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A Prayer about Being United to Christ

A Prayer about Being United to Christ

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Col. 3:3

Precious Jesus,

Please open the eyes of our hearts 

that we might understand all of the riches 

we have in our union with you, 

that we might live accordingly. 

Our old self has died, 

and with it, all of our slavery to sin—

we can be free of idolatry of every kind:

addiction to control or to crack, 

to work or to wasting time, 

to sexual immorality or to secret lusts.

We are raised with you, 

“holy and beloved” (3:1, 12), 

so we can put on compassion, 

letting others go first in a long line at the gas station, 

patiently waiting when our friend always runs fifteen minutes late, 

forgiving our co-worker for taking credit for our work, 

seeking to restore harmony with a roommate 

who never takes out the trash or does the dishes… (Col. 3:14).

Indeed, joined to you, 

we will “share in your sufferings” (Philippians 3:10), 

but because we are hidden in you, 

you will bear the brunt of those sufferings, 

as a pregnant mother does for the baby in her womb. 

Most wonderfully of all, 

because we are joined to you, 

we can never be separated from you. 

Gentle Jesus, may we indeed be thankful and peaceful. 

May we sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Col. 3:16-17)

 as we grasp this incredibly good news!

In your life-transforming name. Amen.

Read Colossians 3.



A Prayer about Confessing Our Sins

A Prayer about Confessing Our Sins

Let your ear be attentive, and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night…confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Nehemiah 1:6

Great and Awesome God,

Again we come to you with the words of Nehemiah, 

who is teaching us to pray.

We, like Nehemiah, 

answer you with your assuring Word, 

reminding you of your covenant promises 

of steadfast love. 

Like Nehemiah, 

we need to confess our sins to you, 

our own sins and the sins of “the people,” 

which belong to us as the body of Christ.

Unlike Nehemiah, 

we who are covenant-breakers 

have even greater assurance 

of your forgiveness for our sins—

“how much more will the blood of Christ, 

who through the eternal Spirit 

offered himself without blemish to God, 

purify our conscience 

from dead works 

to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14).

Because of our covenant-keeping Savior, 

we have the confidence 

to approach your throne of grace,

to find the mercy and grace we need (Hebrews 4:16). 

As we name your steadfast love 

and confess our sins, 

may our hope swell 

and our vision of redemption sharpen, 

sending us out to love 

all who are in “great trouble and shame.”

In Jesus’ atoning name. Amen.

Read Nehemiah 1:1-11.



A Prayer about Praying Our Emotions

A Prayer about Praying Our Emotions

As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:4

God of heaven,

Thank you for how your Word 

teaches us to pray. 

I confess, I don’t know where I got the idea 

that prayer needed to be formal and stiff 

and even a little stoic, 

because the Bible is full of people (including Jesus) 

laying their emotions before you in prayer (see Psalm 22, Psalm 88, Luke 22:39-46). 

May we not merely observe Nehemiah’s prayer, 

may we enter it, 

engaging you with the cries of our heart 

for the people we pray for, 

including ourselves. 

May we sit down (stop our busy rushing here and there) 

before you, the God of heaven. 

May we weep and mourn, 

not just for five minutes but for fifty days. 

May we focus our prayers 

through fasting, 

whether giving up food or phones or shopping or TV. 

As we still ourselves before you, 

may we hear your voice speaking 

confidence and comfort over us. 

As we get rid of the things we think are essential to our lives, 

may we see you, 

the maker of heaven and earth, 

at work even now, 

bringing your heavenly kingdom to bear 

on the trouble and shame of this broken world. 

In Jesus’ compassionate name. Amen.

Read Nehemiah 1. 



A Prayer about Not Wearing Purple When We’re Old

A Prayer about Not Wearing Purple When We’re Old

I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7

Holy God,

With all due respect to the delightful poet Jenny Joseph, 

who wrote the humorous poem, “Warning” 

about how she would become a rebel when she was old 

and “wear purple with a red hat that doesn’t go,” 

help us to resist the temptation 

that often faces us as we age. 

We are told by our culture 

that we should relax and take it easy. 

While there’s nothing wrong with 

relaxing or enjoying life or even slowing down a bit, 

what we must resist is, to quote 87-year-old J.I. Packer, 

“practicing self-indulgence up to the limit….

[filling [our lives] with novelties and hobbies, 

anything and everything that will hold [our] interest.”*

Indeed, our spiritual gifts and calling to minister the gospel 

do not “wither with age.” 

You have called us to live each day to the full, 

going where you call us to go 

(even if it’s to a hospital bed to pray), 

doing what you give us to do. 

Until the end, we are called to present our aging bodies 

as “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to you….” 

Until the end, we must “not be conformed to this world, 

but be transformed by the renewing of our minds…” (Romans 12:1-2). 

Help us, Lord, to fight the good fight and to finish the race well.

In Jesus’ ancient name. Amen. 

Read Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 2 Timothy 4:6-8. 

*Quote is from J. I. Packer’s book Finishing Our Course with Joy: Guidance from God for Engaging with Our Aging



A Prayer about Encouraging the Faint-Hearted

A Prayer about Encouraging the Faint-Hearted

Encourage the fainthearted, and help the weak… 

1 Thessalonians 5:14

Heavenly Father,

At times, our burdens become so great 

that we struggle 

to pray, 

to believe, 

to hope. 

At such times, 

we thank you for the church, 

the community of believers 

called to bear our burdens with us (Galatians 6:2). 

I remember when my kids were small 

and we had to walk a long way, 

my husband would sometimes lift them on his shoulders to give their weary legs a rest. 

From high above, 

they gained new perspective 

and a much-needed rest. 

In the same way, 

as we “encourage the fainthearted and help the weak,” may we give them 

the rest they desperately need. 

May we believe for them 

when they are struggling with doubt. 

May we hope for them 

when they are weary of waiting for redemption. 

May we endure hardship with them 

as they suffer. 

Lord, if we are the ones 

needing a rest, 

may we reach out for it 

and receive it. 

Lord, if we are the ones called and strengthened 

to give that rest, 

lead us to your weary ones who need it.

In Jesus’ burden-bearing name. Amen.

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:14; 1 Corinthians 13:7; Galatians 6:2. 



A Prayer about Walking in the Light of the Lord’s Glory

A Prayer about Walking in the Light of the Lord’s Glory

Happy are the people who know the joyful shout;

Lord, they walk in the light from your face. Psalm 89:15

Everpresent Father, Jesus Immanuel, Indwelling Spirit,

We confess, 

we often walk through our days 

forgetting your presence. 

Re-orient us, we pray, 

so that we may be aware of “the light from your face” 

shining on us in every step we take, 

in every place we go, 

each day and every day, 

all the days of our lives.

Help us to not only “set our minds on the things above” (Colossians 3:2), 

but to see that you are “always before [us]” (Psalm 16:8), 

that we are in Christ, and Christ is in us, 

by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

When we become so fully aware of your inescapable presence, 

we will have peace in the midst of literal and metaphorical storms,

hope in the midst of disasters and diagnoses,

love in the midst of broken relationships,

joy in the midst of painful losses.

Walking in the light of your glory, 

we will indeed shout joyfully; 

we will indeed “spread the fragrance” 

of your sweet aroma everywhere we go (2 Corinthians 2:14).

In the name of our Lord who came near to us we pray.

Amen.

Read Psalm 89; Colossians 3:2; Psalm 16:8; 2 Corinthians 2:14.