7 Prayers That Work

  Lord God, You are not surprised by the case before the Supreme Court or the people on either side of the issue of abortion and the right to life . You love all of us equally. You don't condemn the woman who aborts her child or the lobbyist who fights for a woman's right to choose; you don't condemn the conservative who shouts hateful remarks about Planned Parenthood or people who shout back.  But you love them equally. You grieve over the hate and the misrepresentation of your love and your law. You weep over the loss of life. You grieve with those who will experience the trauma of taking another person's life, even if that life cannot survive on its own. So Lord, without judgment of either side, I lift up this issue of life and love. I pray for our country to value what you value over political leanings and policies. We are not conservatives or liberals--we are children of God, created in your image. We are on this earth to bring people to Jesus, not list all their ...

Oh, Lord,  What is true anymore? It's hard to tell. I can make entire worlds out of what makes me comfortable and justified, instead of what is actually true. What you call true . I make excuses for taking the easiest path, for the sins I commit and the sins I explain away. Show me where I listen to voices that speak lies. Forgive me for my willful ignorance. You are Truth. I look down on people for their sins while ignoring my own. Forgive me for my pride. You are the Way. Show me where I elevate my desires over your will and change me. I labor to build my own kingdoms and elevate my own popularity. Forgive me for my ambition. You are the Life. Show me where I deviate from the life you've laid out for me. Disrobe my deceptions and excuses. Reveal my insecurities . I want to lean into you-- into all of you-- all that you require of me and all that you want to forgive, if I'll just admit what's actually true in my heart and mind. Lay bare my defenses. I will confess ...

If you worry about what to pray or how to pray, try this prayer. It is filled with actual verses from the Bible about WORDS. Yes, God has so much to say about words themselves. In fact, Jesus calls himself "the Word." So don't worry about if you're praying the right way. Just speak Jesus' words back to him, and let him speak his words into you. Everything will change! What you believe. What you think. What you say. What you do. Everything! Oh, Lord God, the Word of Life-- I praise you for your words, for our holy Scriptures , and especially for the red letter words in the Bible.  Thank you for speaking to me, day after day, minute by minute, whether I'm listening or not. You're always there, speaking in a whisper , speaking life . Praise : Your words are sweet to me; they give nourishment and joy. I can always trust them ( Psalm 119:103 ). Your words are flawless--they are like gold refined by fire. I cannot improve on them ( Psalm12:6 ). Before time be...

Dear Lord Jesus, You are always and exclusively a God of Life! You give life to us each day and you even gave your own life so we could live eternally the way you meant for us to live. You are too great to fathom! Give us sight to see life as you see it: to see the unborn in the womb, perfectly designed by you, to see the immigrant struggling to safeguard her family, to see a prisoner , desperate for a second chance at life, to see the abused who believes her life is meaningless, to see an addict who's given up on living, to see the elderly, longing for better days or more days,  to see the marginalized , devastated by history, to see the poor , without hope or means to sustain existence, to see those enslaved to pimps, drug lords, owners, abusers,  and yes-- to see those who believe they're free and yet are shackled by their own passions, pursuits, arrogance, and ambitions. Help us see everyone you lived and died for the way you see them. Life is a gift-- it's your gif...

I'm reading I Kings 17 this morning. The country is in a massive famine. It's a pandemic of starvation. Everything is dried up. There is no food anywhere. The widow of Zarephath is picking up sticks to make her last fire, for her last meal, for herself and her son. Elijah approaches her and asks her to make him some bread. He promises that God will bless her if she obeys and feed him first. She believes. And her oil and flour don't run out. She keeps Elijah alive, and God keeps her and her son alive. They survive the famine. But then the widow's son dies. Look how Elijah prays and how the woman responds. "O Lord my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?...O Lord my God, let this boy's life return to him!" And the boy begins to breathe again. Then she says, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord is truth." Oh, Lord, God, Reveal your power and ...

Dear Lord God, You forgive us when we confess our sins, and you give grace when we confess the sins of our ancestors-- of our family and our city and our country. So I confess the great wickedness of our nation at oppressing the poor, marginalizing women, minorities, the elderly, and the ill, enslaving the African-Americans, red-lining poor communities, indenturing and imprisoning the uneducated and underprivileged. I confess our systemic white privilege, even as I want to believe I am not a benefactor of it. I confess our sins of racism and segregation, even as I say that I have not overtly participated in any of it. It is our heritage, and we are wrong to minimize its legacy. I confess the church's sins of politicizing moral issues, of drawing party lines through issues of compassion, grace, and mercy-- of using topics of mass incarceration, death penalty, immigration, life, and welfare to divide party lines and provide ease and security for the privileged...