Category: Prayer

Believing from a Testimony … Believing from the Word – 2025 Day 3 (John 3:1-4:45)

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Proverbs 3; John 3:1-4:45

“Many Samaritans from that town believed in him (Jesus) because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.'”
John 4:39-42 ESV

Heavenly Father,

Please make me truly wise. I don’t want to merely read Your Word to grow in knowledge about You like someone researching the life and times of C.S. Lewis or Albert Einstein. I want to know You – personally, deeply, mightily. I want to sit at Your feet and drink deeply of Your lifegiving Word. I want to worship what I know, who I know.

I need insight and understanding and instruction. I need my mind renewed. Here I am. I want to see and taste that You are indeed good.

I want Your springs of living water to flow in me and through me. Help me to decrease, and You to increase, in my life. I want to be about my Father’s business. Make me a true worshiper, worshiping you in spirit and truth and helping other to know You, too.

Help me to be one who welcomes in the outcast, who notices the forgotten and neglected, who has to go through Samaria because there’s someone there that You want me to meet. I pray that my eyes will be open to the people in front of me, and that my ears will be open to Your voice prompting me, “This is the way, walk in it. This is the one, talk to her. These are the words, say them.”

Lord, I’m asking You to encourage my Chinese brothers and sisters. Help them to know that you see them and hear them and know them. Help them to dig into Your Word and find pearls of great worth, gold of great price, and diamonds of great value. We want You to be our greatest joy.

Father, help me to help others to sit at Your feet day after day and be transformed by the reading of Your Word. May my food be to do Your will. Send me to accomplish Your Work to the glory of Your Name.

In the Name of Jesus Christ who is my only Lord and Savior. Amen.

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Begin Where You Are – In the Here and Now. Thoughts from Ezra 3.

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Ezra 3

When the Israelites returned to Israel after years of living in exile in Babylon, their first desire was to rebuild the Temple and begin making offerings to God. Unfortunately, it takes time to rebuild a temple, so they simply set up an altar where the temple once had been and began celebrating the feasts and offerings there.

When I read this, I thought about the saying, “Delayed obedience is disobedience,” and wondered to myself what things I’m waiting on, what ducks I’m trying to get in a row, before I start doing what God has called me to do.

God wants us to obey Him today. Now. Right now. Here. Where you are. Wherever you are.

How many times have I thought —

  • When I know more about the Bible …
  • When I have a bigger house …
  • When I have more money …
  • When I’m not so busy …

God called some to go back to Jerusalem, and those who weren’t called to return were called to give generously to those who were. Both of these jobs were important – to go and to give – and God equipped both groups to obey Him.

If God has called you to do something, He will equip you to do it.

Maybe you’re wondering, “What is God calling me to do?”

I don’t know the specific plans that God has for you, those good works that He has prepared in advance for you (Ephesians 2:10), but I do know God has called you to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.

Start there.

And sometimes what you’re supposed to be doing now to obey God is to be working on those things He’s called you to do.

Do you need to know the Bible better for the task He’s called you to do? Alright, then, what are you doing to work towards that goal.

Do you need a bigger house or more money for a task He’s given to you? How are you working toward that? Paying down debt … Saving money … Getting a higher paying job … Working a little on the side?

Do you need more margin to have the time for a job He has for you? How are you working toward that? Skipping your nightly TV shows or scrolling through your favorite social media platform might be a good place to start.

The Israelites began making offerings, but they also began working on the temple. Let’s start in the here and now, today, while also working toward the future and the generations to come.

Heavenly Father, I lift up every man and woman who is reading this message at this moment in time and space. Please draw them to know You, to seek You, to love You, and trust You, and obey You. You are worthy to be trusted. You are worthy to be obeyed. Please lead these men and women on the paths of righteousness for Your Name’s Sake. Show them that straight and narrow path with the light of Your Word and the perfect wisdom of Your Holy Spirit. Provide for their every need – the wisdom, the time, the finances – to accomplish the tasks that You have prepared in advance for them to do. For Your glory and for our good I pray. Amen.

Lead On, O King Eternal

Praying for our Past, Present, and Future Presidents

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Ezra 1-2

God chose Cyrus, the King of Persia, to help rebuild the temple of Israel, and He chose President Joe Biden to be the current leader of the United States of America. I wouldn’t have chosen either man for those jobs, but God often works in ways that I don’t expect.

I’ll never forget that moment Saturday afternoon when I walked into my living room and saw my husband sitting in shock, unable to utter a word after what he’d just seen. He had been watching former President Trump speak at a rally in  Pennsylvania when out of nowhere a bullet ripped through his right ear. I couldn’t believe it. “Is this real? Did this just happen? What’s going on?” Our wall-mounted big screen TV continued displaying President Trump as he was surrounded by armed guards and whisked away in a secure vehicle.

I’ll be the first to admit that there are many things that I dislike about former President Trump, and even more things I dislike about current President Biden, but the crux of the matter is this: Neither man should be shot from the rooftop of a building, both men need our prayers, and God is still on His throne.

God is in control.

He removes kings and sets up kings. (Daniel 2:21)

Our nation needs our prayers.

Heavenly Father, You are in charge. You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. You have all authority over heaven and earth. A sparrow does not fall from the sky apart from Your permission. Thank You, Lord, for sparing President Trump’s life. Please, Father, draw our nation back to you. Turn the hearts of the men and women of our nation back to You. Turn President Biden’s hearts to do Your will. To the glory of Your Name we pray, Amen.

A Galatians 3 Prayer for your Children

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Galatians 3

Oh precious Heavenly Father,

Thank You for the gift of faith, the grace given to me through Jesus Christ, the righteous for the unrighteous. Thank You for the example of Abraham who was counted righteous by his FAITH, not by his works. I pray that my children would indeed be made sons and daughters of Abraham, being recipients of Your blessings because of their faith in Your Son.

Thank You for the gift of the law as a tutor and guardian to protect me and my children until our eyes might be opened by Your grace to the beauty of that Savior hanging on the cross. Please help me to be a good steward of the Law. Let me not breed little Pharisees who take pride in their own good deeds. I don’t want to raise better liars, better hiders, better sin-concealers. Rather may I point them to the perfect Lamb who kept the Law in every point, training them to be quick to repent, to run toward reconciliation with Jesus, with their parents, and with others.

Protect my children from believing the lie that they can be good enough to deserve Your mercy or merit Your grace. Help them to recognize that this is a lie sent from that liar, tempter, and accuser, Satan, who tempts us to sin and then accuses us when we fall.

I pray that my children would receive the gift of redemption found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. May they receive that inheritance found not in the blood running through my blood but in the blood of Christ poured out on the cross.

Help them to believe the truth of Galatians 3:26-28, that we are sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ, that when we are baptized into Christ, we are clothed in Christ, and that we are all one in Christ Jesus. Help my sons take joy in being boys, and help my daughters take joy in being girls. Protect them from the sin of pride, thinking they know better than You do. May they humbly recognize that their inheritance begins and ends in You.

For the glory of Jesus we pray, Amen.

A Galatians 1 Prayer: Clinging to the Gospel and Sharing our Testimonies.

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Galatians 1

Oh Heavenly Father, You chose Paul to be an apostle, and You chose me to be your daughter. Thank you for Your grace and thank You For the peace that I have with you because of the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself up for my sins that I might be delivered from this present evil age. May you be glorified now and forever and ever.

I pray that I would cling to You. Tightly holding fast to the true gospel, the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ by the grace you have given. May I seek your approval alone. Keep me from being a man pleaser. I cannot seek both the approval of man and the approval of God. The things of this world are opposed to the things of God.

Help me to trust your Word rather than the opinions and traditions of man. Help me to turn to You first when I’m confused or unsure, trusting that Your Holy Spirit is my Helper and the giver of wisdom.

I pray that many will glorify You through me. May I steward well the unique testimony that You have given to me, that You turned this blaspheming atheist’s heart from darkness to light and for the power of Satan to God. Please, Father, give each of us boldness to share our unique testimonies, that we might be faithful stewards of our time here on earth.

By the Grace of Jesus and for the glory of His Name we pray. Amen.

A Mother’s Day Prayer for All of Us Moms

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May our faith be in Christ and His grace alone, trusting that He is able to do more than we can ask or imagine.

May we not grow weary of well-doing, knowing that at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not lose heart.

May we open our mouths with wisdom and may the teaching of kindness be on our tongues.

May we look well to the ways of our households and not eat the bread of idleness.

May we refuse to put our hope in wealth, beauty, or popularity because we believe that “charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”

May our husband and children rise up and bless us, saying, “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”

From Ephesians 3:20, Galatians 6:9, Proverbs 31:26-30

A Free Slave. Thoughts from 1 Peter 2.

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 1 Peter 2.

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

1 Peter 2:16 ESV

The Christian faith is full of impossibilities. One God in three persons. A man who is God. An omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God.

Likewise, the Christian life is full of impossibilities. Walking by faith in a God you cannot see. Dying that you may live. And here, living as a free slave.

God is my master. He owns me. He bought me, not with temporary things like silver or gold, but with the most precious blood of the Lamb of God.  (1 Peter 1:18-19)

Yet, He invites me to walk in the joy and power of freedom, with my head held high and the shackles of sin that once held me captive forever broken and cast into the sea.

Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty. I’m free at last!

Oh, but I’m still a slave, slave to the Most High, Most Holy Ruler of the Universe, slave to Almighty God who tells me to die to myself that I might live for Him.

I’ve tasted and seen that the Lord is Good, and I want to be His slave. I have willingly given my life to Him and again and again I say, “Take my life and let it be, consecrated, Lord, for Thee.”

Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise.


Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.


Take my voice and let me sing,
Always, only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.


Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.


Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne.


Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.

“Take My Life and Let It Be”
Story Behind the Hymn

A 1 Peter 1 Prayer

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 1 Peter 1

Heavenly Father, Blessed be Your Name. Praise You, Father, the giver of abundant mercy and new life and living hope. Thank You for that  incorruptible, undefiled, unfading inheritance that is waiting for me!

Help me to fix my eyes on that promise, though now trials of various kinds assail me. I know that these trials are necessary as well as temporary, and I know that my faith will come out more pure and brilliant and certain because of them.

Thank You for the blessing of faith. It is a good and gracious gift to believe in You, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, though I have never seen You. I know that one day my faith will be sight, and I will behold Your glory face to face. What a glorious day that will be! In the meantime,

Father, help me to be sober minded and steadfast, with my mind prepared for action, fixing my hope permanently and unwaveringly on Jesus Christ. Keep my heart, mind, and body from sin, idolatry, pride, and covetousness. Make me Your obedient child. I want to be holy as You are holy.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and my Lord, I pray. Amen.

Mark 14: True or False.

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Mark 14.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help me God.

Jesus always and only told the truth.

If He said one of the twelve disciples was going to betray Him, it was so. If He said He would not drink of the vine until He drank it again in the kingdom of God, it was so. If He said, “See, my betrayer is at hand,” it was so.

But Jesus didn’t only speak the truth prophetically. Jesus spoke the truth personally, without exaggeration or hype or grandstanding or posing. He simply spoke truth. The whole truth. And sometimes He simply held His tongue and didn’t say a thing.

I want to be more like Jesus, telling the truth without exaggerating, without twisting or shaping it to make it look nicer, or to make me look better. How about you?

Heavenly Father, Your Word is truth. Every word of Your Word is true. If You said it, we can believe it. We never have to question or doubt what You said. You never exaggerate. You never tried to make Yourself into something You’re not. Please, Father, I want to be more like You. Help me to be content in my weakness, knowing that my weakness glorifies Your immense, almighty, perfect power. Help me to not hide from You, for I trust that You already know all of me. Keep me from the fear of man. Keep me from wanting to show off and win the praise and approval of man. I want to live for Your praise and approval, not theirs. In the Name of Jesus Christ, my Savior, my Lord, my Judge, and my Friend. Amen.

Mark 13: Be On Guard. Keep Awake.

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Mark 13.

Be on guard, keep awake.
For you do not know
when the time will come.

Mark 13:33 ESV

When I was little, my parents would sometimes get a babysitter and go out for a late night by themselves. I would try so hard to stay awake in bed until they got home, but I was usually unsuccessful. The following morning, I’d wake up disappointed that I’d missed hearing them come home.

In more recent years, I’ve had a similar, but opposite struggle, trying to stay awake until my teenage children come home. I usually just head to bed and my husband does “staying awake duty” for us both. Like the disciples Peter, James, and John in the garden of Gethsemane, I just can’t seem to stay up for my eyes are so very heavy.

Oh, but I don’t want to miss the return of Jesus! I want to be found watching and waiting with eyes wide open with eager expectation! I want to be on my guard like a watchman in the midst of a fierce battle. My brothers and sisters, my King, and my children, need me – and you – to stay awake. Let us not grow weary of well doing, knowing that in due season we will reap a bountiful harvest, if we do not give up! (Galatians 6:9)

Heavenly Father, Forgive us, please. Too many of Your children have fallen asleep on the job. We have forgotten that we’re in a battle. We have left our battle stations. We have quit watching for our King’s return. We have given up our posts and gone home to our warm beds. Forgive us for falling prey to our adversary’s schemes and temptations. Wake us up, Lord! Your army needs to be shaken awake! We need to hear the trumpet call crying, “I am coming soon! Make way for the return of Your King! Herald the good news to every corner of creation! Make straight the way of the Lord! Put on your armor and take up Your swords and shields, for the battle has already begun!” For Your glory and fame we pray this in the Name of King Jesus! Amen.

Midnight Cry