Author: Sahed

A Prayer about Bringing Encouragement  

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another on to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Heb. 10:23–25)  

Jesus, as I meditate my way through this “let us” patch of gospel admonitions today, a couple of things stand out. On one hand, I’m convicted about the importance of holding on to the hope you’ve won for us— a living hope, an anchor of hope, a glorious hope. Our hope is certain, but I certainly need to “hold it” like I hold a treasured fly rod or one of my cameras. We’re meant to enjoy hope, not fear losing it. 

It’s also so good to remember that I’m not called to “hope against hope” or to hope in hope, but to hope in you. For you’ve made promises you alone can keep, and you are not a man, that you should lie. You’re faithful and you’re loving, and that’s all I need to know. Not hoping is not an option.

Jesus, this Scripture also convicts me about the importance of being a lot more intentional and regular in bringing encouragement to my friends, my family members, and those you put in my way. As the great day of your return approaches— the day when all hoping in part will give way to the fullness of hope—help me to speak your words of life and hope and healing to those who need them the most. Help me to bring your hands of mercy and grace to bear in very tangible and timely ways. 

Very specifically, just as we celebrate your coming to us in the person of Jesus, to whom would you send me today? Put names and faces before me who need the encouragement you alone can bring, Jesus. May the glory of that day bring the grace of encouragement to this day. I pray in your loving name.

Amen. 

A Prayer about Prayer  

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:6–7)  

Heavenly Father, as I read these words from Paul, I’m convicted about my prayer life. In some ways I’m more certain of what I don’t believe about prayer than I’m settled on what I do believe. So I’m praying about prayer today, and I humbly own my need for the Spirit to teach me and free me. Give me a renewed love for spending much time with you in vital, expectant prayer.

I praise you for the promise of peace through prayer. Irrespective of how you might choose to answer my prayers, you promise a transcendent peace to those who bring their petitions, thanksgiving, and requests to you. The promise of your peace “guarding my heart and mind” is so encouraging. That’s where the most critical battles of life are waged— right there in the arena of my thinking, feeling, and choosing. 

Father, please teach me more about the relationship between your sovereignty and my praying. I know you to be the God who works all things together after the counsel of your will (hallelujah!), so how does my praying fit into the outworking of your perfect and irrepressible plan for all things? Send me to the Scriptures that will help me understand this mystery. How do persistence and surrender work hand in hand? 

Father, help me understand some of the mechanics of prayer. The teaching I had on prayer as a young believer led me to believe that the likelihood of an affirmative answer to prayer was directly related to how many people were praying. But that’s how pagans pray— stirring a begrudging god to action by more commotion. So what is the value of corporate prayer? You commend it, even command it. What re- ally happens when we gather together to cry out to our great and gracious God in Jesus’ name? Teach me. 

Forgive me and help me, Father. I know I have over corrected in the direction of being a generalist in prayer. I don’t tend to ask for very much specifically in prayer, and therefore I don’t tend to expect very much specifically from prayer. Teach me to be more bold in my asking and trusting of your answering. I pray in Jesus’ gracious name.

Amen. 

A Prayer about Good Grief over Sin  

You became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. (2 Cor. 7:9–10 NIV)  

Holy and loving Jesus, today I’m praying about my heart, in particular my heart’s convictability. It would be impossible for me to overstate the joy and peace I have in being able to affirm, “There is now [and forever] no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1 NIV). How I praise you for completely exhausting the judgment I deserve for the multiple ways I fail to love God and my neighbors as commanded.

But I’m seeing a disconnect between the good news of no condemnation for my sin and the very important news of deep conviction about my sin. Through recent circumstances and in certain relationships, I can see that I haven’t been taking my sin as seriously as I should. I know this isn’t right, so I need your help. If anything, the gospel of grace should make for quicker and more repentances, not fewer.

To be specific, I’m seeing how I indulge a critical spirit toward some people, and at the same time I work so hard to maintain the approval of others. I’m also aware of the fresh enticements of sexual lust and greed for more “stuff.” Left to myself, I am capable of acting out in very foolish and destructive ways. 

Jesus, bring me to a fresh place of godly sorrow for my sin— the kind of good grief that will lead me to repent more quickly and yet not get weighed down with vain regrets. I know you don’t want me to put my conscience back under the law, but I’m equally sure you do want me to live with my conscience under the gospel. For there is no power like grace that can possibly convict me, humble me, gentle me, and strengthen me for a life of loving well to the glory of God.

Great is your faithfulness, kind are your ways, and sufficient is your grace. I pray in the wonders of your name.

Amen. 

A Prayer about God’s Unparalleled Kindness  

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2:4–7) 

Gracious Father, reading these words from Paul is like standing under Niagara Falls with my mouth wide open. I’m capable of taking in only a tiny portion of the mighty waterfall of all this gospel goodness. You inundate us with your great love, multiplied blessings, and incomparable grace. It’s actually fun to repent since repentance opens the floodgate to more of your mercies. 

But today, what really arrests my attention the most is the image of being raised from the dead and seated in Christ so that throughout eternity you might demonstrate your kindness to us in Jesus. That absolutely fries the circuit board of my imagination, throws fuel on the fire of my longings, and reveals the paucity of my faith. 

Father, the revelation of your kindness touches something very deep inside of me in this season of life. Maybe it’s because of how little kindness I see in the world today. Maybe it’s because of how much I long to be a genuinely kind man. Maybe it’s because it contradicts so many wrong images I’ve had of you so much of my life. By the power of the gospel, continue to rid my heart of all the false notions I’ve entertained about you. 

There is no other God who would raise up dead sinners for an eternity of lavishing on them more and more of his kindness. I’m left speechless, breathless, and ever so grateful. I pray in Jesus’ glorious name.

Amen. 

A Prayer for Those Who Want to Be Great and First  

Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:43– 45 NIV)  

Dear Lord Jesus, as I meditate on your Word this morning, once again I realize the gospel is the most counter intuitive, paradigm-shattering, worldview-transforming force in history. Because of you, true greatness is now measured in terms of being a servant rather than owning the estate. Being first is no longer calculated by how many slaves we own but rather by how many people we serve. You have changed the value and price tags for everything. 

“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45 NIV). Jesus, tattoo these words on our hearts with indelible ink; make them the most replayed song in the iPod of our soul; keep them before our eyes with neon-flashing brilliance. 

This revolutionary truth contradicts our most basic instincts about everything, including salvation. We don’t want to be ransomed, as guilty rebels; we want to be coddled, as misunderstood victims. We want a second chance, not a second birth. Forgive us, Lord Jesus. 

In our marriages, too often we come not to serve but to be served and to give our criticisms about many things. As leaders in your church, we tend to associate greatness with exercising power and authority rather than washing feet and nurturing your lambs. Forgive us, Lord Jesus. 

What a powerful Lord you are, redeeming the huge mess we’ve made of your world. What a gracious Savior you are, giving your life as the price for making all things new. We fall down before you, in awe of your humility and sacrifice for us. We rise to dance before you, as those upon whom you have lavished such great love, and so joyfully. 

Lord Jesus, only you can change our hearts, and grace always runs downhill— always. We tremble to ask this, but expose our pride, humble our attitudes, and soften our hearts. Make us prefer the hidden place of service over the public place of being noticed. Make us glad to be your servants, wherever you place us. We pray in your tender and powerful name.

Amen. 

A Prayer about Normal Trials  

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, as was necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith— more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Pet. 1:3–7)  

Heavenly Father, today I need a fresh supply of persevering grace, for the “all kinds of trials” of life are sapping my spirit and weighing me down. I need to be reassured that you are refining my faith and not just ignoring me. I feel tired, weary, disillusioned, and a simmering anger is emerging in my spirit. A part of me just says, “Buck up, you woozy whiner!” But I think the gospel offers a better way. 

Honestly, I’m embarrassed to even speak of my trials, because I didn’t go to sleep hungry or thirsty last night, I didn’t hear gunfire echoing through my neighborhood, there’s no plague pillaging my community, I don’t live with the fear of my children being sold into slavery, and my government isn’t threatening the exercise of my faith. These are realities with which many of my brothers and sisters in Christ live on a daily basis. 

For me, it’s more like swimming in a pool of tiny piranha just nibbling away at my joy, energy, and peace. Please give me grace perfectly suited for the demands and the dailiness of normal life— in this body with aging joints and a leaking memory; among fellow sinner-saints who, like me, love inconsistently; in unresolved stories from the past and present of brokenness and weakness; in the face of minor injustices and a lack of common mercies; when cars, plumbing, air conditioners, and other stuff just break; when people don’t say “thank you,” people drive like maniacs, and pets pee on the carpet. 

Lord, in all these things, I want your hand and heart to be at work. I want to know what a man of faith looks like, not just when I am praying for daily bread or facing a firing squad but when I’m living out the implications of the gospel in the daily messiness of normal life. I pray in Jesus’ tender name.

Amen. 

A Prayer about Teachability  

Whoever heeds life-giving correction
will be at home among the wise.
Those who disregard discipline despise themselves,
but the one who heeds correction gains understanding.
(Prov. 15:31–32 NIV)

Lord Jesus, scanning through the book of Proverbs recently, I noticed how many verses about staying teachable, receiving correction, and loving discipline I’ve underlined over the course of the years. I wish the sheer number of highlighted verses was an indication of how humble and non defensive a man I am. But that’s simply not the case. I still shift blame, make excuses, and sew fig leaves with the best of them. 

So here’s my prayer: I want to own, grieve, and repent of my defensiveness, Jesus. I’m not sure why, but I’ve become a little more touchy of late, a little more likely to bristle when confronted. I’m sure it’s my pride, insecurities, and self righteousness, but I’m equally sure you’ve got grace for that. 

Jesus, help me anticipate and welcome feedback from my spouse about my attitude, choices, and excesses. Help me to hear your voice in things my children may want to or need to share with me about the past and the present. Help me to cultivate friendships in which growing in grace is just as important as the fun stuff we choose to do. Don’t let me ignore concerns and corrections from mentors, “underlings,” neighbors, even angels you send. 

Help me not just to read the Bible but to have the Bible constantly reading me— exposing my sin and brokenness and revealing more and more and more of the riches of the gospel. There’s no way I’ll make “my home among the wise” without having my heart at home in your mercy, grace, and peace. 

Jesus, it’s because you made yourself of no reputation, becoming sin for me on the cross, that I don’t have to live for my own reputation. Because I’m no longer guilty or condemned for my sin, I can live in the freedom of convictability, teachability, and humility. Help me, Jesus, help me. I pray in your gracious name.

Amen. 

A Prayer for Friends Weighed Down with Various Burdens  

Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. (1 Sam. 12:23)  

Dear Jesus, your intercession for us is one of our most prized gifts. And it’s be- cause of your great care and love for us that we bring our friends before you today— friends who are weighed down with various burdens and cares. There are enough stories of stress and struggles all around us to keep us on our knees for a long time. Where else can we go but to you? Hear our prayers for those we love. 

Jesus, we pray for friends dealing with health issues. All along the continuum of common colds to uncommon cancers, we ask you to bring your mercy and healing, Jesus. Whether by the special grace of divine intervention or the common grace of good medicine and health care, it makes no difference. Mete out sufficient grace in each situation. Bring great glory to yourself. Make your presence clearly felt even if your ways cannot be easily discerned. 

We pray for friends struggling financially and in their careers. You don’t promise us abundance or surplus, Jesus, but you do promise to meet all our needs. We especially think of friends who are closer to mental and emotional bankruptcy than financial collapse. By the power of your resurrection and for your name’s sake, open doors that seem locked and bolted. From your storehouse of everlasting goodness, bring forth the right provision at the right time. It’s most likely you will use us as a part of the answer to our prayers. May we be generous and gracious in serving our friends. 

We pray for friends who are burdened relationally. Marriage will always be a center of unrelenting spiritual warfare, for this relationship is meant to tell the story of your great love for your bride. Pour out your Spirit, Jesus. Humble the proud and bring hope to the despairing. Defuse the anger and clarify the issues. Supply the right counsel, and grant ample supplies of forbearance, forgiveness, and reconciliation. 

We ask the same for whole families, long-standing friendships, and local church- es under the siege of broken relationships and battered trust. Do far beyond what we can ask or imagine, for the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love. Help us, Jesus, for your glory and fame. We pray in your peerless and price- less name.

Amen. 

A Prayer about Quarrelsomeness  

It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. (Prov. 21:9)  

Gracious Jesus, how often have I read this proverb with the image of a group of “good” men sitting around a Judean campfire complaining about their nagging, “drippy faucet” wives. How arrogant and male of me to act as though only women and wives can be quarrelsome! Yikes! I well know this verse could just as accurately describe a husband, friend, or parent. 

Today I want to own my quarrelsomeness and to ask you to free me for far more healthy and redemptive ways of expressing disappointment, making a point, and engaging in conflict. 

Jesus, when I lose sight of the real issue and simply get argumentative with my spouse, friends, kids, or even strangers, arrest my proud heart. I’m very aware that sometimes my need to win sabotages my commitment to love well. The result is never good. 

When I keep festering and pestering, rather than resting in you, expose my insecure ways for what they really are: I’m assuming the role of the fourth member of the Trinity. Lord, there’s no joy in driving the people I love onto the corner of a roof. 

Jesus, when I protest more than I pray; when I launch more than I listen; when I’m more grouchy than grace-full; when I’m more self-righteous than either right or righteous; when I repay nag for nag, petty for petty, immaturity for immaturity— convict me, forgive me, help me, change me. 

Because the gospel is true, I have hope. Because the gospel is true, I repent. I pray in your compassionate name.

Amen. 

A Prayer about Soul Satisfaction  

Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you. (Ps. 63:3–5 NIV)

Dear Jesus, King David’s words of unbridled adoration are a rebuke to my measured heart. I spend a lot of time and energy trying to make a “better” life for my- self, and yet David speaks of your love as being better than life itself! What a holy paradox. Oh, to know your love in such a sensate, soul-satisfying way.

Jesus, what would it be like to be so alive to the width, length, height, and depth of your love that I lose control? David danced with shameless nakedness before the returned ark of the covenant. Why can’t I be as free before the finished cross of glory? 

I have no trouble singing to you or lifting my hands in the assembly of your people. But I want to be free to love out loud in contexts not so safe and predictable. I want your love to free me for loving one woman well the rest of my life, no matter what that involves. Oh, that my wife would taste your delight by the way I care for her. I want to be free to use fewer words in relationships so there’s more space for listening, sitting still, and savoring other people’s stories and struggles. I want to be a friend who offers a taste of how you love us— how you love me. 

I want your love to be so compelling that I don’t think of “witnessing” to people, just loving and serving them. I want your love to be so satisfying that I find it hard to make excuses for my brokenness and much easier to live transparently and authentically before others. I want your love to bring forth hot tears of compassion and loud guffaws of joy. You’ve set me free for eternity. Jesus, please set me free for today. I pray in your loving name.

Amen.