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1 Thessalonians 5:12-22

07 May

12 Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. 13 Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other.

14 Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.

15 See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.

16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

19 Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. 20 Do not scoff at prophecies, 21 but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away from every kind of evil.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-22

Dear God, there’s a humility to this that I like. There’s a letting go of rights, being willing to yield to others, and a humble submission to you that is a great reminder. I’m in a situation now where I’m involved with a group that I just get to be a part of the team. I don’t have to be the leader of the team. Frankly, I’m kind of reveling in it. Give me a job. Give me the tools and resources I need to do the job. I’ll get it done. There are problems to solve, but I don’t have to be the one to solve them. I can counsel with the one who’s responsible. I can give ideas. I can even help them solve them. But at the end of the day, the problems are their responsibility. My job is to support them as best as I can.

I say all of this because these verses show me the opportunity I have here. I get to encourage, care for, and be patient with everyone involved. I get to be merciful. Joyful. Prayerful. Thankful. I get to invite your Holy Spirit into this process. I get to test ideas, theology, and actions against your Spirit, discard what is not of you, and embrace what is of you. Doing this in a humble way, worshipping you and loving others, keeps me away from evil.

Father, I’m about to go to a prayer service for the National Day of Prayer. Help me to be all of these things in that setting as well. I love you, Lord. And help me to love others through my work. Through my friendships.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 7, 2026 in 1 Thessalonians

 

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2 Chronicles 6:14-42

04 May

14 [Solomon] prayed,

“O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven and earth. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion. 15 You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today.

16 “And now, O Lord, God of Israel, carry out the additional promise you made to your servant David, my father. For you said to him, ‘If your descendants guard their behavior and faithfully follow my Law as you have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’ 17 Now, O Lord, God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David.

18 “But will God really live on earth among people? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built! 19 Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you. 20 May you watch over this Temple day and night, this place where you have said you would put your name. May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place. 21 May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive.

22 “If someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar at this Temple, 23 then hear from heaven and judge between your servants—the accuser and the accused. Pay back the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent because of their innocence.

24 “If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn back and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple, 25 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave to them and to their ancestors.

26 “If the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and if they pray toward this Temple and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because you have punished them, 27 then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them to follow the right path, and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as their special possession.

28 “If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people’s enemies are in the land besieging their towns—whatever disaster or disease there is— 29 and if your people Israel pray about their troubles or sorrow, raising their hands toward this Temple, 30 then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart. 31 Then they will fear you and walk in your ways as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors.

32 “In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands when they hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple, 33 then hear from heaven where you live, and grant what they ask of you. In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do. They, too, will know that this Temple I have built honors your name.

34 “If your people go out where you send them to fight their enemies, and if they pray to you by turning toward this city you have chosen and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name, 35 then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause.

36 “If they sin against you—and who has never sinned?—you might become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them and take them captive to a foreign land far away or near. 37 But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, ‘We have sinned, done evil, and acted wickedly.’ 38 If they turn to you with their whole heart and soul in the land of their captivity and pray toward the land you gave to their ancestors—toward this city you have chosen, and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name— 39 then hear their prayers and their petitions from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause. Forgive your people who have sinned against you.

40 “O my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to all the prayers made to you in this place.

41 “And now arise, O Lord God, and enter your resting place,
    along with the Ark, the symbol of your power.
May your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation;
    may your loyal servants rejoice in your goodness.
42 O Lord God, do not reject the king you have anointed.
    Remember your unfailing love for your servant David.”

2 Chronicles 6:14-42

Dear God, the verse of the day from Bible Gateway was 1 Chronicles 7:14.

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

It seems like I’ve heard this verse used out of context a lot, so I wanted to go back and read everything you said around it. Then I wanted to go back and see what you were responding to so I looked at chapter 6 and Solomon’s prayer to you that prompted your response. It always brings me back to the question: “What went wrong?” Solomon departed from your ways, and the kingdom was split after he died. Israel eventually fell to the Assyrians, and the a few generations later, Judah/Benjamin fell to the Babylonians.

I actually think it’s pretty simple. I think of the parable of the Sower. On the day Solomon prayed this prayer, the soil of his heart and the soil of all the Israelites’ hearts was deep, rich, and free from rocks, weeds, and thorns. It was ready to grow fruit. And then…

The soil of their hearts began to grow weeds. As Jesus put it in Matthew 13:22, “22 The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.” The worries of life and the the lure of wealth took them away from you.

This is where things apply to me personally. My temptation is to look at our nation to see how these things have taken your church away from you (the lure of power, influence, and money and the fear that we have to grasp at power so that we will not be irrelevant), but it starts with me. We are having a fundraising dinner tomorrow night, and I can take one of a few attitudes into this dinner. My tendency is to want this to be an amazing financial success that will bring in great amounts of money that will provide for our ministry’s financial needs and, yes, make me look good to the board of directors and everyone else involved. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that my ego is part of this. A big part of this. Now, my paycheck is the same regardless of how much comes in so I’m not worrying about my personal wealth, but I certainly want to be admired. I want people to think very positively of me. But wouldn’t it be a huge waste of time to put 300 people in a room just for my ego?!?

As I prayed with my wife this morning, and she asked me how she could pray for me, I told her that I needed to get my head right, and I need to care more about the people in the room than I care for myself or our organization. I need to make the evening about the people who chose to attend our dinner and help them to feel a touch of you. I heard someone say one time that Halloween is the one day of the year when the “lost” go door to door. Well, the people coming to our dinner tomorrow night aren’t “lost,” but they will all need a touch of you and your Holy Spirit in some way.

Father, help that to be my focus. Help me weed my soil today. I’ve let things grow up in it that have no business being there. I have cares that you want me to turn loose of. I have sin that needs to be repented of. And I’m speaking to a Rotary club today. Be in that message too. Love them through me. Help me to help the people in the room to start the process of weeding their own soil. I love you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 4, 2026 in 2 Chronicles

 

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Luke 22:39-46

18 Mar

39 Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. 40 There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.”

41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.

45 At last he stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.”

Luke 22:39-46

Dear God, while I was preparing last night for my talk this evening about prayers of desperation, I was looking at this passage and something occurred to me: You were teaching us to pray. Yes, you taught us “the Lord’s Prayer,” but this was unique. This was how to pray in desperation. You modeled it. And you did it with the lesson it took Job until the end of the book to learn with the words, “Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” I think probably the best part of suffering is if it can develop this spirit and attitude in us. If I can get myself to where I want your will above my own.

I have a friend who came to me yesterday and told me about a troubling medical diagnosis. I don’t know what his treatments will do to him, but I’m concerned. What really concerns me is that he is his wife’s caregiver since she has a myriad of health issues. I know what I want for them and him. I selfishly want both of them to live pain-free and live forever. But of course that can’t happen. What is your will for them? Oh, Father, please be very present to them and give them a peaceful and straight path forward.

I was talking with another friend yesterday who has struggles with her family, and I mean all of her family. There are struggles with the generation before her, her own generation, and then the next generation. But she is faithful and loving to all of the generations around her. Comfort and guide her and her husband as they serve and pray. Help them to want what you want and to know what you want.

There are so many to pray for, but I want to mention one more specifically. A really good man and his girlfriend lost their home to a fire three nights ago. They lost it all, and because it was an old mobile home there was no insurance on it. He is now trying to figure out how to make sense of all of this. He is mourning. He is comforting his girlfriend. He is searching. I happen to know he has done a lot to help others. Help him, now, please, Father. Show me what I can do.

Father, thank you for teaching us to pray. I offer all of me to you. I want your will. Let it be done.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 18, 2026 in Luke

 

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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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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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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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Luke 11:1-13

26 Feb

11 Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

2 Jesus said, “This is how you should pray:

“Father, may your name be kept holy.
    May your Kingdom come soon.
3 Give us each day the food we need,
4 and forgive us our sins,
    as we forgive those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation.”

5 Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 6 ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ 8 But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.

9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

11 “You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? 12 Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! 13 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

Luke 11:1-13

Dear God, I think there might be a Bible Project series on the Lord’s Prayer. At least, I am pretty sure one of the podcasts I listen to–Bible Project, Voxology, or Slow Theology–did a series on it, looking at it slowly. A church has asked me to do a talk on prayer at one of their Lenten services in a few weeks, so I thought I’d take a look at how you taught us to pray this morning.

My biggest weakness in prayer is intercessory prayer. Praying for my friends who are ailing physically, struggling through life’s trials like divorce or losing a loved one or money, or who are just struggling with emotional pain. Then I noticed something about the Lord’s Prayer when I read it here in Luke this morning. As far as the prayer goes, Jesus doesn’t have praying for my neighbor as part of it. Hmm. That’s weird. The prayer is pretty self-centered (and not in a bad way). It’s about my worship of you. It’s about my wish for your kingdom here, in the present. It’s about my repentance and my temptations. It’s about my daily bread. Or is it?

I think I’ve been doing something wrong when I pray this prayer. I’ve intentionally personalized it and changed the “us” to “me.” “Give me this day my daily bread.” I’ve tried to make this an intentional prayer, but maybe the collective “us” was intentional on Jesus’s part. Both Matthew and Luke say it that way in the different English translations. And maybe that’s where the prayers for others comes in. For example, I have a friend in a physical rehab facility after a car accident. When I pray the collective “us,” maybe I’m praying for her provision for daily bread as well. And that’s part of her daily bread. Her healing–both physical and emotionally after the trauma of the accident and the road to recovery she’s facing.

Father, you are in heaven and you are glorious. You have left the world your Holy Spirit through Jesus. You are everything. You are powerful. You are God. Your name is to amazing, so I can only use words like Father or add a capital G to God to reference you. I do pray that they kingdom you designed us to be will come today on this earth. I pray that in the areas of the world, our country, and our community that are far from you will experience your light, love, joy, and peace. I pray for the daily bread–physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually–for my family, friends, and me. And I pray that you will forgive all of us, and help us know what it means to forgive and to give that forgiveness freely, for our own sake as well as for the forgiven. And protect us from Satan and his plans to tempt us in the wrong direction. To lead us into selfishness, idolatry, and away from you and your best for us. Father, the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 26, 2026 in Luke

 

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Nehemiah 1:1-4

11 Feb

1 These are the memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.

In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.

3 They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”

4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. 

Nehemiah 1:1-4

Dear God, the first time I remember reading these words was just over 23 years ago. They were actually life-changing for me. I saw something in Nehemiah that I didn’t see in myself at the time. I was a Christian. I loved you. I worshipped you. I loved my family. I studied scripture. But what you showed me in Nehemiah in these four verses was that I lacked compassion for others and a motivation to act on it. Sure, if someone I knew was having a hard time, I would reach out to them or try to comfort them. I remember in the summer five years earlier when my wife and I were generous to someone we came across with. So I wasn’t heartless or even selfish. But I still insulated myself in my safe middleclass world and didn’t really expose myself to other people’s pain. That’s what I heard you tell me. That I wasn’t really willing to touch other people’s pain. I threw that out in my prayer that day. That you would make me willing to touch other people’s pain.

You answered that prayer a few weeks later when a friend invited me to tour a nonprofit in South Waco called Talitha Koum. With that, you sent my entire life into a new direction. Now, 23 years later, I not only help underprivileged people as a vocation, but I also reach out and volunteer for other organizations to help people. I don’t say this to pump myself up or to make myself look good. I say it because, in the end, it’s what Jesus called us to do. We can’t just love you with all we have. We have to love our neighbors as ourselves. Why? Well, 1.) we are your Plan A for the world and there is no Plan B. And 2.) it is good for me to get out of my selfish tendencies and put, as Rotary International puts it, service above self.

Father, I’m going to be speaking at a church on Sunday, and I think I’m going to end up, basically, giving my testimony. Not of how I got “saved” and first came to faith in you, but how you and I have been working out my faith over the last 26 years (when I started doing these prayer journals). It’s been a slow process, but it’s been awesome. And you are patient with me. You are kind. You are loving. Thank you for meeting me here. Thank you for revealing my deficiencies to me 23 years ago. Thank you for continuing to reveal my deficiencies even up to today. I love you. I worship you. I give you my heart and soul.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 11, 2026 in Nehemiah

 

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