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Matthew 5:17-19

17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew 5:17-19

Dear God, I’m going to be doing a talk next week at a Lutheran Lenten service, and as I read this passage this morning my thought is that I don’t want to teach anything that will get me “least in the Kingdom of Heaven” status. And that can be the hard part sometimes. I’m so ignorant. We all are. Is there anyone, all the way up to Tim Mackie (one of the better Bible scholars I’ve heard) who is not teaching some foolishness at some level? I know there’s an interview today on this one podcast I listen to about women teaching in the church. This guy just wrote a book about it. I’m not sure of his conclusions, but I can’t help but wonder if he truly didn’t know and set out to find the answer, or did he set out with an answer in his mind and then find the sources to support his conclusion.

I can go back and look at old prayers I typed to you years ago and find that I disagree now with what I wrote then. Some of it was out of biblical ignorance the first time I wrote it. Some was out of naivete. Some was just a result of bad teaching I received. And maybe some of it I was actually right about back then and I’m wrong now. If anyone besides you even reads what I’m writing today, I hope they see it purely from the standpoint of someone who is trying to simply spend time with you and allow my life to be molded by you and not to get any sort of “truth” out of it because everything I write is probably riddled with errors.

Father, I will have a chance to influence people today. Help me to do it well. I will have a chance to be influenced by others. Help me to be shrewd and discerning about the opinions I allow into my head. Protect me from hate. Protect me from bitterness. Protect me from selfishness. Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 11, 2026 in Matthew

 

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Matthew 18:21-35

21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!

23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.

26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.

29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”

Matthew 18:21-35

Dear God, it’s been several hours since I first read these verses and now I’m coming back to really try to dig in on them. I’ve kind of percolated on them all day. How much am I really aware of how much you’ve done for me? And I’m not talking just about forgiveness for my sins, which is tremendous. I’m also talking about all the blessings in my life I take for granted.

  • I was telling a friend at lunch today that I completely take my wife’s and my health for granted. It would only take one health event to rock our world.
  • My wife and I both have stable employment and income. I know I take that for granted.
  • You greatly provide for the nonprofit where I work, and no matter how much I try to give you credit and glory for it, I know that I still don’t do it enough.
  • I live in this totally unique country in the history of the world where we can be at war and there is zero impact on my life outside of a relative being deployed and my gasoline being more expensive. My life is shockingly soft. Honestly, I don’t even know if that’s a good or bad thing.

Father, I think what all of this really means is I need to remember that to whom much is given much is expected (Luke 12:48). That means I not only need to be generous with my forgiveness, but also my resources and my time. That starts with being generous in all of that with my wife and then going from there. Show me the way, Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit.

I pray this in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 10, 2026 in Matthew

 

“…anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and addiction.”

Speaking of the Asbury “Revival” two years ago, university president Dr. Kevin Brown recalled what someone said about the Gen Z young adults coming for prayer:

“Just a very quick story along those lines. Again this is anecdotal, but there was a constant prayer ministry [during the “revival”]. Again, we have a beautiful altar at the front of our chapel, and there were always people praying. And there were some amazing men and women who created a really structured prayer ministry. There were always people at the altar praying with people there. And a guy who was a part of that during that time that if Gen Z comes, he said they’re really only praying one of four things: anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and addiction. And predominantly with addiction, pornography. And that college day of prayer final evening, I remember being in the balcony and someone gave what felt like a prophetic word over 1,500 students, where he just said, ‘You will not be the generation defined by anxiety, depression, suicide, and addiction.’ And I just remember this like, this swell. This kind of cry arise from all of these students. And that’s where that Wesley expression came out. Chains falling off. Like running to God. Running to something beyond themselves.

Dr. Kevin Brown from interview with Skye Jethani on the Holy PostSkyePod” podcast – Looking back on the Asbury “Revival”

Dear God, how heartbreaking. I wonder how much of our youth and college ministers in churches are seeing this or willing to address this among their youth and young adults. I think probably what’s not talked about enough is how these concerns have crept into the older generations too. We might now have had them when we were in our teens and twenties 20, 30, 40, or even 50 years ago, but I think it’s safe to say it’s happening now. Is it all to be blamed on our phones? Is is all to be blamed on social media? Is it all to be blamed on Internet news? More likely, it’s a factor of all three combined to various degrees in a person’s life. But while some might get more of their access to negative content through social media, Internet news, or readily available pornography, I do think the common denominator is the handheld computer we’ve been able to carry around in our pockets for the last 20-25 years.

And I’m not immune to it. Even typing the quote this morning, I had my Bluetooth earbuds in while I quoted it from a podcast on my phone. And my phone is currently lying less than six inches from my left hand on the table where I’m typing this. It has certainly become a ubiquitous part of my life. Almost as prevalent on my person as clothing. It’s just so convenient. And entertaining. And stimulating. And relaxing. And while I would put myself in a healthier category for the types of content I access through it, I still dabble in news and some social media (I’m grateful to be free of pornography). But I know people who are trapped by news and social media, and I see it wearing on them. I see the anxiety. I see the depression.

Father, as I’ve taken today off, help me to see my phone for what it really is in my life. Show me how you see it. Convict me. Guide me. Help me to have eyes to see it and myself. Help me to have ears to hear exactly what the Holy Spirit wants to teach me. And then help me to sound the alarm for others–especially youth. I know all of these things are prevalent in our teens and young adults today. The irony of the people who have been so upset over the last few years over the “pornography in the libraries” is that they didn’t seemingly see it in the handheld computers nearly every teen and young adult carries in their pockets. These young adults at Asbury weren’t checking out pornographic books from this Methodist school’s library. They were accessing it on their phones. I guess I will close with the “prophetic word” Dr. Brown said was spoken over the prayer service: You will not be the generation defined by anxiety, depression, suicide, and addiction. Let that be true of all of us.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 

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“EPiC” and “Steve!”

Dear God, I went to the movies yesterday and saw “EPiC,” which is a collection of backstage, rehearsal, interview, and concert footage of Elvis, mainly focused in the very late-sixties/early-seventies. It was well-done. The man’s talent and charisma were amazing. He seemed to be very likeable. But I left it so sad. I sarcastically joked later, “I should have gone into music to be famous instead of what I’m doing now.” That was sarcastic because there is no part of me that left that movie theater wishing I could have changed places with him. I actually found myself wishing my life on him. How much happier would he have been?

As I thought about it later, I remembered this documentary on Steve Martin that came out a year ago called “Steve!” It was another example of watching something that just didn’t leave me feeling like I would trade my life with his for anything. He seemed so empty, even now. Like he was chasing that everlasting joy and happiness rabbit that kept just escaping him around the corner.

I think a lot of Mr. Martin’s pain is more about parental rejection and difficulty while Mr. Presley’s seemed to be more about a deal he had made with the public to give everything he had in exchange for their adoration and money. Both lives just came across as very empty.

Of course, we don’t have to be famous to have empty lives. There’s a funny line in the movie “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray where Bill Murray is living the same day over and over again, and he poses the question to two men, “What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same? And nothing that you did mattered?” One of the men (who is drunk) replies, “That about sums it up for me.” People are living empty lives all around me. And they might blame their marriage. They might blame their job. They might blame their kids or even the government. Maybe they even blame themselves.

The older I get the more I sink into the idea that when Jesus reiterated the great two commandments from you of us loving you with all we have and loving our neighbors as ourselves he meant it for our good, not yours. We were built to worship you and serve others. That’s where we find meaning. At least, that’s where I find meaning. And, on paper, my life might be incredibly insignificant in the whole scope of the world, but I sleep better at night when I know I’ve been able to get outside of myself, worship you, and love others.

Father, help me to carry reconciliation with you, worship of you, and then a path of working out our faith with fear and trembling with you to others. I’ve tried to offer a path of worshiping you to others lately, and I’ve been surprised how they’ve refused to do the work to take the path. The gate is truly narrow, and it’s frustrating for people no 1.) choose to get on it and walk it and 2.) blame other things for their lives not being what they want them to be. I have some friends right now who do walk the path, and the are simultaneously going through something very painful in their family. The path will be hard. The path will be painful. They will grow and be better at loving others because of the humility this path will bring them. But they will survive and grow on this path because they are walking the narrow part of it. If they were on the fringes and not walking through life with you then it might do them in. But that’s not going to be their story. So I ask that you please comfort and strengthen them. I ask that you would move and heal those they love. And I ask that you would give my wife and me eyes to see and ears to hear as we discern how you would have us love them through this.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 

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Psalm 139:23-24

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
    and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Psalm 139:23-24

Dear God, is this a prayer I’m really willing to pray? You’re God, after all. I mean, if I am a criminal and have things to hide, I can hide them really creatively, invite the police in and say, “Search me,” and they likely won’t find anything. It reminds me of Casablanca when Rick hides the stolen letters of transit in Sam’s piano and then allows the police to search his place. Things can be hidden from man.

But you’re God. You know my heart better than I do. There is nothing I can hide from you. I can be obstinate and turn my own blind eye to my sin. I can distract myself and avoid you. But I can’t say these words in verses 23 and 24 of Psalm 139, mean them, and then look the other way. Verses 7-12 of this same psalm say:

I can never escape from your Spirit!
    I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
    if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
    if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
    and the light around me to become night—
12     but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
    Darkness and light are the same to you.

David knew there was no hiding from you. I know that too.

So Father, I offer these words to you with as much sincerity as I can. Search me and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. Forgive my lack of faith. Forgive my selfishness. Forgive my vanity. Forgive how I judge others. Forgive how I slander. Holy Spirit, reveal to me what offends you, my Jesus, and the Father, my Triune God. Lead me along the path to be with God forever.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 7, 2026 in Psalms

 

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Isaiah 25:1

25 O Lord, I will honor and praise your name,
    for you are my God.
You do such wonderful things!
    You planned them long ago,
    and now you have accomplished them.

Isaiah 25:1

Dear God, this is the verse of the day from Bible Gateway, and it’s such an interesting one because it’s totally out of context. Isaiah is in the middle of this devastating prophecy about Tyre. But here’s what I like about it. It’s a reminder that, regardless of what might be happening in the land, you are to be praised. Your name is to be honored. You are my God. You do such wonderful things! You’ve planned all of this. Nothing, regardless of how horrible or wonderful escapes your notice. And I’ll add this to this verse. You don’t bite your nails and fret. You don’t worry. You are God!

I was talking about a friend whom I speak with every Friday morning, just a moment ago, and we were talking about how weird it is that our country is at war, and, outside of our gas prices being higher, our lives are not impacted at all. I will still drive to work this morning. The contractor will continue building. There are good people in the world right now who are really suffering today and so far my toughest decision has been which box of cereal to choose for breakfast. How do I handle that. I told him, “To put it in biblical terms in the time of Jesus, it’s weird to be a Roman living in Rome while the people in other parts of the world like Israel are experiencing the weight of our power.”

Father, I honestly don’t know what my response to the suffering in all different parts of the world today is supposed to be. I know prayer is the first response, but I’m not even sure how to pray. I guess I will pray, first and foremost, for the wisdom and humility of our leadership. I pray that they will be wise and shrewd. I pray that they will receive your counsel through voices they can hear. I pray that you will protect over people, provide food and care for them. Help all of this to stop. Please, ring it to an end. And I want to mention my niece and her husband really quickly. I normally do this part of my prayer silently to myself, but I want to ask that you please be with him and guide the doctors who work on his today. Strongly support him and my niece. Love them well. Impart your peace and power to them. Thank you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 6, 2026 in Isaiah

 

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Matthew 6:1-4

“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Matthew 6:1-4

Dear God, I think I try to do this when I can, but I’m in the awkward position today of being honored at a community banquet tonight for some of the work I do in the community. I think there are plenty of ways I serve and give that others don’t see, but sometimes I am working alongside others and so the deed is seen publicly. And I’m honored by this award. I really am. I’m humbled. I got tears in my eyes when they told me about it. What were those tears about? What were the emotions I was feeling?

As I sit here and pray before you now and examine my own heart, I think that the community recognizes that I love it is important to me. I love being here. I love serving here. I love loving people here. And I hope it’s all a reflection of my love for and worship of you. I hope when they see me they see you because it’s getting closer to you that brings me more and more out of my comfort zone and caring about others.

The other thing that has sat with me over the last few weeks as I’ve thought about receiving this recognition is how much I don’t do. I have friends who visit prisons and jails. I don’t do that. I have friends who went over to Kerrville after the floods to recover flood victims. I didn’t do that. I have staff that help operate a monthly food truck that distributes free food to the community. I only help them once or twice a year. And I know I can’t do everything, but there are times when I wonder if I don’t still have some guardrails around myself that I’m not willing to hear your voice and hear your call.

Father, you and I both know I’m not anything special except that I’m special in your eyes. You love me as much as you love people who are dying every day in war zones around the world. I have worth because I’m yours and really for no other reason than that. I have worth in that my earthly life might be useful in your desire to reach others and show them support and love. That starts with my family but then goes out to my neighbors. Help me to love you well. Help me to love others well. And then help me to point it all to you. That you might increase as I decrease. For your glory and so that others might know you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 5, 2026 in Matthew

 

Waiting

We Are Waiting” by Geoff Moore & The Distance

We are waiting, waiting
All of Your people anticipating
Come hear our plea, we are down on our knees, our knees
Oh come quickly Lord, You’re all that we need
Come find your people are waiting

From all across the earth our voices can be heard
A chorus of the faithful calling to the word
A hymn of invitation, our humble offering
Come find Your people are waiting

We are waiting, we are waiting
All of Your people anticipating
Come hear our plea, we are down on our knees
Oh come quickly Lord, You’re all that we need
Come find your people are waiting

With hands into the soil, and hearts toward the sky
We wait to hear Your call to draw us to Your side
But ’til that final day may You find us in the fields
Working with hearts that are waiting

We are waiting, we are waiting
All of Your people anticipating
Come hear our plea, we are down on our knees
Oh come quickly Lord, You’re all that we need
Come find your people are waiting

As a mother awaits her baby, all of creation is ready
For the trumpet to sound and the heavens unfold
We’ll rise from the ground to see You Lord
All of Your people anticipating
Come hear our plea, we are down on our knees

We are waiting, we are waiting
All of Your people anticipating
Come hear our plea, we are down on our knees
Come quickly Lord, You are all that we need
Come find your people are waiting

Written by Geoff Moore and Geof Barkley

Dear God, I thought about the patient prayer this morning and waiting on you. That’s when this old song from Geoff Moore about 30 years ago came to mind. I was initially thinking more along the lines of perseverance and just waiting on you to answer our prayers in your time so I didn’t think this song really fit where my head was. But then I spent a little bit of time with it and thought about it some more. As I looked at the verses I really liked the imagery in the second verse:

With hands into the soil, and hearts toward the sky
We wait to hear Your call to draw us to Your side
But ’til that final day may You find us in the fields
Working with hearts that are waiting

At the end of the day, you are what I’m waiting for. Now, frankly, I’m not really toiling and looking for Jesus to return any given day. I expect to die and see you then. But while I wait for that day, I will pray to you for the things of this earth that I care about: my wife, my children and their significant others, my family, my friends, my community, my country, my world, etc. And there are things that are going in ways that I don’t like. And there are some things that I pray a lot about. And there are some things that I’m frustrated you haven’t made it all work out the way I selfishly want it to work out. And so I keep praying, and through that process I hope you are doing your good in those situations and those lives. But that doesn’t mean I am called out of the world to just sit and wait. No, as this verse says, I need to keep working (with hands into the soil) and seeking you and your direction (heart toward the sky). And when the day of my death or your return comes, may you find me in the field where you’ve place me, working alongside others who are waiting.

Father, I remember Gary Thomas saying in a talk on marriage that I heard him give that he doesn’t hear enough sermons on perseverance. Help me to persevere in my prayer, in my discipleship with you, in my work, and in my waiting. And as far as the things I’m praying for that have not come to fruition in the way I think they should, I pray that you will give me the peace to know that you aren’t doing any of this so that I get things the way I want them. You are doing it so that your will might come and be done on earth as it is in heaven. Help me to be about your work and to have patience to wait.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 4, 2026 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Desperation

36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.

44 So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”

Matthew 26:36-46

Dear God, I don’t know that I’ll ever have to pray to you at this level of desperation, hoping that you’ll change your mind on something like this, but when I think of praying in desperation, this is the prayer in the Bible that comes to mind. Jesus, in the Garden, and hoping there might be a suitable Plan B.

But sometimes there simply isn’t a Plan B, and Plan A will cost me more than I want to pay. Or maybe it’s that life is just working out the way life is going to work out, and relieving me some sort of suffering will interrupt other plans. So I come to you in prayer, waiting for an answer, but one doesn’t come.

I’ve had one thing that’s caused me great pain for well over 10 years, and I pray about it almost every day, but, so far, I can’t see your answer. You might be actively answering it in ways that I cannot see. I’m trusting that you are. But still I continue to pray. But I can only imagine what my prayers would be like if I were to need to pray for my wife’s health or something like that. If her or my children’s lives were threatened, I cannot imagine what my prayers would look like.

Father, I like the fact that Jesus gave us an example of what a desperate prayer looking out for our own self-interests looks like. He told you what he hoped for and wanted, but he also submitted to you and what you needed from him. He didn’t want to do it, and that, frankly, makes the sacrifice mean that much more. If I knew that he just breezed through it and got the indication that he didn’t really suffer like an ordinary man would have then it would change how I see this whole story. But one things Jesus’s fear and reluctance shows me is that the sacrifice was real. The love for me was real. It legitimately cost him something he didn’t want to have to give, but he did it anyway. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Holy Spirit.

I pray this in the name on Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 3, 2026 in Matthew

 

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“One More Song for You” by The Imperials

“One More Song for You” by The Imperials

As long as there is time
And one breath left in me
There will always be one more song for You
And as long as there is room
For one more voice in praise
And a need for a word of love and truth
To help my brother through
There’ll be one more song for You

You were there
With Your songs of laughter
Words of hope for my fears
But what are songs
When no one else will sing them
What are words when no one hears
There were times life became a question
And when I asked, no one knew
‘Til I found the answer in You

So as long as there is time
And one breath left in me
There will always be one more song for You
And as long as there is room
For one more voice in praise
And a need for a word of love and truth
To help my brother through
There’ll be one more song for You

Written by Michael and Stormie Omaritan

Dear God, I was listening to a YouTube video this morning about the new movie about Elvis called EPiC (Elvis Presley in Concert). They were talking about the gospel music influence on Elvis’s music, and they listed a bunch of gospel quartets. One of the groups they mentioned was The Imperials. Now, The Imperials that would have influenced Elvis would have been a much older more traditional sound than the Imperials from the 70s and 80, but for whatever reason, this was the song that came to mind when I thought of the Imperials.

As I thought about this song and sang it in my head, I was thinking about this series on prayer and how worship is one of the key aspects of prayer. It’s interesting that I tend to do my acclaiming of your awesomeness and majesty through song more than through actual prayer. But either way, there are times when my prayer is just pure worship. Actually, what we could probably use are more Christians songs of Christian lament before you. Songs of disorientation, like I talked about a couple of days ago. I can flip through the hymnal or listen to Christian radio and not really hear, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” We aren’t really supposed to say that in church without claiming the victory on the other side.

Father, as long as there is time and one breath left in me, there will always be one more song, one more acclamation, and one more prayer of worship for you. As long as there is room for one more voice of praise, I’ll lend my voice to it. You are my God. I put my trust and hope in you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 2, 2026 in Hymns and Songs

 

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