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A Prayer about the Necessity of Christian Community

by | Sep 14, 2024 | 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. 

**This prayer is part of a celebration of the one-year anniversary of the free online community, the NYD Network, which offers gospel-centered encouragement and equipping for issues of aging, caregiving, legacy, and end-of-life. Why not join today or invite someone you love to join? (It’s FREE!) Link: https://numberingyourdaysnetwork.mn.co/share/B5q0dGGIOR0f996K?utm_source=manual



A Prayer about the Treasure of Christian Community

by | Sep 13, 2024 | 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 1:2

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.

**This prayer is part of a celebration of the one-year anniversary of the free online community, the NYD Network, which offers gospel-centered encouragement and equipping for issues of aging, caregiving, legacy, and end-of-life. Why not join today or invite someone you love to join? (It’s FREE!) Link: https://numberingyourdaysnetwork.mn.co/share/B5q0dGGIOR0f996K?utm_source=manual



A Prayer about Praying in Stories of Suffering

by | Sep 10, 2024 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Spiritual Growth, Suffering

A Prayer about Praying in Stories of Suffering

She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. Luke 2:36 

Answering God, 

How we thank you for the story of Anna, 

the 84-year-old widow who had known deep suffering. 

In her world, losing a husband meant losing everything — 

financial provision, status, power. 

And yet, Anna, who lost her husband after only seven years of marriage, 

by your grace, 

chose not to become embittered by suffering, 

staying close to you in the temple, 

listening to your Word, 

worshiping you, 

fasting and praying, 

“night and day.” 

May we follow Anna’s lead when life seems out of control—

When our adult children make decisions we disagree with,

When our grandchildren make mayhem of their young lives,

When our bodies make a mess of our plans to age gracefully….

Let us pray.

As we pray, our faith grows: 

we remember the countless stories of your redemption.

As we pray, our hope grows: 

we envision the redemption that will come in the midst of hard stories.

As we pray, our love grows: 

we live out Christ’s love in a way that invites the hurting to come to you.

In prayer, we learn to wait well for your redemption.

In prayer, we hear your astounding answer, 

redemption in Christ,

And we begin to pray again, 

thanking you for your kindness 

sharing the good news of Christ with others. 

In Jesus’ redeeming name. Amen.

Read Luke 2:36-38.



A Prayer about How to Spend Our Last Forty Days

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

A Prayer about How to Spend Our Last Forty Days

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

James 4:14, ESV

Everlasting God,

Forgive us for “boasting in our arrogance” (James: 4:13)

for the ways we fail to thank you 

for all of the good gifts you have given us, 

including each day of our lives 

and all provision for that day. 

May we heed 87-year-old theologian J. I. Packer’s instructions:**

“First, wake each day with the question, 

‘How do you want me to glorify and enjoy you today?’

Second, “Live practicing the presence of God in Christ”

 — yes, Lord, help us to listen to less of this world’s noise 

that we may rest 

in the gentle and lowly presence of our Savior.

Third, finish the course well: 

“Our last sprint should be a sprint indeed.” 

May we not waste our four or forty or four hundred or four thousand days 

on trivialities 

but may we spend each of them 

sharing the good news 

of our hope of glory 

in Jesus Christ 

by setting our affairs in order,  

by encouraging friends, family, strangers, and enemies, 

by forgiving our enemies inexcusable betrayals, 

and by speaking and writing 

the many stories of redemption 

you have written in our lives.

In Jesus’ living and dying and resurrected name. Amen.

**I highly recommend Packer’s little book, Finishing Our Course with Joy: Guidance from God for Engaging with Our Aging



A Prayer about Living like We’re Dying

by | Sep 8, 2024 | 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.

**This prayer is part of a celebration of the one-year anniversary of the free online community, the NYD Network, which offers gospel-centered encouragement and equipping for issues of aging, caregiving, legacy, and end-of-life. Why not join today or invite someone you love to join? (It’s FREE!) Link: https://numberingyourdaysnetwork.mn.co/share/B5q0dGGIOR0f996K?utm_source=manual



A Prayer about Honoring the Aging

by | Sep 7, 2024 | 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