Category Archives: Matthew

As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. “Go into the village over there,” he said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.” This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said, “Tell the people of Jerusalem, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.’”
Matthew 21:1-5

Dear God, Jesus was being so intentional here. He knew where this week would end. He knew the path he would take to get there. Beyond his decision to go to Jerusalem, this is the first deliberate step he took to execute the plan you had for him. Like a roller coaster climbing that first hill before gravity takes over for the rest of the ride, the journey to Jerusalem was that hill and this event is the cresting of that hill and releasing the momentum to draw to its natural conclusion at the end of the ride.

As I sit here this morning I’m having two thoughts. First, I’m grateful Jesus did what he did. Second, I’m wondering if there are any parallels for me and my life. Are there times when you are calling me to do the hard thing and I’m unwilling? Is there something hard you’re calling me to do now that I’m missing or unwilling to do?

Father, guide me. Direct me. Give me courage. Give me serenity. Give me wisdom. And forgive me.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

⁴³ “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. ⁴⁴ But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! ⁴⁵ In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. ⁴⁶ If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. ⁴⁷ If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. ⁴⁸ But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Matthew 5:43-48

Dear God, being perfect, even as you are perfect, is an interesting target to try to hit. Of course, I can’t be perfect, and I need Jesus’s blood, resurrection, mercy and grace to be even be seen by you. I get that. But still Jesus is saying that we need to simply be above what is going on around us. We need to be above both revenge for evil done to us and reward for good done to us. It’s not how you work. You give sunlight and rain regardless of our good or evil behaviors. You love me and others despite the fact that we don’t love you with all of our heart, mind, and strength.

On a scale of 1-10, I am probably about a 3 when it comes to remembering to look at the world beyond what I can see with my eyes. That is to say, every once in a while I am actually cognizant that you are doing things I cannot see and my actions are not necessarily correlated with the fruit in my life I can see with my eyes. If I see good fruit, that doesn’t necessarily mean I did it right. If I see bad fruit, that doesn’t necessarily mean I did it wrong. Like I said, sometimes I remember this–but most of the time I don’t.

Father, help me to love my neighbor as myself. Help me to not return bad with bad. Help me to not take an eye when my eye is taken. I’m not saying I should just allow others to walk all over me, undermine me, etc. But I am saying that, while I can put up some reasonable boundaries, it doesn’t mean I cannot love them at the same time. And thank you again for loving me way beyond what I deserve. Thank you for not taking revenge out upon me for all of the times I failed you.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it. For before John came, all the prophets and the law of Moses looked forward to this present time.
Matthew 11:12-13

Dear God, we are so ignorant. Jesus is talking here about the Kingdom of Heaven forcefully advancing, and I’m sure the people listening interpreted his words to mean that revolution was coming. They would have been shocked to learn that John was about to die, and Jesus wouldn’t be terribly far behind him.

So we have the wrong image of what “advancing” looks like. For us, advancing looks like power, influence and control. For you, it seems like advancing looks like enacting an unseen plan that might look like losing. I go back to Andy Stanley’s sermon from August 2020, Not in it to Win It. And I can take that concept and apply it to every area of my life—not just politics. What does your Kingdom advancing in the lives of my children look like? What about my work? My marriage? My relationships with family? The politics of our community or our country. My intelligence tells me that the fastest way to get where I think things should be is a straight line, but maybe we have to take what looks like losses so that we can ultimately be part of your Kingdom advancing.

Father, I don’t even need to understand your plan. I never could anyway. I just need to be faithful and trust you. Help me to trust you, worship you, and give you glory for everything you’ve done that I can and cannot see. You are my God, and I am grateful for you.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.” Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.” But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.
Matthew 8:5-13

Dear God, so faith is more important than sinlessness. I find this story interesting because we are talking about a sick slave here and Jesus doesn’t seem to care about the slave part. He had a goal and a mission. He had a limited amount of time. T

here were all kinds of societal issues of the day he didn’t address. I guess it is significant to examine what his priorities seemed to be: Faith, love, no hypocrisy, repentance, caring for poor, etc. He didn’t seem to even notice Rome or its power over everyone. He was grassroots, bottom-up, not top-down.

Father, help me to start with the basics Jesus taught and then build everything else in my life upon those things. Help me to create a foundation of repentance, faith, love, caring food the poor and no hypocrisy. Then I can put up walls that includes loving my family and those around me. I can put on a roof that sees me serving my community. And ultimately I will have a house that represents you to the world and invites them in to build the same for themselves—from the ground up.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.

Matthew 6:33

Dear God, a couple of months ago I started to see the idea of your Kingdom coming as something we have to wait for as possibly errant. Perhaps it’s something we have to wait for and something that’s already here. Perhaps you want your kingdom to come into the world today. At this moment. Through me. Through your body.

So when Jesus tells me to seek first your kingdom and righteousness and then these things will me added to me, he’s once again encouraging me to be about your kingdom coming into the earth in this moment. When I take my eyes off of myself, and even the needs of food and clothing Jesus mentions in the previous verses, when I stop the worrying Jesus is talking about here, and simply seek to keep myself pure and love everyone I can, doing the work the Holy Spirit calls me to do, then something special can happen. To quote the hymn, “the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of [your] glory and grace.”

Father, I have a budget meeting for work today. We are going to be talking about growth for next year. New programs. Helping others. Helping more people in new ways. It will obviously cost money and people resources. Help us. Help us, Holy Spirit, to ask good questions, be humble in the answers we seek, and find the best path for your kingdom to be here on earth, or at least in our community, as much as possible. Help us to do it for your glory and not ours. Give us your eyes, and make us about your righteousness and glory, not our own agenda.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!

“Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’”
Matthew 23:15-16

Dear God, this is just one small section of the daily gospel reading for some denominations today, but it struck me as I read it this morning. It’s a reminder to not take lightly being your ambassador. If I represent you to others around me and I draw others to you, am I showing them the real you? Am I suggesting wrong things about you?

Even as I publicly journal some of my prayers to you, do I pray errant things that mislead some who read them? My original motivation in starting this was to hopefully encourage some people to do their own prayer journal. To sit down and think through what your scripture might be saying to them personally. Has the public part of this journal morphed, even in my own heart, into something I use to pontificate and try to teach what I think I’m learning from you? Have I harmed your children through misunderstood lessons you’ve tried to teach me?

Father, my encouragement for the world is that they be followers of you and not just believers in you. I think of the people around the world right now, especially in Afghanistan, who are killing in your name. It’s hard to imagine them being true followers of you, the God of Abraham. I see them much like I see those “Christians” who stormed the capital on January 6. They were believers, but I doubt they were followers. So help us to all follow you. Show me the role you have for me to play in your kingdom today so that it can come to earth and so your will can be done on earth. Come, oh Lord!

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen