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A Prayer about Receiving Christ

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

A Prayer about Receiving Christ

Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. Colossians 2:6

Precious Lord,

May we not rush past the first two clauses of this profound verse 

in our hurry to finish our daily Bible reading. 

First, let’s pause and ask, 

“Have we received Christ Jesus the Lord?” 

Have we been given this free gift 

and marveled at the wonder 

that we have been chosen as its recipient? 

Do we remember that you are a gift given to us by our Father, 

not because we deserved it or earned it 

but simply because of his abounding grace? 

Second, we should ask, “What is this gift we have received?” 

It is you, Christ, the “anointed One,” our King. 

It is you, Jesus, our Savior. 

It is you, our dear Lord, 

the one who rules over heaven and earth. 

What a treasure we have been given!  

What an honor to receive such a gift! 

When we have paused to consider the “unsearchable riches” 

we have received in you, 

then and only then, 

can we understand how to “walk in you.” 

To walk in you is to be filled by your Spirit, 

to be moved to action. 

We do not merely sit in our recliner, 

reveling in our gift. 

We live out of your riches in glory, 

knowing that we have all that we need 

because we have you. 

We act, believing what we have received, 

moving with confidence to tell others 

about the extraordinary gift 

of Christ Jesus our Lord.

In your beautiful name we pray. Amen.

Read Colossians 2:1-6. 



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Knowing Our God-given Limits

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

A Prayer about Knowing Our God-given Limits

So Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases, and he cast out many demons.

Mark 1:33

Precious Jesus, 

As we live in your strength through your Spirit, 

may we learn to follow your lead in knowing when to say “enough.” 

Not too long ago,

I heard some wise words 

on saying no to the demands of our world.* 

Vanessa Hawkins, the speaker, 

pointed out that though people brought “all” who were sick, 

and the “whole” city was gathered, 

you chose to heal “many,” not all (Mark 1:32-33). 

We don’t know your ways, 

but we know you have the wisdom of limits, 

something we would do well to learn. 

So often we strive 

to do it all, 

to have it all, 

to be all things 

to all people. 

But you healed “many,” 

and then, as Vanessa pointed out, 

you went to sleep. 

The next morning 

you got up, “rose,” very early, 

to go out and pray (Mark 1:35).

Tomorrow we’ll consider how you found rest in prayer, 

as you heard your Father 

speak words of delight and purpose over you.

For today, we ask that you would send your Spirit 

to show us places 

where we may be trying to live beyond 

the very human limits 

you yourself submitted to. 

In your limit-giving name. Amen. 

Read Mark 1: 21-39.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about the God Who Hears Our Groans

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

A Prayer about the God Who Hears Our Groans

And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. 

Exodus 2:24–25

All-knowing God,

We are so grateful that we know 

that you know our very groans. 

You hear our groans, 

whether over grief due to a loved one’s death 

or the suffering of mental illness 

or the sorrow over wars and strivings. 

As you hear, you see us in our suffering, 

and you know us through and through. 

That knowledge leads you to act on our behalf. 

We who belong to you know 

that you have rescued us already 

from the worst slavery, 

the slavery to sin and death. 

But you don’t stop there. 

You continue your redemptive work 

in this hurting world, 

every moment till our Savior returns 

to fully establish his kingdom of shalom 

right here on this groaning earth. 

We are so grateful—

you never never forget 

your covenant with your people, 

sealed through your Spirit, 

kept through your faithfulness in your Son. 

And we are so grateful—

as you remember, you rescue. 

In Jesus’ hope-bringing name. Amen.

Read Exodus 2.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Ageism

by | Apr 6, 2024 | aging, dying, and death, Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Ageism

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

1 Timothy 5:1-2

Good Father,

Forgive us for the ways 

we sometimes marginalize older people. 

We do it in unnoticeable and unmistakeable ways: 

with sins of omission 

(not seeking ways to include the elderly 

by making churches and homes accessible 

in space, sight, and sound), 

or by sins of commission: 

grumbling about how slowly an older person moves

or how poorly they drive. 

You make it abundantly clear that all people, 

from cradle to grave, 

deserve dignity and honor, 

because we are created in your image (Gen. 1:26-27). 

The fifth commandment calls us to honor fathers and mothers, 

promising that doing so leads to lengthy life (Ex. 20:12). 

In 1 Timothy, Paul instructs Timothy,

“do not rebuke an older man harshly, 

but exhort him as if he were your father,” 

treat “older women as mothers,” 

and help widows in need (see 5: 1-3). 

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees 

for failing to care well for their parents (see Mark 7:9-13). 

Help us to see the subtle ways we marginalize the elderly. 

Help us to think of ways to honor the elderly 

and to welcome them in our lives.

In Jesus’s name. Amen.

Read Proverbs 16:31; Ecclesiastes 12; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10.



 

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Marvelous Nonsense

by | Apr 2, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Marvelous Nonsense

But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Luke 24:12

Lord, 

We rejoice today, remembering the early days after your resurrection. 

The women had gone to the tomb looking for you 

and had been told by angels that you weren’t there, 

for you had risen. 

They did as instructed, 

running to tell the apostles the unbelievable good news.

But the apostles thought it was “an idle tale,” “nonsense,” 

even though you had told them on multiple occasions 

that you would rise from the dead (Mark 9:30-32; Matthew 16:21-28; Matthew 17:22-23). 

Lord, we live in a skeptical and cynical world, 

where belief in miracles is often scoffed at. 

Open our minds to study the Scriptures 

and our hearts to the unimaginable 

good news of the gospel. 

Make us like Peter, 

who ran to the tomb to see for himself, 

bent down, looked in, and saw your grave-clothes 

lying in an empty tomb. 

When he realized you were gone, 

he “marveled” at what had happened. 

Make us marvelers too. 

It is an amazing story. It is a marvel-ous story. 

It is a story that changes everything about life and death.

In your risen name. Amen.

Read Luke 24:1-12.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker

A Prayer about Not Missing the Obvious

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

A Prayer about Not Missing the Obvious

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:27

Risen Lord,

This story reminds us that William Shakespeare 

was not the first person to use dramatic irony to humorous effect. 

You walked along the road with two of your followers all the way to Emmaus. 

They thought you were really out of it 

not to have heard anything about 

“Jesus of Nazareth, 

a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word…

and how our chief priests and rulers 

delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him” (Luke 24:19-20).

What did your heart feel 

when you heard their aching disappointment: 

“But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21)?

We don’t know, but we do know you gave these two followers 

the best Bible study ever, 

showing them how all of Scripture 

pointed to your redemption of not only Israel 

but of every tribe, tongue, nation, and people group (Luke 24:27).

You arrived at the village, 

accepting their invitation to dine with them.

You “took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them” (Luke 24:30). 

Only then were their “eyes opened and they recognized him” (Luke 24:31).

Lord, we have been given so much more opportunity 

to see you than these two followers. 

May we never be blind to your risen presence 

among us through the Holy Spirit. 

May we seek you in the Scriptures morning by morning, 

day by day, knowing the truth about you 

flashes at us from every direction like the neon signs on Broadway. 

And may we, in recognizing the reality of your resurrection, 

worship you by telling others this profoundly good news. 

In your ever-present name. Amen.

Read Luke 24:13-35.



Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage

author, life and legacy coach, speaker