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Matthew 5:17-19

11 Mar

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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“EPiC” and “Steve!”

08 Mar

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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Posted by on March 8, 2026 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Psalm 139:23-24

07 Mar

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:

7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
    I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
    if I go down to the grave, you are there.
9 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

06 Mar

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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Waiting

04 Mar

“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

03 Mar

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

02 Mar

“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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Ignorance

01 Mar

Dear God, I learned yesterday that our nation took extensive military action on another nation, killing it’s top leader and several beneath him. Was it a good thing? Was it a bad thing? The right thing to do? The wrong thing to do? I’d love to say that I know, but how could I possibly know? There are things that people know about this situation that I don’t know. And then there are things that you know in the spiritual realm that they don’t know. I’m just a little guy in a small town in the United States with incomplete information. So my response was to ask my wife to go to our church’s chapel and pray for…well, everyone. It was a prayer of ignorance, just asking for you to move in this historical moment. To move in your mysterious way. Does that prayer change you and your actions? Does my little prayer make a cosmic difference? I don’t know, but it felt important to do it, not only for your glory and plan, but for my understanding of my place in all of this and learning to trust you.

As I thought about our trip to the chapel, I thought about these prayers I’m doing to you about prayer. This is certainly an area of prayer–praying in ignorance. I don’t understand a given situation in my life. I don’t know why this family member, friend, or community member is acting the way they are, but I know they need prayer. I know they need to be part of your kingdom. I know they need your peace that only comes through walking through the narrow gate. I know they need your daily bread and forgiveness.

Father, when it comes right down to it, every prayer I pray is laced with ignorance because I have no idea what you’re doing or what is going on around me. I don’t know what you’re doing in my life, my wife’s life, my children’s lives, my friends’ lives, etc. at any given moment, much less the activities in the entire world. That’s why I submit myself to your kingdom and your will. Your kingdom come. Your will be done. My will is foolish and ignorant. I will likely almost always ask for the wrong thing. So I offer you the prayer today that I offered you last night. Be in every situation. Help the leaders to receive your counsel through voices they can hear around them. But regardless of how this all turns out or how it even impacts my life or my personal safety, my hope is not in anything that is happening here. My hope is only in you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 1, 2026 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Rage Room

28 Feb

Dear God, I logged on to Facebook this morning to post the daily Parents of the Bible Lenten Meditations I’ve been doing on my Parents of the Bible Substack for Lent, and I happened to see a woman’s post about a political thing. It was a bemoaning of everything Democrats have done wrong when in power over the last 20 years (well, 17 years). That’s fine. The part that disheartened me was at the end when it ended with four words and three exclamation points: “Now it’s our turn!!!”

Honestly, the woman who shared someone else’s post who is my Facebook “friend” isn’t someone I could pick out of a lineup. I’m not sure how I knew her once or if I’m supposed to know her now, but I’ve forgotten. So I went to figure out how I knew her, and I saw another post. In this one, she was was angry (the irony of this will be apparent in just a second) that her family’s reservation at a “Rage Room” had somehow been canceled, so she created a rage room of her own for a birthday party for a child so they could have their rage-filled experience. HOLD IT! What? A Rage Room? I had never heard of this before. These things exist? Of course, I had to Google one, and it was as bad as I thought it would be. The biggest fonts on the page that were reversed out in white on a black background were “Seek + Destroy,” “Unleash Your Rage,” “Release Your Inner Beast” (with beast in red), “Rage Sessions” (sessions was in red for some reason), “Signature Rages” (rages in red), and “Join the Rage Club” (rage club in red). Probably most disconcerting was the fact that nearly all of the images, including the image at the top of the page, and video reels were of children wielding destructive weapons while donning their safety mask and suit . Every week in Sports Illustrated, they would end their weekly news briefs column with a little blurb they called “This Week’s Sign the Apocalypse is Upon Us.” That was my thought when I saw this webpage.

But linking back to the woman who posted this. She is an older woman. I’d guess she’s in her 70s. And she is pursuing the idols of power, which in turn will let her down, which in turn will fill her with rage, which will in turn cause her to look for another idol to meet her needs, with will in turn let her down, which will in turn fill her with more rage. This pattern will continue until she is driven to create a rage room to teach other children to express their anger at something as rage to the point that violence is the acceptable outlet for it. It’s tragic and frightening.

Okay, so with all that said, and as I sit here in a moral, self-righteous judgment on this woman and anyone who is like her, let me step back and turn the viewer on myself. How do I handle my anger? How do I pray through my anger? As I think about prayer what I will say to the church I’m speaking at on the 18th, I think praying through anger, as well as the other emotions (yesterday, I talked about lament and disorientation) is important. As I sit here now, I’m trying to think of times the disciples got angry. Peter got angry with Jesus when Jesus was talking about dying. Peter had made an idol out of Jesus living his earthly life forever and probably had Jesus rising to political power somewhere in his calculus as well. He let his anger get to a point where he was an inadvertent temptation to Jesus on behalf of Satan (Matthew 16:21-23). I thought of James and John wanting to call down fire on the Samaritans for not welcoming them on their way to Jerusalem for what would be the Passion Week (Luke 9:51-56). There are all kinds of examples.

There are also examples of Jesus getting angry. Usually he would take that anger and use it to challenge the powers that be by asking them hard questions that would make them face their hypocrisy. The only time he really physically displayed his anger was when he turned over the tables in the Temple and grabbed a whip (John 2:13-16). But was the whip for the people or just to drive out the animals? Probably the animals. I don’t think Jesus was trying to whip people. He was making a point. An emphatic point. It wasn’t reckless rage. It was a thoughtful display of anger and making his point. And depending on when one thinks he did this (was is Passion week as in Matthew or early on as in John, or perhaps both) it could have also been an intentional ploy to provoke the Pharisees into killing him. Point being, the disciples displayed anger in unhealthy ways. Jesus used his anger to try to improve others in a constructive way.

Father, I have anger. I’m angry at people who have hurt me. I’m angry at people who I think are hurting our community, our country, and our world. And I think you give us this anger so we can pray through how you want to use it to motivate us. If I’m angry about vape shops opening in my town, what would you have me do with that anger? If I’m angry about sex trafficking, what would you have me do with that anger? If I’m angry about how someone has treated me or someone I love, what would you have me do with that anger? James and John were angry with the Samaritans. Maybe they needed to stop and pray for the Samaritans, and may the Holy Spirit would have given them a heart for the Samaritans’ pain–the pain that drove them to deny Jesus passage through their village. Maybe Peter could have taken his anger, and asked that you reveal to him if there was an idol and his own agenda you were trying to reveal to him. Now that I think about it, it would be interesting to make a list of the different ways you use anger in our lives. Maybe that’s what I’ll look at tomorrow. Until then, create in me a clean heart, oh God. And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 28, 2026 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Prayer: Orientation, Disorientation, and Reorientation

27 Feb

Dear God, while I was working out this morning I got to thinking about this talk on prayer I’m supposed to give on the 18th, and wondered what I need to consider next. That’s when this thought came to me: orientation, disorientation, and reorientation. I take it from something I heard about a few years ago by Walter Brueggemann. He was talking about the psalms, but I don’t think we have to be writing songs or poetry for our prayers to fall and the state of our hearts to be in one or more of these categories at a given time. And I think it’s important that we acknowledge this.

Okay, I just remembered a dream I had last night. I was preaching in a church and I was saying all the platitudes that churchgoers have heard all their lives. God is love. Jesus loves you. God is for you. The words were empty, and I made eye contact with a woman in the audience (I don’t know who she was) whose expression told me that I was just giving a bunch of empty words. The look jolted me out of it and I switched my talk/sermon into challenging people with practical takeaways. So I guess I need to think and pray about–make that pray and think about–what you really want people to walk about of my talk that night with. I can get up there and give them a bunch of ideas, but if they don’t walk out with a piece of you to carry with them and pursue then I’ll just be a clanging gong.

Back to orientation, disorientation, and reorientation, I think that sometimes we think we are only allowed to be oriented towards your awesomeness or reoriented after a trial, but we deny ourselves the idea of being disoriented in our lives with you. And sometimes I’ve been disoriented. I’ve had times where I’ve been disappointed in you and disillusioned by you. And the word disillusion can normally be seen as a negative word, but I think, in its best sense, it means that we had an unreal illusion that was destroyed. And I’ve had that of you to some extent at times in my life. I had illusions about what I thought I should expect from you because of our relationship. I thought you should cater to my desires a little more. And I thought my desires were noble, but even those noble desires hid idols I was trying to protect.

Idols. It always seems to come back to idols and the first commandment. Love you with everything I have and have no other gods before you. I guess part of the disorienting prayer is to find and get rid of the idols. I like that.

Father, I’ve certainly felt all three of these states of my heart. I think I’m fairly oriented right now. I’m grateful for what you have done, are doing, and will do. I have no expectations of you right now, but I know we are only one piece of bad news away from being disoriented. Like my friend who found out recently she has breast cancer. Like my friend who was in a bad car accident. Life can come at you out of the blue. So help me to use this time of orientation well and not take it for granted because I know the time of disorientation could happen at any moment, and I don’t want to let anything, even terrible catastrophe, get in the way of my relationship with you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 27, 2026 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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