Category: November

A Prayer about Gospel Words and Gospel Works  

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. (1 Thess. 1:2–5)  

Heavenly Father, it’s a great time to be alive, for even as there’s growing turmoil in the world, there’s unruffled triumph in heaven, a peaceful certainty that the gospel will win the day, the nations, and the cosmos. I am overjoyed today as I consider the gospel of your grace, the gospel of the kingdom, the great story of redemption and restoration.

In fact, I don’t remember a time when there’s been a greater proliferation of gospel speak. Everywhere I look I find an openness and earnestness to reexamine and rethink what the gospel is all about. All the public discourse about the gospel, by believers and nonbelievers alike, is a very good thing. 

But as I look at my life, the body of believers with whom I walk, and the community in which I live, I’m praying that the gospel will increasingly impact us the way it impacted the men and women of Thessalonica. What a stirring image: “Not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction” (1 Thess. 1:5 NIV). 

Dear Father, may gospel words lead to gospel works in my heart. In particular, I’m praying for the power of the gospel to be at work in my marriage and other relationships. It’s still easier for me to live in the world of words than to really invest in the complexities of heart to heart engagement. I’m committed to loving one spouse well for the rest of my life, but I need the power of the gospel to do so to your glory. 

May the love you’ve lavished on me in Jesus, and the love you have given me for Jesus, really work in me. May the gospel prove its resurrection power in turning me further from my idols to serve you, the only true and loving God. To be specific, I acknowledge and repent of the idols of control and self-protection.

Lastly, Father, may the great hope you’ve given us in Jesus, including the hope of the new heaven and new earth, deepen and lengthen my endurance. I pray in Jesus’ matchless name.

Amen. 

A Prayer about My Plank-Filled Eye  

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matt. 7:1–5 NIV)  

Heavenly Father, when I rubbed my irritated eyes this morning, I soon realized it was not a speck of dust but a rough hewn board stuck there. I didn’t realize it till now, but I went to bed last night having made myself the chief prosecuting attorney in the supreme court— the judge and jury and executioner. Just because I don’t throw things or scream and yell doesn’t mean I’m not a critical person. Condescending smugness is just a synonym for clanging cymbals. (1 Cor. 13:1)

Have mercy on me, Lord Jesus. You are so forbearing, kind, and gracious. Have mercy on me, the self-righteous sinner. 

My self-righteousness usually shows up not in trying to merit more of your love but in withholding your love from others. The dark irony is that the sins that offend me most in others are the very sins most pronounced in my own life— a lack of mercy, unbelief, a critical spirit . . . I wish those were the only ones. 

Lord Jesus, as cardiologist and ophthalmologist, bring your grace and truth to bear in my heart and my eyes. I want to love as you love and see as you see. I do not want people to feel pressure to change who they are around me, nor do I want them to feel my indifference and disengagement. Teach me and lead me in the third way— the way of the gospel. 

Since you do call us to help one another with our “specks of sawdust,” help me be a first responder to the life-giving rebukes of friends; a humble recipient of the feedback and reproof of those who long for my freedom; and someone who anticipates, welcomes, and acts on the daily, evenly hourly call to repentance. I pray in Jesus’ gracious name.

Amen. 

A Prayer about a Gospel Tattoo  

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4–7 NIV)  

Heavenly Father, if I were into tattoos and this Scripture weren’t so long, I might consider having it inked onto my body. I need to have this amazing summary of the gospel ever before my eyes. I just too easily forget. Much better than getting a tattoo, however, is knowing you’ve already written this truth on my heart with indelible ink. 

You’re such an outrageously generous God. Your kindness and love appeared to me out of nowhere, like a giant full moon on the horizon of a very dreary night. I wasn’t seeking you, Father, but you were seeking me— running to me, running after me, not to harm me but to rescue me from both paralyzing guilt and foolish pride. I praise you for your multiplied mercies. 

And what a “bath” in the gospel you gave me— washing me, once and for all, through the new birth. Now you continue to renew, revive, and refresh me through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, poured forth like a healing waterfall. All of these blessings come so freely because you’ve given Jesus so fully. 

Now that you’ve justified me by your grace, the rest of my life is defined by heir- ship and hope. Though I sometimes feel and act like a fatherless, futureless orphan, nothing could be further from the truth. The saints in heaven are happier but no more secure than I am. You will bring to completion the good work you’ve begun in us and in the entire universe. I pray in Jesus’ glorious name.

Amen. 

A Prayer about Being Needed Yet Empty  

But he [Jesus] said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)  

Dear Jesus, thanks for the freedom to acknowledge when life feels like it’s just too much. It’s so good to remember today that the gospel calls us to hope, not to hype; to believe, not to make believe; to intercession, not to presumption. 

Sarah laughed at the thought of having a baby in her nineties. Mary was shocked at the thought of giving birth to you, as a virgin. Though overwhelmed, she believed, and I want her cry to be mine: “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)

Jesus, I need the resources you’ve promised and you alone can give. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in a few weeks. I’m irritated, I’m scared, and I’m out of gas. I’ve got friends who are on the equivalent of a spiritual life-support system, and they’re looking to me for life. Breathe enough grace into my heart that I might have something to give my friends who are knocking on my door at midnight. They’re desperate, and I don’t want to turn them away. 

For my friend so destructively hooked into a pornography addiction, give me wisdom, Jesus. I want to strangle him— not literally, but I’m worn out by his madness. Where do I take him for the best care? What do I say to his wife and kids? 

Jesus, O God of the possible, I also bring to you three marriages that “have spent everything they have on a multitude of doctors and cures” but are no better. Have mercy . . . have mercy, dear Lord. 

Though I want to run away, I choose to run to you. There’s a whole lot that is impossible with me, Jesus. So however you choose to bring glory to yourself in these situations, you will most definitely get all the credit. I pray in your merciful and mighty name.

Amen. 

A Prayer about Enemy Love 

If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:32–36)  

Dear Father, if I were ever in doubt about the power of your law to drive me to Jesus, all doubt is removed by this one Scripture. I cannot and I will not love like this apart from union and communion with Jesus. So as I pray through this pas- sage today, I do so convinced of your love for me in Jesus and comforted to know that you have hidden my life in his.

Father, I’m the ungrateful and wicked one to whom your kindness has been wondrously expressed in the gospel. Indeed, it was while I was your enemy that you reconciled me to yourself through the death of your beloved Son, Jesus (Rom. 5:10). Every time I try to excuse myself from loving difficult people, remind me of these truths. I’ve never been “choice,” just chosen by your sovereign grace. 

Who are my enemies, real or imagined? Forgive me for labeling some people “the enemy” simply out of my bruised pride, hurt feelings, and fragile self. Bring the power of the gospel to bear. Gentle me in those relationships. Simply avoiding them will do no good, and rehearsing their failures will only fertilize my bitterness. 

Father, for real enemies— those who’ve been instruments of great harm in my life, by their words or with their own hands— for these situations, give me wisdom and courage. I’ll seek to revoke all revenge as I wait on you, gracious Father. 

Lastly, in the situations where I’ve been labeled an enemy, help me to care more about your glory than my reputation. I don’t want to obsess over their gossip. I don’t want to be paralyzed by their distance and disdain. Where I need to own my sin and repent, please make it clear to me, loving Father. Where their anger has very little or nothing to do with me at all, sustain me in the chaos while you do your work of redemption. 

I praise you for not rewarding me according to my sins, Father, and I praise you for fully rewarding me according to Jesus’ righteousness. I pray in Jesus’ strong name.

Amen. 

A Prayer about the Gospel and Dancing  

You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you forever. (Ps. 30:11–12 NIV)

Jesus, how could there ever have been a king more into dancing than King David? His victory over Goliath was the inspiration for singing and dancing by many in Israel (1 Sam. 21:11). When the ark was returned to Jerusalem, he danced before the Lord with all his might and very little modesty (2 Sam. 6:14). It’s obvious he wrote this psalm as a dancer, for other dancers, whose joy at the dedication of the temple was uncontainable. 

But King Jesus, you’re the real Lord of the Dance. Though David didn’t realize it, his work and joy simply prefigured yours. Only you can turn the wails of our sin and brokenness into the dance of hope and joy. By your cross, you’ve removed the filthy garments of unrighteousness that we might be clothed with the white robe of your own righteousness. Astounding . . . astonishing . . . and so very true. 

How can we not sing and make music to you in our hearts? How can we possibly remain silent and still in response to who you are and everything you’ve done for us? Cause us to hear the Father speaking to us right now: “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours” (Luke 15:31).

Forgive us when we, like the elder brother, remain smugly on the outside, off the dance floor. (Luke 15:25) Forgive us for confusing reverence with rigor mortis. Forgive us for living more by our temperament tests, Myers Briggs profiles, and personality types than by the lyric, music, and dance of the gospel.

One day, King Jesus, we will give thanks to you with all our might. All personal inhibitions, cultural limitations, and sinful prohibitions will be gone. May that coming day have much greater impact on this day. We pray in Jesus’ gladsome name.

Amen. 

A Prayer about Heart Guarding  

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21 NIV)  

Gracious Father, how I long for the day when I will no longer be temptable, deceivable, or capable of worshiping any other god but you. I so look forward to an eternity of giving you the adoration, affection, attention, and allegiance of which you alone are worthy. No one redeems us like you. No one loves us like you do. No one cares for us like you. No one understands us like you. There is no God but you. In Jesus, you’ve already given us a new heart and have placed your Spirit inside us.

In Jesus, you’ve already turned our heart of stone into a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36:25–27). In Jesus, you’ve already given us a heart to know and love you (Jer. 24:7). In Jesus, you’ve already written your law upon our hearts (Jer. 31:33). Indeed, Father, you’ve already given me a perfectly forgiven heart— yet it is far from being a fully perfected heart. The battle for my heart’s worship continues, daily and relentlessly. This conflict will persist until the day Jesus returns to finish making all things new. Thus the warning to keep myself from idols is not going away. 

Father, there are some idols I run from like the plague, but others I don’t even recognize as idols. It’s easier to see the idols outside of me, but help me to discern the “idols of the heart” (see Ezek. 14:4). Help me to know when I’ve made a good thing an ultimate thing. When I don’t think you are “enough,” where do I take the trust and worship you deserve— where do I go for life, deliverance, and salvation? 

I praise you for the assurance that I am already one of your “beloved children.” You cannot love me more than you already do, and you will never love me less. Surely the gospel, this gospel, will win the day, my heart, and the entire cosmos. I pray in Jesus’ name.

Amen. 

A Prayer about God’s Laugh  

A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.
The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them;
but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming.
(Ps. 37:10–13 NIV)

Dear Father, laughter is not one of the things I grew up associating with you. Austerity, rigidity, sobriety, yes— but not laughter. I praise you that the gospel continues to expose, deconstruct, and replace all kinds of groundless notions I’ve had about you. There’s really nothing more important about us than the image of you we have in our hearts.

I so look forward to the day when I will actually hear you laugh, for that will be the day when all evil, wickedness, and injustice will be eradicated. It’s hard to ceive of a universe, a nation, a city, a relationship— even one heart, my heart— in which every semblance of sin and brokenness is completely gone.

That day is coming, and we praise you for this great hope that “the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace” (Ps. 37:11). Because of Jesus we have an inheritance “that can never perish, spoil or fade . . . kept in heaven” for us (1 Pet. 1:4 NIV). I only wish the little while longer we have to wait would be a little less long. 

But you are the God who does all things well. I know this to be true, and when- ever I doubt it, one look at the cross tends to bring me back to gospel sanity— back to the meekness that is appropriate for those who are destined to inherit the new heaven and new earth. 

So when wicked plots and gnashing teeth seem to be on the increase and righteousness seems to be on the decrease, please, Father, allow me and all of your children to hear your laughter in the gospel of the kingdom.

May your joy be our strength, your promise be our confidence, and your timing be our schedule. May the hope of great peace compel us and propel us into greater expressions of missional living and loving. Give us eyes to see and hearts to believe that even right now, Jesus is making all things new. We pray in Jesus’ triumphant name. 

Amen. 

A Prayer about the “How Much More” of the Gospel  

For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment fol- lowing one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5:15–17)  

Most holy and gracious Father, today my heart is filled with praise for the hyper- abundance of grace you’ve given us in your Son, Jesus. Through the failure of the first Adam, we were born spiritually dead—willing subjects, co-conspirators, members in good standing in the reign of sin and death. But now, through the work of the second Adam, Jesus, we’ve been made alive and now live as objects of your affection and subjects in Jesus’ kingdom—the reign of righteousness, peace, and joy—the reign of grace. 

As dead as we were in our sins and trespasses, we are much, much more alive in Jesus’ forgiveness and righteousness. As distant and disconnected as we were from you because of Adam’s sin and our own sin, we are much, much more at peace and intimate with you through the perfect work of Jesus on our behalf. As narcissistic and navel gazing as we were through our connection to the first Adam, we are becoming much, much more others centered, loving, and caring through our union with Jesus. 

Most generous and loving Father, you are most definitely for us. You didn’t spare your own Son, but gave him up for us all— how will you not also, along with Jesus, graciously give us all things? You’ve justified us, and there is now no condemnation. Jesus, you died for us and you now perpetually live to pray for us and advocate for us. Nothing will ever separate us from your love (Rom. 8:31–35)!

Indeed, as grave and great as our condition was through sin and death, the “how much more” of the gospel has trumped it a million times over! We pray with astonishment, wonder, and gratitude, in Jesus’ name.

Amen. 

A Prayer about Loving as the Dearly Loved  

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Eph. 4:30–5:2)  

Merciful Father, mighty Holy Spirit, most compassionate Lord Jesus, I praise you today for the love with which you love us, in which you have rooted us, and by which you are transforming us. 

It took the whole Trinity to redeem me, and it takes the whole Trinity for me to live this life of love to which you have called us. There’s no other way I will even begin to be an “imitator of God.” So hear my cry. 

Father, I don’t want to live today just with a theoretical or theological awareness of being your dearly loved child. Let it be deeply experiential and existential— very real, very encouraging, and very humbling. Your great love for me is the greatest convicting power this side of the new heaven and new earth. 

All day long, let me hear you serenading me in the gospel, that I might grieve the ways I grieve the Holy Spirit— with my thoughts, with my words, and with my actions. Otherwise, I might try to justify the ways I love so poorly. 

Lord Jesus, you are so kind, compassionate, and forgiving of me. I want the fragrant aroma of the sacrifice you made for me on the cross to permeate all my relationships. You’re not calling me to change anybody. You’re calling me to live as a broken perfume bottle through which the aroma of grace will bring your disruptive and gentling presence. Let me live more out of brokenness than out of my woundedness and self-righteousness. 

God the Holy Spirit, you who raised Jesus from the dead, give me the power I will need today to rid myself of— not to nurse, tolerate, or justify— my bitterness, anger, rage, brawling, slander, and malice and all the other ways I love poorly. In- deed, Triune God, the life of love you live for me, please live through me. I pray in Jesus’ peerless name.

Amen.