How, Lord, can we even begin to fear You and keep Your commandments when our hearts are full of sin?

Ecclesiastes 11:1-12:14 “Fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Lord, we read these words, and we wonder, “How can we even begin to fear You and keep Your commandments when our hearts are full of sin?” We ask, “How can our hearts be cleansed from sin?” We cannot do this for ourselves. Only You …

Lord, it’s so easy for us to lose our way.

Lord, it’s so easy for us to lose our way – “my feet had almost stumbled.” We look at “the prosperity of the wicked”, and we become “envious of the arrogant” (Psalm 73:2-3). When others are forgetting about You, help us to keep on saying, “For me, it is good to be near God! – in …

We thank You, Lord, that Jesus teaches us the way to live wisely.

Proverbs 15:1-33 “The path of life leads upward for the wise” (Proverbs 15:24). Where, Lord, does wisdom come from? It comes from Jesus. We look to Him, and we are led in the way that leads to the “Father’s House” (John 14:2-3,6). “Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and …

When problems come our way

When problems come our way, help us, Lord, to see that You have given us the answer, Your Answer: Jesus. What are we to do when we have problems? We take them to Jesus. We see nothing but our problems. He sees something else: His opportunities. Our big problems can be turned into His great …

Lord, You do not keep Your distance from us – and You do not keep Your silence.

Psalm 50:1-23 “Our God comes, He does not keep silence… God the Lord speaks” (Psalm 50:3,1). We thank You, Lord, that You do not keep Your distance from us. You come near to us. We thank You that You do not keep Your silence. You speak to us. How do You come near to us? …

Help us, Lord, to become the kind of people that You want us to be.

We read about Solomon – he built “his own house”, and he built “the House of the Lord” (1 Kings 6:37-7:1). Which was the most important to him? Which is most important to us – pleasing ourselves or serving You? Help us, Lord, not to be “lovers of self, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure”. …

We thank You, Lord, that You have blessed us.

We thank You, Lord, that You have blessed us. We have come to You with our sin - and You have forgiven us. We thank You, Lord, that You call us to bring Your blessing to others. We have received Your blessing. Help us to share it with others.

Thank You, Lord, for Jesus. He’s Such A Great Saviour.

‘To the far and to the near’, Lord, You speak Your Word of ‘peace’ (Isaiah 57:19). Christ is Your  Word of ‘peace’ (Ephesians 2:13-14). Christ is for ‘the Jews’. He is for ‘the Gentiles’. There is one way of salvation. Jesus Christ is our Saviour. Help us to put our ‘faith’ in Him. It's through …

Sometimes, Lord, when we think about our many sins

Sometimes, Lord, when we think about our many sins, we wonder, “How can we possibly be forgiven?” – and, then, we remember Jesus. We remember that He died for our sins. We look at ourselves, and everything seems to be so hopeless. We look at Jesus, and we say, “Thank You, Lord, for Your wonderful …

Help us, Lord, to put the past behind us.

Help us, Lord, to put the past behind us. Help us to press on into Your future. We learn from the past. Help us not live in the past. Help us, Lord, to let the past be the past. Help us to make a new beginning with You. Help us to move forward with You …

Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Help us, Lord, to worship You. Help us to say, “To You, Lord, be the glory and the power for ever and ever” (1 Peter 4:11; 1 Peter 5:11). Deliver us from a “form of religion which denies Your power” – “These people honour Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me” …

Guide us, Lord, by Your light and Your truth.

Guide us, Lord, by Your light and Your truth (Psalm 48:14; Psalm 43:3). Let Your light shine into our darkness. Let Your truth lift us out of the way that leads away from You and into the way that leads to You. Lead us to Jesus - He is "the Way, the Truth and the …

Lord, You call us to “worship You in spirit and in truth.”

Leviticus 22:17-23:44 Lord, You call us to "worship You in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). Where does true worship come from? - It comes from You. It comes from Your Spirit. It comes from Your Truth. We read the Holy Scriptures - and we begin to worship You. We open our hearts to the …

Praying Through God’s Word: Job 21-31

Job 21:1-34 Lord, we sense Job’s deep disappointment, as he says to his ‘comforters’, “How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood” (Job 21:34). We thank You, Lord, that Job was looking beyond his ‘comforters’. He was looking to You: “He knows the way that …

Praying Through God’s Word: Job 32-42

Job 32:1-33:18 “Understanding” comes from “the breath of the Almighty” (Job 32:8). “God does speak – now, one way, now another – though man may not perceive it” (Job 33:14). We thank You, Lord, that You have spoken to us through Your Word. You still speak to us through Your Word. It’s Your Spirit who brings …

Lord, we come to Your House – but what’s going on in our hearts?

Lord, we come to Your House – but what’s going on in our hearts? Do we come to Your House with Grudge-Giving: “I have to”? Is it “Duty-Giving”: “I ought to”? Do we come to You with “Thanksgiving”: “I want to”? Help us, Lord, to get beyond our religion – our “Grudge-Giving” and our “Duty-Giving”? Help us to …

Praying Through God’s Word: Luke’s Gospel

Luke 1:1-38 Lord, we need Your Word and Your Spirit. Your Word shows us how we are to live. Your Spirit gives us strength - for living Your way. May "the Word of Christ dwell in us richly" (Colossians 3:16) - prompting us to walk with You in the way of faith. May we "be …

Help us, Lord, to make a new beginning with You – and a new beginning for You.

2 Chronicles 33:1-34:13  Very quickly, Lord, good work can be undone (2 Chronicles 33:1-3). Bad work can be undone - if we will make a new beginning with You (2 Chronicles 34:1-4). Help us, Lord, to make a new beginning with You - and a new beginning for You.

How, Lord, Do You Strengthen Us?

‘I am the Lord... I will strengthen you’ (Isaiah 45:5). How, Lord, do You strengthen us? You strengthen us with salvation. You come to us as our ‘God and Saviour’.  You call us to come to You and receive salvation: ‘Turn to Me and be saved...’. Through faith in Christ, we are ‘saved by the …

I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart.

“I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart… My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you… The Lord reigns forever… The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble” (Psalm 9:1,3,7,9). We give thanks to You, Lord. Where does our thanksgiving begin? It begins with …

Teach us, Lord, to obey Your Word. Lead us on the pathway of blessing.

Prayers based on Ezekiel 5-8 Ezekiel 5:1-6:14 ‘Because you have defiled My sanctuary... I Myself will withdraw My favour’ (Ezekiel 5:11). To those who despise Your Word and treat the place of prayer with contempt, Jesus still speaks His Word of judgment: ‘My House will be called a House of prayer, but you have made …

Without Your blessing, Lord, our worship is empty.

Without Your blessing, Lord, our worship is empty. We need Your blessing. We pray for Your blessing. May “the glory of the Lord fill the House of God” (2 Chronicles 5:14). This is our prayer. We pray for the preachers. We pray for the people. May each and every one of us be blessed by …

Why, Lord, do we go to Your House?

Psalms 122:1-124:8 ‘I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the House of the Lord”’ (Psalm 122:2). Why, Lord, do we go to Your House? We go ‘to give thanks to the Name of the Lord’ (Psalm 122:4). We seek Your mercy for our past sins: ‘Have mercy on us, O …

Help us, Lord, to be still and know that You are God.

Help us, Lord, to "be still, and know that You are God" (Psalm 46:10), but help us not to remain silent when we should be speaking up for You: "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans …

How much, Lord, do we want to be blessed by You?

How much, Lord, do we want to be blessed by You? Is this something that we can take or leave? Do we say, “It would be nice to have more of the Lord’s blessing – but we’re doing OK, as things are? Are we doing OK? or Are we too easily satisfied? Create in us, …

Lord, we read, in Your Word, that “every man did what was right in his own eyes.”

Lord, we read, in Your Word, that "every man did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25) - and it seems like we are reading a description of today's world. We look around us, and we see so little love for You. Your Son is "despised and rejected by men" (Isaiah 53:3). Our …

Good News From Heaven

We read, Lord, about “windows in heaven” – and we read about “a day of good news” (2 Kings 7:2,9). What a wonderful day of good news it was when You opened the windows of heaven and sent Your Son, Jesus, to this earth (Luke 2:10-11). Help us, Lord. to give ourselves, whole-heartedly, to You …

Lord, You are the true God, the living God, the everlasting God.

Lord, You are the true God, the living God, the everlasting God (Jeremiah 10:10). You are our Saviour (Isaiah 43:11). Speak to us Your truth. Breathe into us Your life. As Jesus draws near to us, help us to trust Him and be led by Him on the pathway to Your eternal glory.

Lord, sometimes, the things that happen to us don’t seem to make sense – to us!

Genesis 11:10-32 Lord, sometimes, the things that happen to us don’t seem to make sense – to us! We try to tell the story of our life. We try to make sense of it all. We try – but we fail. Why? – We don’t know the full story. Sometimes, we feel like we’re living …

Life isn’t easy. Sometimes, it seems like there are nothing but hard times.

Life isn't easy. Sometimes, it seems like there are nothing but hard times. There doesn't seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. That's the way it feels - but it's not the way it is! Our feelings will lead us away from You - if we let them! Our feelings can …

Lord, we long for a closer walk with You.

Lord, we long for a closer walk with You. Sometimes, Lord, we take our eyes off Jesus, our Saviour – and we wander far away from You. Always, You are calling us back to Yourself. In love, You wait for us to return to You. You call us to make a new beginning with You.

Help us, Lord, never to forget where the victory comes from – it comes from You.

"The Lord gave victory to David wherever he went" (2 Samuel 8:6,14). Help us, Lord, never to forget where the victory comes from? It comes from You. It's Your victory - and You give it to us. You direct our attention away from ourselves. You direct our attention to Jesus. He says to us, "Without …

Lord, we think about ourselves.

Lord, we think about ourselves, about the way we have lived. We are ashamed of ourselves. There is nothing about us that makes us worthy of coming into Your holy presence – and yet, in Your amazing grace, Your undeserved mercy and Your wonderful love, You are always reaching out to us and calling us …

Help us, Lord, to invite Jesus, Your Son, to be our Saviour and our Friend.

Lord, we thank You that ‘the fountain of wisdom is an overflowing stream’ (Proverbs 18:4). We read the joyful testimony of Paul: ‘The grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus’ (1 Timothy 1:14), and we say, in our hearts,  ‘This is the “wisdom” we must seek …

Lord, You open our eyes.

‘The heavens were opened and I saw visions of God... The Word of the Lord came to Ezekiel’(Ezekiel 1:1-2). Lord, You open our eyes to ‘see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4:4). You Lord speak to us. Help us to listen to You: ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant …

Lord, we have begun to follow Jesus.

Lord, we have begun to follow Jesus. Help us to keep on following Him. Again and again, we are tempted to turn back, to return to the ways of this world. Help us to keep on saying, “I have decided to follow Jesus – No turning back. The world behind me, the Cross before me …

“Holiness, holiness, the only life that the Lord will bless”

"Holiness, holiness, the only life that the Lord will bless" (Don Francisco). Lord, You are the holy God. You call us to be holy. The way of holiness is the way of blessing. Help us, Lord, to walk with You in Your way - the way of holiness, the way of blessing.

Jesus Christ – the Lamb of God – has ‘offered for all time a single Sacrifice for sins’ (prayers based on Ezekiel 45 – 46).

Ezekiel 45:1-25 We read, Lord, about 'the sin offerings, cereal offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel’ (Ezekiel 45:17). We thank You that all of this points forward to the single Sacrifice for sin made by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: ‘Christ died for sins once for …

Lord, You speak to us. Help us to speak to You.

Lord, You speak to us. Help us to speak to You. You’re speaking. Are we listening? You’re listening to us. Are we speaking to You? Your Word to us is the call of love. You tell us that You love us. You’re calling us to love You. May our words (and our life) be our response to …

Praying Through God’s Word: Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:1-19 Serving You, Lord, doesn’t begin with our choice. It begins with Your call. The initiative is Yours – not ours. Thank You, Lord, that You love us so much. Thank You for saving us – and calling us to be Your servants. Jeremiah 2:1-19 They had turned away from the Lord. They had chosen …

Lord, what are we to do ‘when the enemy comes in like a flood’?

Lord, what are we to do ‘when the enemy comes in like a flood’? Help us to look away from ourselves to Jesus Christ. He has ‘come’ as our ‘Redeemer’. Trusting in Him, we pray that ‘the Spirit of the the Lord will come like a rushing stream’. We pray that ‘the wind of the …

Help us, Lord, to take sin seriously.

Help us, Lord, to take sin seriously - "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23). Help us to take Your salvation even more seriously. Help us to believe that the story of our life is more than the story of our sin. It's also the story of Your salvation. When we are …

What do we do when everything seems to go wrong?

What do we do when everything seems to go wrong? Do we start complaining, blaming You for everything that's happening to us? or Do we start asking the question, 'Where is the Lord in all of this?' Help us to challenge our negative thinking - "Why are you discouraged, my soul?" (Psalm 43:5). Help us …

Lord, we sing of Jesus, Your Son.

Lord, we sing of Jesus, Your Son. He is "the man of sorrows" (Isaiah 53:3) - but this does not make us sad. We look beyond His suffering. We see our salvation. We sing of Your salvation. With joy, we sing to You - "Hallelujah! What a Saviour!" We look at Jesus - and we …

Lord, we thank You that You are always with us.

Genesis 15:1-21 Lord, we thank You that You are always with us – even when bad things are happening to us.

Lord, Your Word makes such a difference!

Lord, Your Word makes such a difference! When everything seems so hopeless, we turn to Your Word,  and we find that there is ‘hope’ (Psalm 119:49). When we are going through a time of  terrible ‘suffering’, we turn to Your Word, and we find ‘comfort’ (Psalm 119:50,52). When everything seems to be going so badly, …

Lord, You love us. You call us to love You.

Leviticus 8:1-36 Lord, You love us. You call us to love You. Help us, Lord, to grow in our love for You - to obey Your Word, to do Your will, to walk in Your way.

Lord, we pray for a revival – a revival of looking to You, listening to you, learning from You and living for You.

“Righteousness lifts up a nation, but sin is a disgrace in any society” (Proverbs 14:34). Lord, we wonder about the future. Can times of blessing come again to our nation? Yes! They can – but there needs to be a big change in our way of thinking and our way of living. There needs to …

Praying Through God’s Word: Song of Solomon

Song of Solomon 1:1-17 Lord, You’ve called us to be the Bride of Christ: “a pure Bride”, a Bride beautifully dressed” for our Saviour – “the Bride, the wife of the Lamb” (Ephesians 5:25-33; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 21:2,9). May we hear the voice of Jesus, saying to us, “You are beautiful, my love.” May …

Lord, we love to hear Your promises of love.

Lord, we love to hear Your promises of love. Sometimes, we need to hear Your words of warning. In Your warnings, we hear the voice of Your love. In Your love, You’re calling us back from a way that will do us great harm. You call us into a better way – the way of Your …

By Your grace, Lord, You call us to be Your soldiers and servants.

By Your grace, Lord, You call us to be Your soldiers and servants. Help us not to be "fearful and fainthearted" (Deuteronomy 19:19). Help us to be "good soldiers of Jesus Christ" (2 Timothy 2:3). When we hear your challenging question: "Who is on the Lord's side?", may we give our committed answer: "By Thy …

Lord, we thank You that Jesus came to earth for us.

Lord, we thank You that Jesus came to earth for us – and we thank You that He died for us. He ‘came to seek and to save the lost’ (Luke 19:10). He came to bring us back from our wandering about in the shadows of our life. He came to bring us into the …

Sometimes, Lord, it seems like You are far away from us.

Sometimes, Lord, it seems like You are far away from us. Why do we feel like this? It’s because we have wandered away from You. We’ve allowed something else to come between ourselves and You. Call us back to Yourself, back from the brink, back to a new beginning, back to the blessing that will grow …

Praying Through God’s Word: Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 1:1-2:26 Life is empty without You, Lord. You fill our lives with Your blessing. You give to us new life, abundant life, eternal life (2 Corinthians 5:17; John 10:10; 1 John 5:11-12). All of these blessings come to us through Jesus, Your Son. He brings us out of emptiness. He brings us into a …

Words For Singing, Words For Living

Psalms 75:1-76:12 “We give thanks to You, O God … I will rejoice for ever, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. Make your vows to the Lord your God, and perform them” (Psalm 785:1,9; Psalm 76:11). Teach us, Lord, that true rejoicing in You is more than singing praise to You. Teach us …

Praying Through God’s Word: Proverbs

Proverbs 1:1-7 Lord, help us to be doers of Your Word. Hearing Your Word is easier than doing Your Word. We hear what You’re saying to us – but do we do what You’re telling us to do? This is the great question we must always ask ourselves. It’s the great question that You’re always …

The Gospel is for all nations.

Isaiah 54:1-17  Lord, You are not only ‘the Holy One of Israel’. You are ‘the God of the whole earth’ (Isaiah 54:5). We thank You that the Gospel is for ‘all nations’. The ministry of Christ’s apostles began in ‘Jerusalem’. We thank You that it did not end there. The Gospel was to be taken …

What, Lord, do we do with Your Word?

What, Lord, do we do with Your Word? How do we respond to Your Word? Do we respect Your Word? Do we despise Your Word? There’s a right way and a wrong way of hearing Your Word (Proverbs 13:13). Teach us, Lord, to turn from the wrong way, and to turn to the right way …

Lord, when You call us to obedience, we’re not to say, ‘I’ll think about that later.’

Jeremiah 11:1-23 Lord, You speak Your Word to us. You call us to obedience. You say to us, ‘Obey My voice.’ Often, Lord, the story of our life is summed up in the words: ‘They did not listen or pay attention. They did not obey’ (Jeremiah 11:7-8). Your Word is not just ‘something to think about.’ When You call us to obedience, …

Our words can do a lot of good – and they can do a lot of harm!

Our words can do a lot of good - and they can do a lot of harm! Lord, help us to watch what we say. May our words be words that heal - not words that hurt. May they be helpful words, words that will help others to love You more - not words that …