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A Prayer about the Necessity of Christian Community

by | Sep 11, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about the Necessity of Christian Community

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…2 Corinthians 5:18

Reconciling Father,

Yesterday, we prayed about 

your treasured gift of Christian community, 

today, we remember its necessity.

You could have shared the message of the gospel without us,

but you designed us to serve you by spreading the good news.

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, 

“But God put his Word into the mouth of human beings 

so that it may be passed on to others….

[You have] willed that we should seek and find 

God’s living Word in the testimony of other Christians.”*

This is why we must seek out face-to-face fellowship 

with those who know and love the good news of the gospel. 

Because the “Christ in my heart is weaker 

than the Christ in the word of other Christians.”*

Thank you for that sister who spoke up in Sunday school, 

sharing her favorite verse; 

thank you for how her words reminded me 

that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 

Thank you for our faithful Bible study leaders, 

who study the lesson and draw us to see the truths in your Word 

we would never have seen on our own. 

Thank you, of course, for our faithful pastors and ministry leaders, 

who work so hard to preach and teach the gospel week after week,

year after year. 

Our hearts are indeed “uncertain” 

when we are left to ourselves; 

with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we become sure.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21. 

This prayer inspired by Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, Life Together. Quotes from page 32. 



A Prayer about the Treasure of Christian Community

by | Sep 10, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about the Treasure of Christian Community

I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. 2 John 1:12

Gracious God, 

Creator of Christian community, 

help us to marvel at the good gift 

of face-to-face fellowship 

with other believers. 

In recent years, 

we learned how privileged we are

to be able to gather safely together 

with the body of Christ. 

After the season of social distancing, 

it took some of us awhile 

to get used to being together again, 

and it can still be tempting 

to “watch the livestream” 

rather than to get up, get dressed, and get to church. 

Oh, Lord, may it not be so! 

Help us to understand 

what imprisoned theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer understood 

when he wrote, “visible community is grace.”* 

Help us to see that face-to-face fellowship 

is a foretaste of the day 

when you will 

“gather us in…

for you have redeemed us” (see Zechariah 10:8-9). 

Help us to remember that 

“we belong to one another 

only through and in Jesus Christ.” 

Help us to remember 

that Jesus broke down the dividing wall of hostility 

that we might be united, 

as one community in Christ, 

for all of eternity. 

One day soon we will see Jesus face to face, 

but until then, 

may we enjoy your wonder-full gift 

of face-to-face fellowship 

with our dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

In Jesus’ uniting name. Amen.

Read Zechariah 10:8-12; 1 Thessalonians 3:10; Psalm 42:4; Ephesians 2:14-18. 

*This prayer was inspired and informed by Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s great book, Life Together. First quote is from p. 28 and second from p. 33.

A Prayer about Clearing the Caregiver Fog

by | Sep 9, 2023 | Caregiving, Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Clearing the Caregiver Fog

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city…. Revelation 22:1

Creator God,

Today we lift up all the caregivers of hospital patients. 

You are with them, 

so you know the fog that sets in 

after days of caring for a patient 

in the hospital. 

It may feel like Pigpen’s cloud 

surrounding the brain, 

making clear thinking dusty

when it seems essential.

In the room dimly lit by fluorescents, 

the walls are two awful shades of beige, 

and before you know it, 

every thought and perspective is colored dingy beige.

Lord into this foggy space,

we ask you to send the radiating light of your Son, 

that the caregiver’s mind and heart 

might be transported 

to the glorious day to come. 

May she see the silvery river of the water of life 

glistening into this dim space. 

May she brighten at the brilliant greens 

and lemon yellows 

of the leaves of the tree 

for the healing of nations (and patients). 

May she imagine the better day, 

the eternal day 

when she and her loved one will taste of all twelve kinds of fruit, 

pomegranates and mangoes and juicy oranges and grapes 

bursting with the joy of it all.

Comfort the caregiver with this true hope, 

the hope of eternal glory.

In Jesus’ restoring name. Amen. 

Read Revelation 22:1-5.



A Prayer about Living like We’re Dying

by | Sep 5, 2023 | aging, dying, and death, Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Living like We’re Dying

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

Heavenly Father, 

In the novel I just read, 

a professor gives her college English students a short essay question: 

“What would you do if you knew 

you only had forty days left to live?”*

At its core, this is what Psalm 90:12 asks us to do, 

to “number our days,” 

to recognize that our earthly days have a limit, 

that our lives have an expiration date. 

We ask you to teach us, 

to show us how,

to remind us, 

to number our days, 

because when we do so, 

we get “a heart of wisdom.” 

We become 

forgiving, honoring, lamenting,

vulnerable, grateful, humble people, 

people who know the depths of your love for us 

and who can’t wait to share that love with others.

So today we ask you to help us to think or to journal, 

if only for a few minutes, 

about how we would spend our days 

if we only had forty of them left.

Read Psalm 71, Psalm 90; Psalm 92.

*From Book 3 of the Sensible Shoes Series by Sharon Garlough Brown.


A Prayer about Honoring the Aging

by | Sep 4, 2023 | aging, dying, and death, Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Honoring the Aging

The glory of the young is their strength;

the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old.

Proverbs 20:29


   Everlasting Father,

In a world that often marginalizes or mocks the elderly, 

transform us into people who honor and value the elderly.

Even as we age, may we see your holy purposes for aging—

some may no longer have the energy to tend to babies all night long, 

but they do wake up in the night, 

and they can pray for those who do.

Some may no longer have the physical agility 

to perform skilled labor, 

but they do have years of experience 

and can teach those who do.

Some may no longer have the responsibilities 

of running a business, 

but they do have the ability and wisdom 

to give good counsel to those who do.

Lord, may we see the opportunities aging affords, 

and may we embrace not only our own aging, 

but the aging of others. 

May we see that you call the elderly 

to continue giving you glory 

by learning and leading every day of their lives. 

In Jesus’ redeeming name. Amen.

Read Proverbs 20:29; Titus 2:2-5; 1 Timothy 5:1 .



A Prayer about Those Who Turn Away from Jesus

by | Sep 2, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Those Who Turn Away from Jesus

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

John 6:66

Heavenly Father,

This must be one of the saddest verses in all of Scripture. 

Not too long before this, 

Jesus had fed well over five thousand people 

with five loaves of bread and two fish (John 6:1-16). 

The next day, the crowd of people sought out Jesus, 

wanting them to feed them again, 

but he pointed out their true and desperate need for living bread: 

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. 

If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (John 6:51). 

Many of the more religious people were confused and disgruntled 

by Jesus’ words—

they were hungry and thirsty 

and just wanted Jesus to do more miracles. 

Sadly, they missed what we sometimes miss—

our deepest need is spiritual. 

We seek things of this earth 

to fill our hunger, our thirst, 

and yet, what we really need 

is what Jesus has already given: 

his blood shed for us, 

his body broken for us, 

and the new life that comes 

from dining on the bread of life (John 6:53-54). 

Father, we know that those who are truly in Christ 

will never turn away from him. 

For those who have turned away from Christ, 

we pray that by your Spirit, 

they will be drawn to return, 

to trust Christ alone 

to fill their hunger and thirst. 

In Jesus’ saving name. Amen.

Read John 6:22-71.