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Romans 8:26-32

22 Aug

26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?

Romans 8:26-32

Dear God, this is another example of the importance of context. The verse of the day from Bible Gateway was just verse 32. And that’s great, but what are we talking about here. We are talking about how good you are and how you answer our prayers even in our ignorance. You know better than to give us everything we ask for. You know more than our eyes can see or minds can comprehend. Your Holy Spirit is with us and he knows how to pray for us. He knows how to intercede for us. And what is he saying in his intercession? Groanings that communicate beyond words. It’s those things you just can’t put into words. It’s just beyond language. That’s how deeply the Holy Spirit is pairing with me even right now as I sit and attempt to put my prayer to you in typed out words on a laptop.

I’m praying in a limited language with a limited mind and limited vision. But my prayer goes through the Holy Spirit filter to you. I pray about my daily bread and the Holy Spirit knows more about what my daily bread need is. I pray that you will forgive me of my sins, but those are usually only just some of the ones of which I’m consciously aware. The Holy Spirit is turning that into deeper healing for me. I pray for my wife and children, but the Holy Spirit knows more about what they need than I do. I pray about my community, state, or country, but the Holy Spirit knows the depths of the need and more about what you are doing in the world that is so much bigger than the needs I can think of.

I wonder how Paul got this revelation. How did he get this knowledge of how the Holy Spirit prays for us? Did you meet with him more often than just on the road to Damascus? Did he get words of knowledge like prophets?

Father, I have relatives for whom I want to pray this morning. Some are struggling with life in general. Some are healing from medical conditions. Some are hurt and angry. Some are wounded and need healing. Some are just trying to serve you and need encouragement. Holy Spirit, you know each life I’m thinking about right now. Help me pray to the Father for them. My community, state, country, and world need you. Each of the 7 billion people on this planet right now needs you. I don’t know how your plan works or how this all works out, but I know you are working a plan. But I see suffering locally and overseas. Please be merciful and move the men and women with power to address the suffering. The horrendous things going on. I have some problems to solve at work. Please lead me to solutions. Lead me to your solutions. Holy Spirit, you know more about what we need and who we need than I do. Please pray for me. My family and community need you. Show me my role in being your presence to them. Holy Spirit, walk with me in every moment today.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 22, 2025 in Romans

 

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James 5:13-18

06 May

13 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18 Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.

James 5:13-18

Dear God, for what shall I pray? That is my question this morning. Our nonprofit has a fundraising dinner tonight. It’s an important part of our fundraising for the year, but I have to tell you, while by head feels the pressure of bringing in as much money as possible, my spirit–your Spirit?–is telling me that it’s not about the money. It’s not about the strokes to my ego that will come with a financially successful evening. I am going to have about 290 people who need you. They need your love. They need your touch. They need your inspiration. They need to love you. They need to love their neighbors. They don’t realize it, but this evening isn’t about what they can do for us as potential donors. It’s about what we, as an organization, can do for them.

Perhaps we will inspire them to give. But maybe, just maybe, we will soften their hearts towards the hungry, the imprisoned, the lonely, and, yes, the unhealthy. Some say empathy is a sin, but I disagree. You have empathy with us through the life you lived on earth. We can’t say, “You don’t understand,” because you do understand.

So I am turning my eyes towards you for this evening. I am not praying for how much money we raise. I’m not even praying for our patients. Who I’m praying for are the people in the room. Prepare each heart, including mine, for what you might have for us tonight. Let your Holy Spirit flow through the room. Let it flow out of each believer there. Be glorified, oh Lord, be glorified! Whatever money may come is welcome and we will do our best to be good stewards of it for the sake of our patients. But I don’t want that to be the focus tonight. I want it to be about every soul we encounter tonight. I want it to be about every soul you love. Be glorified in our small town tonight, Father!

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 6, 2025 in James

 

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Romans 12:14

03 May

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 

Romans 12:14

Dear God, I heard something interesting on the Slow Theology podcast yesterday. Well, I listened to a couple of podcasts, but I think it was this one. It might have been the Esau McCauley podcast. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. They were talking about social media and some of the dehumanization we’ve done on social media to each other. One of the speakers suggested that it be a rule that if you say anything negative about someone on social media that you make a commitment to pray earnestly for that person for one year. Now, this was a little tongue-in-cheek, but it was serious too. We need to see others as your dearly loved children. We need to see them with your eyes.

So what does that mean for me? I need to think about blessing some people more. I need to pray for them. It doesn’t mean I need to be buddies with them, but I do need to care for them and care about them. I need to be curious and not judgmental. I am sure someone who persecutes me wakes up in the morning thinking they are right and doing the right thing. Very few people wake up with evil intentions. So why are the doing what they are doing? There are politicians in our country and the world who frustrate me. Do I pray for them or do I curse them? Do I care about them and bless them, or do I ridicule and hate them? Is there a limit at which I can not care about them? Does that level exist.

Father, help the people who are running through my head right now. And help me. The more I pray for their deficiencies, the more I can see my own. The more I start to feel self-righteous, the more I feel your Holy Spirit’s conviction. So I pray that you heal them. I pray that they might be forces of your good in this world at whatever level of society they operate. I pray that you might use them for your will to come and be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give them their daily bread. Forgive them as they forgive others. Lead them not into temptation. Deliver them from evil. And I pray the same for me. Give me my daily bread today. Bring your will into the earth through my small life. Forgive me as I forgive others. Lead me not into temptation. Deliver me from evil. Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, the kingdom, power, and glory are yours forever.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 3, 2025 in Romans

 

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1 John 5:13-15

02 May

13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

1 John 5:13-15

Dear God, the key phrase here is “according to His will.” According to your will. That’s the trick. There are times when it just feels like my will is so much better. Don’t you see, what I want is good (for me) and therefore must be good for you and everyone else.

There is a great sorrow I carry every day. And most days, I can sit and pray–and really believe–not my will, but your will be done. Maybe this sorrow will lead to something great one day that I cannot see. Maybe this sorrow is bringing about some result that I am blind to. So I can be at peace in this sorrow, with you holding me.

But there are other days where I go to you and I simply, selfishly say, “This isn’t fair! I don’t deserve this. I did the best I could. Why do I have this pain?” All about me.

Father, the first thing I need to do when praying according to your will is to take any gains for me out of the equation because as soon as I have even the slightest ounce of selfishness the prayer is tarnished. Like yeast in the bread. The yeast of the Pharisees. So help all of my prayers to be about you, about others, and about your kingdom coming and your will being done, regardless of what it might cost me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 2, 2025 in 1 John

 

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Romans 1:18-20

22 Apr

18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Romans 1:18-20

Dear God, knowing you is complicated. So much of my knowledge is wholly dependent upon what others have taught me. If I had been born in Saudi Arabia, my mind would probably be more likely to see you through the lens of Islam. If I had been born in India, I would believe in multiple weird gods. If I had been born in Utah, I would probably believe in you through the lens of the LDS church. You get the idea. I have taken what I have been taught and done my best to test it and mature in it, but I have only walked down a road I was fortunate to have been started on by others.

I think of people in my life now who have mental barriers in following you. Maybe it’s because they think you didn’t prevent a trauma or bad thing in their life. Maybe it’s because they have known “followers” of you who didn’t live like followers (probably the most common reason). Whatever the case may be, there is usually some kind of external force (Satan) pushing them away from you.

So when I look at the world and the way things are going, what gives me hope? It’s that all of us, every single one of us, has a need in our heart for you. And a lot of people will try to fill that hole with idols. I still try to do it when if feels like an idol will give me the immediate respite from stress, or just life in general, that I’m looking for. But I have a hunger for you. I have a need for you. I’m grateful that my hunger for you brings me back to you. I’m grateful that the world’s hunger for you ultimately brings us to you. That’s what gives me hope for the world.

Father, my wife and I just prayed together for our days. For our children. For the people we will encounter. Help us all to hunger for you, find you, partake of your body and your blood, eat well, and be satisfied in your presence. And help us to take you into the world to those who see the earth and the sky but don’t know its creator. Help us to introduce them to you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 22, 2025 in Romans

 

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Isaiah 50:4-5

16 Apr

4 The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom,
    so that I know how to comfort the weary.
Morning by morning he wakens me
    and opens my understanding to his will.
5 The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me,
    and I have listened.
    I have not rebelled or turned away.

Isaiah 50:4-5

Dear God, these are beautiful words. They are words completely out of context and in the middle of a bunch of other words I totally don’t understand. And I don’t know if they have the same meaning in isolation that they do as part of the whole, but for this morning, being the words Sister Miriam has for me in Restored: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation, they are beautiful words I want to sink into.

Why am I here? Well, it’s to comfort the weary. It’s to be your hands and feet to others. To be your ears. To speak your words of comfort and wisdom. My job is to be as tied into you as I can so that I can 1.) hear your Holy Spirit when he is nudging me to move and 2.) have your words or physical strength to do what you’re calling me to do. I need you to awaken me so that I might understand your will.

I need to listen to you as you speak to me. That’s a really hard one. I need to listen as you speak to me. Listening requires shutting up, and I have a hard time shutting up. I have a really hard time shutting up. I have a hard time turning off the other noise as distractions from you. Maybe that’s a spiritual attach that keeps me from hearing you on a consistent basis. I don’t know. But I need to listen as you speak to me.

Father, help me to not rebel and turn from your way. Help me to listen as yo speak to me. Help me to be aware of when you are calling me to act, and give me the courage to act–even if maybe the action required is for me to stop and pray for someone. Give me your words of comfort and wisdom for others. And help me to hear your words of wisdom and comfort for me through whomever it is you choose to send into my life with your words. I love you, Lord. I am here to worship, bow down, and say you are my God.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 16, 2025 in Isaiah

 

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Psalm 102:1

08 Apr

Psalm 102

A prayer of one overwhelmed with trouble, pouring out problems before the Lord.

1 Lord, hear my prayer!
    Listen to my plea!

Psalm 102:1

Dear God, I wanted to capture not only the verse that Sr. Miriam highlighted today in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation, but also include the description of the psalm given to us by scripture. As I think about the pervasive problem in my life that I have poured out to you for well over a decade now, I can say that I’m actually tired of it. I’m tired of praying about it. I’m tired of lamenting it. I’m tired of the pain that I’m addressing when I pray about it. I’m tired of the pain I feel from it. To some extent, I feel hopeless about it, and my prayer feels fruitless.

It’s that last one that gives me pause and want to un-say all of the rest of the things I just said. Has the prayer really been fruitless? I don’t know that it has done anything to make the situation any better or the pain any less, but I can say that it has affected me. It has changed me. I’ve discovered things about myself and about you that I didn’t know 10 or 15 years ago. I’m better now. I’m also more sensitive to the pain of others. The fire has refined me. The breaking has allowed you to put me back together in a better way.

It’s interesting to get older and feel legitimately closer to death. I’m still relatively young and likely have decades ahead of me, but I’m just feeling the slippage of time in a way I didn’t used to. I think part of my pain now is that I don’t know if the situation over which I lament will be resolved in my lifetime. Will I die with this pain and disappointment?

So now I need to think about the forgiveness part of this lament. The hurt I’m experiencing was caused by the actions of many, including my own. Do I forgive the actions of the others? Do I forgive myself?

Father, that is part of this process too: Forgiveness. I need to remember that the sorrow comes from some situation, and my mind is probably blaming someone for that situation, including myself. Help me to identify what needs to be forgiven in others and myself, and help me to not only extend that forgiveness, but then know how to and how not to act on that forgiveness. Where do I draw the line? Help me get there.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 8, 2025 in Psalms, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Prayer after Communion

04 Apr

Grant, we pray, O Lord,
That, as we pass from old
to new,
So, with former ways left
behind,
We may be renewed in
Holiness of mind.

Prayer after Communion

Dear God, communion is an interesting thing Jesus left us. I’m sorry that it has, to some extent, become a divider among Christians. I think it grieves you that this has happened. I’m sure Jesus thought it was pretty simple at that last supper. He’s in anguish. He’s knows he’s about to suffer. If he had any doubts that he would suffer, they were certainly removed by Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration (Luke 9:31). So here he is with his disciples, and he gives them a symbol of what will happen to his body (broken) and blood (poured out). A few months ago I actually wondered if every meal we have shouldn’t be communion. If every time I bite into a sandwich or even a tortilla–maybe more especially a tortilla–I shouldn’t be remembering Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. When I pray before a meal, should that be the focus of the prayer, or at least included as part of it. Have we just made something given to us as a beautiful gift into something else that we can use to divide us and drive a wedge between us?

Wow, I didn’t expect to go here this morning with this reading from Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation, but that’s where my thoughts led me. To lament and see that some repentance on my part might be due. This is really going to make me rethink everything, or at least every time I break bread.

Back to this prayer itself, that I would experience the leaving behind of my former self and renew myself to your holiness through the broken body and poured out blood of Jesus, yes, I claim this. Even in this time with you this morning, with no bread or body around anywhere, I submit to you, thank you for everything you are–from the God of the Old Testament, to yourself revealed through Jesus in the New Testament, to the Holy Spirit with me this morning–and pray that you will help me to walk forward with a renewed heart and mind.

Father, thank you for being with me this morning. Help me to sink into you. As I go to work this morning, help me to worship you well and love others through that work. As I interact with family and friends, help me to love them well and to be your ambassador of love to them.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 4, 2025 in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Collect for Mass of the Day – April 3, 2025

03 Apr

We evoke your mercy in
Humble Prayer, O Lord,
That you may cause us,
Your servants,
Corrected by penance
and schooled by good
works,
To persevere sincerely in
Your commands
And come safely to the
Paschal festivities.

Collect for Mass of the Day – April 3, 2025

Dear God, lead me on. When I read this passage this morning, what jumped to mind was the Amy Grant song “Lead Me On.” This is a journey. Trials. Pain. Victories. Sorrows. Celebrations. Laments. Lead me on!

Today marks the 25th anniversary of these prayer journals. It’s hard to believe I’ve been doing them this long. They have changed my life. I’m not the same 30-year-old who started doing these on April 3, 2000. I have more bruises and callouses. I also have some great testimonies of what you’ve done in my life. I can look back at the major events in my life since then and honestly say that they would literally not have happened if I hadn’t been doing these prayer journals.

Of course, I remember the time I stopped doing them for over a year and a half. That might have been the lowest point of my life. I remember praying to you and telling you that I wasn’t angry with you, but I just couldn’t get motivated to pray to you in this way. And I honestly felt that way at the time. But in retrospect, if I wasn’t angry with you, I was certainly disappointed. While I rejected the idea of prosperity gospel, I think I had bought into a certain level of belief that you would give me at least a little something of what I wanted in exchange for my worship and obedience. I still don’t understand what happened then or what is still happening now, but I have learned that my life is truly not about me. It is about how you will use it regardless of the consequences to me. And, to be sure, I have a very good life. But there is pain, and I am learning how to let you comfort me in that pain instead of complaining that you allowed the pain to happen.

My wife asked me over dinner last night what I think it’s done for me–all these thousands of prayer journals. I told her that on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being Jesus and 1 being who I was before I met you, I think it has moved me from a 1.6 to a 1.8. But that is closer to being more Christlike than I was before. Maybe tomorrow I can hit a 1.81. But I could also digress to a 1.5. There is just so much of you, and I have so far to go. But you are worth it. The peace and joy I find in your presence are worth it. If I can truly get my heart to where Job gets at the end of his story and Paul gets throughout the Epistles of just realizing it’s not about me, but it’s all about you, then I can continue to make that little bit of progress each day.

Father, for everything that happens, please don’t waste it. Even when I make a mistake, don’t waste the mistake. Help me to not waste time on regret, but to turn that regret into repentance and then moving forward in you. As I start this 26th year of journaling my prayers to you in this way, I pray that you will speak to me in this space. Holy Spirit, sit with me and pray with me. Teach me. Take my heart to the Father. I worship you, my Triune God.

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

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 3, 2025 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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Collect for Mass of the Day – March 28, 2025

28 Mar

Pour your grace into our
Hearts, we pray, O Lord,
That we may be constantly
Drawn away from unruly
Desires
And obey by your own gift
The heavenly teaching
You give us.

Collect for Mass of the Day – March 28, 2025

Dear God, I decided to start with Sister Miriam’s reading from Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation instead of just starting with the text presented and going off on my own from there. I liked this paragraph from her commentary today. When speaking of “unruly desires,” she said:

We commonly get stuck at the level of “disordered desire,” and as we mentioned earlier, we try to manage that desire or the sin without exploring with the Lord the deeper roots. Christianity is not about sin management or mere behavior modification but rather a complete transformation unto glory. Christ came to help us with these places and to heal our sin and division. He came to bring us into his own divine life.

I had a relative text me a couple of days ago about their 44th anniversary of sobriety from alcohol. I think he would say that his addiction and addressing it a process of addressing some of the things in his life or psyche that he was numbing with the alcohol.

So how do I numb myself from pain, insecurity, or fear? Do I lash out in anger towards others? Do I create noise around me that keeps my mind from being still and feeling the “feels” that are tormenting me? Honestly, these prayer times with you are some of the few moments of the day that I allow for quiet and self-reflection.

Father, yes, I have disordered desires. Help me to address them. It’s not just a matter of repenting for them. It’s also a matter of bringing them to Jesus with the Holy Spirit and seeking the healing he offers from the life he lived, the death he suffered, and then his resurrection. Now, he stands there ready to love on me, comfort me, and heal me. Holy Spirit, walk with me today and show me moment to moment how to experience this healing.

I pray this to the Father in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on March 28, 2025 in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation

 

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