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A Prayer about Answers to Prayer

by | Apr 14, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Prayer

A Prayer about Answers to Prayer

Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Mark 11:23

Miracle-Working Father,

We confess, 

we’re a little confused about what Jesus said 

to his disciples about prayer. 

If someone suffering from mental illness 

truly believes that you will heal her psyche, 

will it come to pass?

If someone suffering from quadriplegia 

truly believes that you will make her walk, 

will it come to pass?

What do we make of Jesus’ words, 

“whatever you ask in prayer, 

believe that you have received it, 

and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24)? 

There are no easy answers to these questions. 

What we do know is that we are called to trust in you, 

and we are called to surrender to your will (Matthew 6:10). 

We are called to believe 

that you can toss a mountain into the sea, 

you can heal a hemorrhaging woman (Mark 5:25-34), 

and you can raise your Son from the dead. 

We are also called to pray as Jesus did, 

“Father, all things are possible for you…

Yet not what I will, but what you will…” (Mark 14:36).

Help us Lord, to persist in as-yet-unanswered prayer. 

Help us Lord, to submit to your will 

in the way you answer prayer, 

knowing that you always give us good gifts (Matthew 7:11), 

even if they are not the gifts we think we need.

Read Mark 11:20-25; Mark 14:36; Matthew 6:9-13.

A Prayer about Persistent Prayer

by | Mar 13, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Lent, Prayer

A Prayer about Persistent Prayer

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7

Good Father,

What a gift you have given us in prayer.

We are timid and doubtful 

and rarely dare to ask or seek or knock 

for the things we really need or want, 

and yet, you command us to do just that. 

The Greek words, “ask,” “seek,” “knock” 

would be better translated, 

“Keep on asking,”

“Keep on seeking,”

“Keep on knocking….”

You want us to ask again and again and again…

for you to transform that stubborn way 

we have of judging others into a gentle spirit 

that assumes the best.

You want us to seek your face 

again and again and again…

when we don’t understand 

why our child has to suffer with cancer 

or a learning disability 

or mental illness

 or loneliness.

You want us to knock again and again and again…

pleading with you to break down the walls 

that divide our world, 

begging you to put an end to all wars.

urging you to display your justice on this earth.

You have shown us that you are indeed a “good Father” 

who gives good gifts to your children.

So today, we ask, we seek, we knock.

[Name some things you’d like to ask your Father for].

In Jesus’ promise-keeping name. Amen. 

Read Matthew 7:7-11.

A Prayer about Finding Rest in Prayer

by | Mar 7, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Lent, Prayer

A Prayer about Finding Rest in Prayer

…and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” Mark 1:37 

Rest-giving Jesus,

Today we return to our theme 

of finding rest in an anxious world. 

As we witness what you did, 

empower us to do the same:

You rose very early in the morning, 

and you went “out to a desolate place,” 

and you prayed (Mark 1:35). 

Lord, one thing is clear — 

we need to find quiet. 

In order to find rest, 

we must be intentional 

about getting away from the noisy demands 

of our cell phones 

and our self-talk, 

of our crying babies 

and our screaming inboxes. 

Why must we get quiet? 

Because if we do not, 

we cannot hear you singing 

your delight over us (Zephaniah 3:14-17). 

If we do not get quiet, 

we cannot “stay on purpose,” 

as Vanessa pointed out in her talk*. 

If we don’t get quiet, 

when people come to us with their demands, 

“Everyone is looking for you” 

(bosses, employees, 

friends, spouses, 

children, grandchildren….), 

we will puff up with pride and think, 

“Oh, how important I am!” 

But you did not puff up with pride 

when your disciples told you that. 

No, you “stayed on purpose,” 

and you refused to yield 

to someone else’s purpose for you 

that was not your God-given purpose. 

You said, “Let us go on to the next towns, 

that I may preach there also, 

for that is why I came out” (Mark 1:38). 

Precious Jesus, 

forgive us for getting distracted, 

for not listening to 

your voice, 

to the Father’s voice, 

to the Spirit’s voice. 

Forgive us for hearing the demands and applause of “everyone”

 and thinking we must do as they say. 

Help us in our desperate weakness 

to follow you, 

to do our Father’s will. 

In your praying name. Amen.

Read Mark 1:35-39. 

This prayer, like yesterday’s, was inspired by a talk given at the PCA women’s ministers leadership training by Vanessa Hawkins.

A Prayer about Thanking God for Unanswered Prayers

by | Feb 18, 2023 | Daily Prayer, Prayer

A Prayer about Thanking God for Unanswered Prayers

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?

Luke 11:10

Good Father, 

I’ve been thinking a lot about prayers I prayed 

that you didn’t answer the way I wanted 

or prayers that you answered 

with those two hard words, “not yet” or “no.” 

For many of those answers, 

I am now so grateful:

Thank you for not getting me back together 

with that mean high school boyfriend,

Thank you for not letting us

get that house I wanted in my friends’ neighborhood,

Thank you for not giving me that full scholarship to college 

that seemed like a dream come true 

(because I might never have transferred to the college where I met my husband)…

[Name some “prayers answered differently” that you are now thankful for].

I confess, God, there are some prayers I’ve prayed 

that are still answered “not yet” 

and prayers for which I didn’t honestly love your answer: 

The prayer that angels would protect my mother 

when she was sick with Covid.

The prayer that our children would be healthy every day of their lives.

[Name some “answered differently” prayers you’re not so sure about].

And yet, we cannot, we do not, doubt your love for us. 

We cannot, we do not, doubt you want the best for us. 

We do believe that you are a good Father 

who is working your best plan 

not only for our good 

but also for the good of your kingdom. 

And we’re grateful to be part of that kingdom plan. 

Thank you for hearing our prayers.

In Jesus’ faithful name. Amen.

Read Matthew 6:5-15.

*Quotes from Nathan Bierma’s great book, Bringing Heaven down to Earth

A Prayer about the Coming of God’s Kingdom

by | Feb 17, 2023 | Daily Prayer, kingdom living, Prayer

A Prayer about the Coming of God’s Kingdom

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

Heavenly Father,

Forgive us for ever mumbling this prayer by rote, 

not really thinking about what we are asking for.

The fact is, this is a radical prayer. 

It is a prayer you invite us to pray daily. 

It is a prayer for when a marriage falls apart, 

for when a economic woes threaten our business, 

for when a house is under water after a flood. 

When we pray this prayer, 

we remember whose kingdom we’re seeking—yours. 

You are a God characterized by “holy stubbornness,” 

a “refusal to accept ruin.”* 

You are the God who repaired broken creation 

by becoming man and dying on a cross. 

Your kingdom is characterized by shalom, 

universal flourishing, “heavenly wholeness.”*

Your kingdom is the kingdom 

that opposes the kingdom of darkness. 

To pray “your kingdom come” 

is to ask Jesus to defeat the destroyer’s efforts today. 

To pray “your kingdom come” 

is to repent of our tendencies 

to create small kingdoms by placing ourselves, 

our loved ones, our work, our homes, 

or any other thing we see as ours, 

on the throne of our lives. 

Indeed, Lord, your kingdom come.

In Jesus’ coming name. Amen.

Read Matthew 6:7-15.

 

*Quotes from Nathan Bierma’s great book, Bringing Heaven down to Earth

A Prayer about Praying God’s Promises Back to Him

by | Feb 5, 2023 | Daily Prayer, gratitude, Prayer, worship, gratitude

A Prayer about Praying God’s Promises Back to Him

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever. Exodus 32:13

Merciful Lord,

When we have blown it again, 

help us to remember how badly the Israelites had blown it. 

You had brought them out of slavery in Egypt, 

you had provided manna for them in the wilderness, 

you had promised to make them a great nation 

and to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey. 

Moses left to meet with you, 

and the next thing we know, 

the people are asking Aaron 

to “make us gods who shall go before us” (Exodus 32:1). 

And Aaron, Moses’ brother, 

the one you provided for Moses’ help, 

collects gold and fashion a golden calf. 

Holy Lord, do we really comprehend 

what an affront to your holiness this was? 

Moses did. 

He understood that he and his people deserved your wrath. 

And yet, he prayed your promises back to you. 

He did not collapse in self-contempt 

as some of us may do when we’ve blown it again. 

Instead, he reminded you 

of your power 

and your might 

and your plan. 

(As if you needed to be reminded.) 

On that basis, 

he asked for your mercy. 

On that basis, 

he asked for your continued presence. 

On that basis, he asked you to show him your glory (Exodus 32:18). 

Not only did you respond 

by giving Moses a glimpse of your glory 

that would not destroy him, 

you gave us Jesus, 

the very living presence of your glory. 

Because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, 

when we have blown it,

we can “with confidence 

draw near to the throne of grace, 

that we may receive mercy 

and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). 

What great good news this is!

Amen. 

Read Exodus 32-34.