Category Archives: Matthew

⁹ As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.

¹⁰ Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. ¹¹ But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”

¹² When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” ¹³ Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

Matthew 9:9-13

Dear God, after I read this passage this morning, I remembered a conversation I had with a friend on Tuesday. I hadn’t thought about it since then, but now I remember. He asked if I would join him in prison ministry at a state prison about an hour and a half from here several times a year. My initial reaction was, No. No, I don’t want to do that. I told him I would consider it and pray about it, but then it left my mind as soon as he left and I have thought about it in three days. But here I am. I’m praying to you. I’m thinking about it. I suppose this is where I will live up to my word with him and “think and pray about it.”

Jesus certainly didn’t mind sitting with people of questionable repute. In fact, he was seemingly quite comfortable with them. He loved them. He wanted the best for them. He called on them to change and follow you, to be sure, but he didn’t insist on that before he came to them. In fact, a lot of people got help from him without ever having asked for forgiveness. I’m thinking the woman caught in adultery for one. I’m thinking about the man lowered through the roof. Jesus forgave without them ever asking him to. Very interesting.

Father, help me to really consider this invitation from my friend. Help me to completely hear from you what you want me to do. Are you calling me to this? Are you not calling me to this? I don’t know. But I know I want to really hear you on this one. There is so much need in the world. I know I don’t have to solve all of it, but I certainly want to use my life to touch those you are calling me to touch. Help me to know what that is.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

⁵ “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. ⁶ But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Matthew 6:5-6

Dear God, I admit that when I chose to put these prayer journals up to you on a blog for public consumption, I struggled with verse 5. Should I be doing this so publicly? What are my motives? Am I trying to impress people? But there are some things that have basically made me okay with this. First, for 95% of the people who read this, I am anonymous. They don’t know me. There are only a handful of people who see this who know who I am, and even they aren’t a daily part of my life.

Second, there’s a level of accountability here. The idea that I know people are seeing this helps keep me accountable for coming and doing this. Not that any of them will really notice if I skip a day or two. But in my head, I feel like it’s important for me to be here.

Third, there might be something in what I pray that will be a blessing to others. It’s a way of touching a stranger and sharing our journeys in your Spirit together.

Finally, and this is my main reason, I want to hopefully inspire people to do the same thing themselves. To open up your scripture and learn from you through it. Have the Holy Spirit sit with them as you do with me. And sometimes I hear you incorrectly. Sometimes I get it wrong. But I believe just the act of sitting with you day after day, continuously, cannot help but develop the fruit of your Spirit within me.

Father, I offer this prayer to you. I need you. I need you today. I need you in my life. I need you to teach me through your scripture and through the media and friends I allow into my life. If I am the average of the five people with whom I spend the most time, help me to pick those five people wisely, including those who speak to me through podcasts and videos. I want to me more and more like you every day. That will only happen if you are one of the five–the first among the five. Help me to get there today.

I offer this prayer to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. ¹⁶ You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. ¹⁹ So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

Matthew 7:15-20

Dear God, my temptation is to start by labeling people I know, either through mass media (politicians, celebrity pastors, movie stars, etc.) or in person who are the wolves disguised as sheep, and I do think that’s important. We do need to decide to whom we should listen by looking at the fruit of their lives. It’s definitely something to keep in mind as I allow others to influence me.

However, I think one big lesson from this is that I need to be very attentive to what I am doing in my own life to develop fruit that makes me a useful person to you. Am I producing good fruit or bad fruit? Am I a source of love, encouragement, and guiding people to be reconciled to you through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus? Am I spouting bad theology? Do my words or actions lead others astray? Am I loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and in control of myself? Do I weed the soil of my heart to get rid of the thorns that are the pursuit of selfishness/wealth and the cares of this world? Do I listen to good teaching? Can I discern good teaching from bad? Can I hear your Holy Spirit–your still small voice?

Father, help me to cultivate my heart to be a good representative of you. Help me to know and speak your truth to others. Help me to discern when others are producing bad fruit and heresy. Help me to know your voice and reject anything that is not your voice. Forgive me for my sin. Forgive me for not forgiving others. Help me to forgive others. I do not want anything to take away from my worship of you, including whatever rights I might feel like I have to my pain.

I offer this to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.
Matthew 18:15-17

Dear God, I heard someone refer to this passage recently, tongue in cheek, as their “Matthew 18 rights.”

I kind of had an experience like this lately where I asked to speak with a local church leader privately about something he was pursuing that concerned me. The great news is that this pastor, whom I believe truly loves you in a completely earnest way, is pursuing a line of theology that concerned me. But we have a good relationship, and I felt like we could talk about our disagreement constructively. I asked to meet with him, we had a great lunch, agreed on very little in terms of the specific topic, but then were able to leave still loving each other and assuming the best in each other. Like I said, I absolutely do not question his motives or his love for you. And I don’t think he questions mine. It’s just that, when it comes to this specific issue, we see your will and call on us differently.

I guess I’m relating it to this passage because I didn’t feel the need to publicly call this pastor out. My first reason is my respect for him. The second reason is kind of what I’ve been praying about earlier this week: I’m not 100% sure I’m right. I have my biases. He has his. I am “sure” I’m right. He is “sure” he’s right. Well, maybe we are. Maybe we are both hearing your call. And Maybe we aren’t. Maybe both of us are missing your call on us at some level. What I’m grateful for is that we both have hearts to completely serve and love you.

Father I was scheduled a few weeks ago to teach a Sunday school class at a church that, since that time, is going through a possible split over the LGTBQ+ issue. As I’ve worked on the story of Cornelius, Peter, and the Jerusalem apostles over the last two weeks, and as I continue to work on the lesson, my prayer is that you will infuse it with your presence, your words, and your will for the people who will hear the words I say. Use me. Remove me from the process. Love through me.

I offer this prayer to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

¹⁷ As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside privately and told them what was going to happen to him. ¹⁸ “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die. ¹⁹ Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”

Matthew 20:17-19

Dear God, I wish I could, just for a moment, understand how the disciples heard these words in real time. Not knowing then what I know now, what did he think Jesus meant? How was this not plain to them? Was it just too horrific to allow themselves to consider? Had he confused them so much in the past that they assumed this was some vague misdirection that didn’t really mean the literal version of what he said it meant?

But here’s the other part of this story. Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen. In fact, he encouraged it through some of his confrontations, and yet he still went to Jerusalem. Why? Because he knew it’s what humanity needed from him. One thing I thought about during this Lenten season was the idea that you, Triune God, sacrificed part of yourself for us. You still carry those scars. You made a piece yourself vulnerable to death. It’s incredible to really consider.

I still think back on the illustration I heard back in December on the incarnation. The pastor at the local First Baptist Church talked about a man that God took to observe a planet where the highest life form was dogs, but on the planet the dogs were just vicious and mean to each other. Hurting each other. Killing each other. They needed to be taught. And they needed redemption. The only way to teach them was to become a dog, show them the way of God, and then submit to their sin for their redemption.

Father, compared with you, I am no smarter than a dog. Probably less so. Help me to learn from Jesus’s life here on earth. Help me to hear your Holy Spirit speak to me today. Help me to be an embodiment of your kingdom coming and your will being done on earth as it is in heaven. Oh, Father, help me.

I pray all of this through Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen