople, 

people who had rejected her, 

to “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. 

Can this be the Christ?” (John 4:29). 

Lord, grow in us the kind of hospitality 

that invites those who rejected us 

to meet the One who can give them living water. 

Amen.

Read John 4:1-42. 



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about the Profound Peace God Gives

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

A Prayer about the Profound Peace God Gives

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27

God of Peace,

When my kids were young, 

with four children in six years, 

sometimes all I wanted was a little peace and quiet. 

Nothing wrong with a little peace and quiet, 

but may we never forget that your peace 

is something far richer, far more wonderful.

Your peace, in Hebrew, is shalom, 

a state of “universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight.”* 

This shalom gives rise to wonder, awe, and joy, 

at the God who brings it.

After Adam and Eve sinned, 

the world, and all who lived in it, 

fell into a state of disorder, 

a state of chaos, 

in which disease and division and dissension ruled the day. 

But you, the God of peace, 

sent Jesus, our Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), 

to give us peace with you (Romans 5:1). 

Because Jesus died for our sins, 

we who trust in him for salvation, 

are reconciled with you (Romans 5:10).

Now, united to Christ, 

we live in his legacy of peace, 

of wholeness, flourishing, and delight. 

And even as we are still troubled at times by this fallen world, 

we look forward to the day 

when Christ our peace will return 

to fully restore all peace. 

In that day, we will live forever in harmony 

with you and with others.

Thank you for being our peace 

today and every day until that day.

In Jesus’ peace-bringing name. Amen. 

Read John 14:25-27; Romans 16:20; Isaiah 26:3; Romans 5:1-11.

See Cornelius Plantinga’s book Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin for this quote on shalom and more about shalom. 



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Not Wavering in Worry

by | Jun 8, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Not Wavering in Worry

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.

Psalm 125:1

Lord,

We want to be like Mount Zion, like Mount Rainier, like Mount Everest, 

our faith and hope so firmly planted 

in your grace, goodness, and generosity 

that we never even tremble when uncertainty comes.

The reality is that we worry about little and large things, 

what-if’s we can’t control: 

what if the plane is delayed and I miss my flight, 

what if my child doesn’t love Jesus, 

what if it’s cancer? 

Help us, by your Spirit, 

to fix our hopes on Jesus, 

who is always in the business of redeeming and restoring. 

Remind us — it is true: 

“As the mountains surround Jerusalem, 

so you surround your people….” (Psalm 125:2)

Like a hen with its brood safely hidden under its wings, 

we are safely ensconced in your perfect love. 

Remind us — it is true: “from this time forth and forevermore….” 

You are not just holding and helping us 

today or in this one moment, 

you are holding and helping us 

every day in every moment.

Thank you for this unshakable hope.

In the name of our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray. 

Amen.

Read Psalm 125. 



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Being Ready for Christ’s Return

by | Jun 7, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Being Ready for Christ’s Return

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look here it is!’ Or ‘There!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” Luke 17:20-21

Christ our King,

We confess, 

even as we pray daily, “Thy kingdom come,” 

we can be misled by people 

who tell us we will see flashy signs 

that the day of your return is near. 

You yourself told the Pharisees 

and the disciples 

that we wouldn’t be able to predict 

the coming of your kingdom, 

to know exactly the day or the time. 

You also said that it is already here, 

and indeed, since your first coming to earth, 

the kingdom of God has come near. 

You also instructed your disciples 

to be ready for the day you will come again 

in all of your glory 

to reign over your restored earth 

with all who trust in you. 

What should we do? 

We should be ready. 

What makes us ready? 

Very simply, 

trusting you, 

waiting on you, 

seeking the things of your kingdom. 

Very simply, 

praying for and sharing your love 

with those who refuse to bow before you, 

desiring no one to be eternally separated from you 

because of their rebellion. 

By your grace, draw us near

to your throne of grace daily 

to gain the mercy and grace 

we need 

to wait well for your glorious kingdom.

In your ruling name. Amen.  

Read Luke 17:20-37.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about the Best Heart Transplant

by | Jun 6, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about the Best Heart Transplant

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 

Ezekiel 36:26.

Lord God,

I’ve always been fascinated with the strange prophecies of Ezekiel. 

I love the part where you tell him to breathe into the dry bones, 

and “there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, 

and the bones came together, bone to its bone.”

Then you tell Ezekiel to breathe some more, 

and all of these skeletons are covered with flesh  (Ezekiel 37:7-10). 

It is a vivid picture of the new life you give us in Jesus Christ. 

We were walking skeletons in our sin (Ephesians 2:1), 

but you raised us to new life. 

Not only that, you gave us a heart transplant, 

so that we would be your people, 

and you would be our God.

Fill our imaginations, Lord. 

Help us to see our new hearts 

learning to pump out the lifeblood of love. 

Send us as your grace-plump, enfleshed people, 

into a hurting world that desperately needs new hearts.

In Jesus’ life-giving name. Amen.

Read Ezekiel 36:22-38; 37:1-14.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Killing Sin

by | Jun 5, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Killing Sin

And those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:24

Holy Father,

We confess, we are often bewildered 

by our ongoing struggle with sin. 

We know that we “have been crucified with Christ. 

It is no longer [we] who live but Christ who lives in us” (Gal. 2:20). 

We know that we still struggle with “the works of the flesh,” 

that is our sinful selfish attitudes and behaviors, 

things like sexual immorality…idolatry…envy…strife…fits of anger…

just to name a few in the long list of Galatians 5:20-21. 

How do we “crucify the flesh,” 

how do we not let “sin reign in our mortal bodies” (Romans 6:12)? 

Only by continuing to “walk in the Spirit,” 

continuing to see our sin nailed to the cross. 

As theologian Philip Ryken explains, 

our sin has a way of climbing off that cross. 

And we have a way of helping it make a “speedy recovery: 

We are sometimes tempted to remove the nails, 

help our old sinful nature down from the cross, 

and nurse it back to health.”* 

In the power of the Spirit, 

and only in the power of the Spirit, 

can we put that sin back on the cross 

and “pound the nails in a little deeper.” 

When we do so, 

we are marked by the fruit of the Spirit, 

the beauty and loveliness of Christ. 

Lord, help us to crucify our sin 

and keep it on the cross.

In Jesus’ powerful name. Amen. 

*See Philip Ryken’s commentary on Galatians. 



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker