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A Prayer about Not Growing Weary and Fainthearted

by | Sep 28, 2022 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, kingdom living, Suffering

A Prayer about Not Growing Weary and Fainthearted

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. Hebrews 12:3

Good Father, 

yesterday we prayed through our reason and hope 

for endurance from Hebrews 12:1 and 2.

Now we come to your gentle encouragement 

for weary followers in verse 3. 

We know that the Hebrew Christians 

to whom this letter was written 

were growing weary in their faith, 

having endured many trials, 

and the author is urging them to persevere. 

In the anti-Christian society in which we live, 

we need this crucial reminder. 

We have every reason 

to persevere in our faith — 

unlike Abraham and Moses and Joshua and Rahab 

and all the others mentioned in Hebrews 11, 

we know the true story of your Son 

who became flesh, and endured “such hostility” —

the mocking, beating, and humiliating and suffocating 

death on the cross, for us. 

We know he finished his race, 

and now, sitting next to you in heaven,

he continues to strengthen us to finish ours. 

We know that the hostility and hardships 

you allow in our lives you use to shape us 

more and more into the image of your Son, our Savior. 

Because of your kindness and grace, 

help us to endure whatever trials 

we may face today 

through the hope of our risen Savior. 

In Jesus’ enduring name. Amen.

Read Hebrews 12: 1-17.

A Prayer about Running the Race with Endurance

by | Sep 27, 2022 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, kingdom living, Numbering Our Days

A Prayer about Running the Race with Endurance

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

Lord Jesus,

As the author of my faith and the author of my story, 

you know that I always remember this verse 

in the NASB version in which I first memorized it. 

I had been a camper for two life-changing weeks 

at Young Life’s Pioneer Plunge, a wilderness camp, 

and the culmination of our time was a three mile run 

down the mountain (three miles was a long way for 

this out-of-shape fifteen-year-old). 

We were encouraged to memorize these verses 

and to see ourselves running the life of faith with endurance. 

Even before we began, we were encouraged 

to “lay aside every encumbrance 

and the sin which so easily entangles us”

by confessing it to you and possibly to one other. 

When we felt weary or like we couldn’t go on, 

we were to fix our eyes on you, 

“the author and perfecter of our faith,” 

who endured the cross 

because of the joy set before you — 

the joy of knowing 

you were winning your Father’s children back to him. 

We were also to imagine the “great cloud of witnesses,” 

those who had run the race before us, 

Abraham and Sarah and Rahab and Moses

and the “women who received back their dead by resurrection” (Hebrews 11:35). 

(Now I know more and realize these characters

weren’t necessarily heroes of faith 

running like antelope 

but more recipients of your grace, 

stumbling along the way.)

Even if we had to quit running 

and walk part or all of the way, 

we were to remember that you “despised the shame” of the cross, 

so that we might never experience the shame of sin again. 

And if we encountered obstacles along the way, 

we were to ask for help, 

because you sit at the right hand of the throne of God, 

interceding for us.

I pray for my friends and me today, 

that we would continue running this same race with endurance, 

fixing our eyes on you, 

that we might see you 

writing and perfecting your story of faith in our lives.

In your perfect name. Amen.

Read Hebrews 11:1-12:2.

A Prayer about Coming Alongside Caregivers

by | Sep 26, 2022 | aging, dying, and death, Caregiving, Daily Prayer, Gospel living

A Prayer about Coming Alongside Caregivers

….four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on the mat, right down in front of Jesus.

Mark 2:4.

Gentle Jesus,

Bring to mind the people we know 

who are acting as caregivers to the sick or disabled in this season. 

They often find themselves 

paralyzed with guilt or grief, 

with confusion and exhaustion. 

Show us how we can be like the four friends to them, 

laying them on the mat 

and breaking through barriers 

to bring them before you. 

May we serve them in practical ways, 

cooking meals and doing yard work, 

helping them navigate the insurance maze, 

staying with their loved one 

so they can make doctor’s appointments 

or go for a walk. 

May we serve them 

by listening to them,

by encouraging them to lament,

and by praying for and with them 

when they can’t find the words to pray. 

Help us, Lord, to have the faith and kindness 

of the paralytic’s mat-friends 

to bring our caregiving friends before you 

to ask you to heal and help them. 

In your caring name. Amen.

Read Mark 2:1-5. 

A Prayer about Drawing Near to God

by | Sep 21, 2022 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living, worship, gratitude

A Prayer about Drawing Near to God

And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:21-22

Holy and Merciful God,

It’s easy to pass right over this verse 

without meditating on how astonishing it is 

that you, the holy Creator and King of the universe, 

have called us to draw near to you. 

Like oil and water, sin and holiness don’t mix. 

Like cheap paint on a rusted out car, 

the sacrifices of goats and calves passed quickly away,

leaving the ugly framework of an evil conscience glaring in the sun.

You knew we needed not only a great high priest 

but a lasting sacrifice. 

And you sent Jesus, 

your only Son, your holy Son, 

to keep the law we could never keep. 

You allowed his blood to trickle down 

from the wounds in his nail-scarred hands, 

to wash the bodies of those who would trust in his sacrifice.

And you raised him from the dead, 

bringing him to the heavenly throne next to you,

where he now prays for us. 

It’s truly a bizarre story. 

And yet, it is the only story that calls us 

to “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:22).

We are humbled and awed by your goodness to us.

In the name of our great high Priest, Jesus, 

we thank you. Amen.

Read Hebrews 9:11-14; 10:19-25.

A Prayer about Finding True Justice

by | Sep 19, 2022 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living

A Prayer about Finding True Justice

How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Psalm 82:2

Judge of the Earth,

All it took me was a stint on jury duty 

to realize how poorly qualified 

I am to serve on a jury. 

I want to believe I could be fair and impartial, 

to believe the defendant is innocent until proven guilty. 

And yet, I know in my heart how quickly 

I can jump to conclusions, 

how quickly I can judge another, 

how I think I know the whole story when I don’t. 

Help me to relinquish my daily “jury duty” to you, 

the judge of the earth.

You see the intentions of the heart perfectly.

You defend the weak and the fatherless.

You uphold the cause of the poor and oppressed.

You rescue the weak and the needy.

You deliver the weak and the needy 

from the hand of the wicked (Psalm 82:3-4). 

And through Jesus, who died 

so that we may be acquitted for our sins, 

you have called and empowered us to be like you. 

Send us out into this broken world 

to love the weak and needy as you do. 

In Jesus’ sacrificial name. Amen.

Read Psalm 82:1-8. 

A Prayer about the One God Who Unites Diverse People

by | Sep 18, 2022 | Gospel living, Scripture

A Prayer about the One God Who Unites Diverse People

 In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.’ -Isaiah 19:24–25 (ESV)

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Isaiah stunned the Israelites 

by prophesying that fierce enemies, 

Egypt, Assyria, and Israel, 

would one day be blessed and gathered by you 

as one people to worship and glorify you.

You, diverse in person and yet wholly one God, 

united in purpose, 

have spread your glory over all the earth. 

You have reconciled sinners to yourself, 

you are redeeming the entire cosmos, 

and you are healing every division.

If the Egyptians and Assyrians and Israelites 

will one day gather together to worship you, 

surely we can move beyond 

political, racial, economic, and even theological differences 

to worship and glorify your name. 

Make us one as you are One, Holy Trinity.

In Jesus’ reuniting name. Amen. 

Read Isaiah 19:23-24; Galatians 3:7-9; Ephesians 2:11-22; Revelation 7:9-10.