”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Cor. 12:9-10

Heavenly Father, as I meditate on these words of Paul, I vacillate between feelings of anger and relief. For as a young follower of Jesus, I wasn’t taught to delight in weakness but rather to despise weakness, to deny weakness, to demonize weakness, to dethrone weakness. That’s why I totally understand Martin Luther’s statement that “bad theology is the worst taskmaster of all.” For I’ve suffered much under the merciless whip of several gospel distortions.

It was all about “the victorious Christian life”—overcoming and not underachieving; having a type A spiritual personality on steroids; being more than a conqueror, and never less than a hero. I didn’t think in terms of sufficient grace, I wanted replacement grace—getting rid of anything unpleasant in my life.

Thank you, Father, for rescuing me from this and other misrepresentations of life in Christ. Thank you for the godly men and women you’ve brought into my life over the years—the humble and courageous servants of Jesus who’ve helped me understand the riches of the gospel and the way of the cross. Increase their tribe, Lord, increase their tribe.

Father, I know I’m not to be defined by my weakness and brokenness, but I realize more than ever, that’s where Jesus meets me. I have zero ability to change my heart; I’m utterly dependent on you, the God who raises the dead. Fortunately, I’m out of boot straps to pull up. I very much want your power to rest on me; I very much need for your power to rest on me. Indeed, I’m desperate for all the sufficient grace you’ll give me.

As you continue to humble and gentle my heart, greatly increase my compassion towards others in their weakness and brokenness. Forgive my irritation, impatience, and avoidance of people whose need is much greater than my supply.

What a wonderful, merciful Savior you are, Lord Jesus. Only because you embraced the weakness of the cross I now boast in the weaknesses of my life. What a most profound, liberating, and hope-filled paradox. Your power is made perfect in my weakness. So very Amen I pray with gratitude, in your holy and loving name.

     Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Eph. 4:29-30

Glorious Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—I praise you for the incalculable riches of redemption you’ve lavished on us in the gospel. Father, for planning such a stunning salvation; Jesus, for accomplishing all things necessary for our complete salvation; Holy Spirit, for faithfully applying the finished work of Jesus to us, and through us. I wish I had adequate words to express my gratitude, but my words fail me.

That being said, I don’t want my words to fail you, gracious God. Indeed, there’s no greater stewardship to which you have called us than being careful about how we speak to one another; for our words have the power of life and death (Prov. 18:21).

Father, you spoke the Word which gave life to my dead spirit—giving me both the will and the wherewithal to believe the gospel. Forgive me when I speak words, or even think words, which have the opposite effect on others, bringing discouragement, decay, even death.

Holy Spirit, you faithfully preach the gospel to my heart—incessantly telling me that I’m a beloved child of God. Continue to so fill my heart with the beauty of Jesus that, like Balaam’s donkey, I cannot help but offer blessings to others. Train my heart and tongue in gospel-speak. Make me fluent in the vocabulary of heaven. Convict me quickly when my words are poorly chosen, intentionally hurtful, or when there are simply too many of them.

You’ve sealed me for the day of redemption. I don’t want to sadden or grieve you by a foolish and hurtful misuse of words. I’m called to build up, not tear down. You study my needs and speak only helpful words to my heart. Educate me in the needs of my family and friends that I might likewise speak only words of encouragement and hope—even when that requires saying the hard things.

Lord Jesus, I praise you for taking the Father’s word of final judgment on the cross, that I might hear him only speak the words of complete welcome and acceptance in my heart. So very Amen I pray with deep gratitude, in your holy and loving name.

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Prov. 4:23

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

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Lk. 6:45

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 understands us like you. No one loves us like you do. No one cares for us like you do. Every other god is simply a wannabe god, demigod, semi-god. Only you are God; only you are as generous as the gospel reveals you to be.

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. Don’t let me forget that this conflict will persist until the day Jesus returns to finish making all things new. Thus, the warning to keep myself from idols isn’t going away anytime soon. The need to guard, feed and refresh my heart will stay as current as sunrise and sunset.

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 foolishly go for life, deliverance, and salvation? By your grace, help me see and dethrone these rivals, by a greater preoccupation with Jesus.

I praise you for the assurance that I am already one of the “dear children,” John wrote about in this Scripture. 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. So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ holy and grace-full name.

     This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift! A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.” Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! Isa. 30:15-18 

And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Gal. 4:6

Dear heavenly Father, this is the perfect Scripture to pray through on this Father’s Day, for there is no other father like you. Indeed, what a loving God you are—one who longs to be gracious to us. The way you care for your people is simply incomparable and irresistible, and yet, foolishly, we do resist. Whether through chronic unbelief, the illusion of self-sufficiency, the deceitfulness of sin—we find ways to continue our orphan-like ways, and ignore the resources of the gospel.

For sure, Father, there are times when “riding off on swift horses” looks like a great option—when the demands upon us seem to far outweigh the resources within us; when we reach our emotional limits and exhaust our mental reserves; when tiredness gives way to “attitude,” and patience gives way to pettiness. Even then, you woo us to yourself; especially then, we need you.

The call to repentance and rest, and quietness and trust, comes to us like a kiss from heaven; an mercy-oasis in the arid dessert; a waterfall of grace in a world of broken people and broken places.   Father, we find great, really, unparalleled comfort in your pursuing love. Only your love is better than life; only your mercies are sufficient for our messes; only your kindness is powerful enough to lead us to repentance. No one else can touch the deepest place in our hearts, and grant us the refreshment for which we long. O, for the strength of a heart at rest in you.

It’s not like I’m facing the enemies Israel confronted in Isaiah’s day. The Assyrian and Babylonian armies aren’t on the horizon. But I do need, once again, to learn my limits. The barrenness of a busy life is always a threat. Help me say yes to the right things and no to the unnecessary things, Father. Help me reestablish the pace and rhythms of a gospel-driven life.

I repent of letting needs dictate my pace. I repent of grabbing and trying to spin four more plates than you intend. I repent of not honoring Sabbath rest. I repent, yet again, of trying to be my own savior. I repent of doing more things for you than spending unrushed time with you.

Father, we choose to wait for you. As you rise to show us compassion, we will sit down, shut up, be still, and wait. So very Amen we pray with great anticipation, in your merciful and mighty name.

       For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Rom. 7:22-25

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Gal 5:16-17

Dear Lord Jesus, though I’m conflict avoidant by nature, and often by choice, in this passage describes one conflict about which I am actually excited. The very fact that there’s a war going on inside of me is a good thing, especially since the combatants are the gospel and my sinful nature. For this means that the outcome of this war has already been decided. The gospel will prevail! Yet I’m not naïve about the “mop-up” operation. Growing in grace is a great privilege; but it sure gets messy and intense, and times.

Lord Jesus, the only reason I now “delight in God’s law” is because the demands of the law drove me to you. I needed a substitute and a great Savior, not a model and a life coach. You perfectly met all the requirements of God’s law for me, and you’ve exhausted his judgment against all my law breaking. This is the good news, indeed.

The messy part of knowing you comes from your commitment to make us like yourself. You’re more committed to getting “heaven” in us than getting us into heaven. At times I wish you’d just glorified me after justifying me. It would’ve been so much easier—to have skipped over the whole sanctification process! But, alas, (and thankfully), your ways are not our ways. But I have great peace in knowing that one Day I will be as loving and as lovely as you; for the Father will complete his work of restoration in each of his children, including me. Until that Day, here’s my prayer.

Free me to grieve the sinfulness of sin—the sinfulness of my sins. Now that I’m no longer guilty or condemned, let me fearlessly see my sins, ruthlessly hate my sins, and quickly repent of my sins. Increase my love for holiness and decrease any sense of self-contempt—which is just a dark form of self-love. Only the gospel can bring me such freedom. Only by seeing more of you, Lord Jesus, will I delight in this journey.

You’re the end of all my “wretchedness,” Paul refers to in this passage. You’re the one who’s rescuing me from this “body of death”—all the effects and residue of the fall, all the trappings of my grave clothes, every semblance of every way I’m not like you. Now that there’s no condemnation for my sin (Rom. 8:1), may I truly love holiness and the process of becoming more like you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for every good thing we have in you, Lord Jesus. So very Amen I pray, in your most powerful and loving name.

     As soon as you [Daniel] began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision: “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.” Dan. 9:23-24

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:25-27

Dear Lord Jesus, every time I read certain prophetic sections of the Old Testament, like this one in Daniel, I get flashbacks of big charts, bombastic preachers, and a bevy of fears. As a young believer in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I was convinced ours was the terminal generation.

Surely you were going to come back within a few years. The political climate was perfect for the last of the last antichrists to emerge. All things 666 were eschewed—credit cards, phone numbers, driver’s licenses. The truth is, we gave the antichrist more credit than Satan himself. The egregious truth is, some of us spent more time fearing the antichrist than really getting to know you, the Christ!

Lord Jesus, I grieve that, back then, I didn’t know how to look for you in all the Scriptures, and therefore in all of history and life. You who’ve given me more than seventy times seven worth of forgiveness (Matt. 18:22) are best qualified to help me understand Daniel’s “seventy sevens”, and every other prophecy, simple or complex.

Whatever else is going on in this portion of Daniel, this I know for sure: Jesus, only you will one day put an end to all sin. Only in you can perfect and complete atonement for sin be found. Lord Jesus, only you will one day usher in a world of everlasting righteousness—the new heaven and new earth (Rev. 21:1-5).

Only you could “seal up vision and prophecy,” because you’re the last Word from God the Father (Heb. 1:1-2) and the “yes and amen” to all of God’s promises (2 Cor. 1:20). Only you could fulfill every symbol and stick of furniture in the Holy of Holies and make a way for us to enter there (Heb. 10:19-22).

Only you, are the antitype to every type in the Bible and the substance answering to every shadow. Indeed, all of history is bound up with your commitment to redeem your Bride from the nations, and to make all things new. Hallelujah, many times over!

Only you, Lord Jesus, are worthy of our adoration, affection, attention, and allegiance—only you! So very Amen I pray, in your most glorious and gracious name.

And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. Rom. 1:6

Dear Lord Jesus, this one little verse touches something quite big in our lives—the notion of “belonging.” Because so much of life is about the delights and heartbreaks of relationship. From the day we offered our first cry as a newborn baby, our deep longing for attention, attachment, and affection have been patently obvious. This is a good thing, for we’re made in your image—created for deep connection and rich relationship.

You placed us into our families, our quest to find our place in our family has been a source of incredible joy for many of us, and great sadness for others of us. This same story has played out in all of our other relationships as well: friendships, work, romance. Wanting to connect is an incessant them theme of our lives—one that often leads us to make our worse choices in life.

And yet “the belonging of all belongings” is found only in relationship with you, Jesus. There’s a place in our hearts that shaped like and reserved only for you. I praise you today that the gospel is a calling to belong to you. No one else and nothing else can fill that vacuum and enliven that place in our hearts.

The healthiest relationships we enjoy are good gifts to be treasured, for sure; but they’re only a scent and symbol of what it means to belong to you. Likewise, our most painful and disconnected and failed relationships don’t have to define us. We can, and should, grieve these losses, and bring our wounds to you. For no one loves, and no one can heal a broken heart like you…

And I thank you today, as well, for the reminder that belonging to you is a “calling”; we called to belong, not merely invited, but subpoenaed into an eternal life of being wanted, desired, known, loved, celebrated, and enjoyed. We are called to “belong”—not owned and parked like a new car; but connected and cherished, like a new bride. Lord Jesus, you purchased us with the price of your life; and your love for us, alone, is better than life—alone, will not let us go.

We belong, now and forever, to you. Help me, help us, to come more fully alive to our “belongingness” and belovedness in you this very day, Lord Jesus. So very Amen we pray, in your tender and triumphant name.

     May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me. 2 Tim. 1:16-17

Dear Lord Jesus, Onesiphorus is just one of many of my brothers and sisters I’ll have to wait till heaven to meet. Being married to you has placed me in a most amazing family; and like every other family, it’s a broken family filled with broken people. But like no other family, it’s a family with a guaranteed future of whole people and perfect relationships, beyond all imaginings (1 Cor. 2:9). I praise you for paying the supreme price of your life, to secure such an unimaginable eternity for your Bride.

But here’s one of my brothers I’d like to be a lot more like, long before we meet in heaven. Though Onesiphorus’ name literally means “bringing profit,” he didn’t have to live that way. Like me, if he just threw his heart into “cruise control,” he could’ve been self-absorbed, hypercritical, a record keeper of wrongs done, a quarrelsome type, real sensitive, taking everything way too personally. In short, he could have been a real drain to be around. But instead he became a source of refreshment; and according to Paul, he worked hard at it.

Lord Jesus, make me, like Onesiphorus, a much more refreshing person. Fill my heart with your mercy and grace. Give me gospel eyes to see others as you see them. Sensitize my spirit with your Spirit, to respond to needs quicker and with more joy. Free me from working hard just to get my to-do list done, that I might work hard at bringing the manna and water of fresh encouragement to others.

Help me be aware today of those who really need a kind word, some reason to hope, a concrete manifestation of care. It may be at the price of an airline ticket to find them. It may simply be a walk across the street, a drive across town, a face-to-face visit, a hug, a call, an email, a text—some small thing that will bring a profit beyond my imagining.

Lord Jesus, you searched hard to find us, and you did. You’ve broken our chains and you’ve borne our shame. May I offer a refreshing taste of your love and grace to others today, no matter what their chains are. So very Amen I pray, in your loving and liberating name.

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Phil. 4:5

Dear Lord Jesus, there is no one more gentle with me than you. There is no one as welcoming of sinners, as kind to the broken, or as understanding of the struggling as you. You are gentle, yet persistent; gentle, yet firm; gentle, yet so very powerful.

You’re like the perfect surgeon—the one I want working on me. You never get nervous, flustered, agitated, or hurried. You have a steady hand because of your steady heart. Oh, how I need you to do ongoing gospel surgery on me if I’m going to be a true gentle man—someone whose gentleness is evident to all, and not just evident to the people who are so easy for me to be with.

Gentle me when I’m behind slow drivers who stay in the fast lane. Gentle me when I face both fair and unfair criticism. Gentle me when I think things that are obvious to me ought to be obvious to everybody else. Gentle me when loud, boorish people invade “my” space—as though I have some inalienable right to an uninterrupted life. Gentle me when I whine about not getting a wifi signal.

Gentle me when I’m too tired to engage, but my wife really needs me to listen. Gentle me when I need a nap, but my grandson needs to play. Gentle me when someone gets the last cookie I was already planning on enjoying with a glass of milk. Gentle me when my exercise plans are disrupted because it’s too humid to run.

Gentle me when the vacation gets cut short by crises. Gentle me when friends keep making the same mistakes and foolish choices. Gentle me when the restaurant sends me home with the wrong takeout order. Gentle me when Satan starts condemning me for things I actually did, but for which you already paid my debt.

Gentle me when I start debating theology rather than loving the people who see things differently. Gentle me when I cannot fix the very people you never gave me to fix. Gentle me around people who fear the world more than they have confidence in your kingdom.

Lord Jesus, I praise you for being so very near to us. You are most near to us in the gospel; and ,in fact, you actually live in our hearts. You’re also near in terms of coming back to finish making all things new—a Day for which we long. May your nearness generate a much quicker repentance on my part. Please make me a gentle man, by the gospel and for your glory. So very Amen I pray, in your kind and loving name.

     The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Cor. 4:4

Dear Lord Jesus, I thank you for the gift of another day. In keeping with the heartbeat of this Scripture, please fill my gaze with your beauty, my mind with your truth, and my heart with more of the gospel—much more of the gospel.

Satan doesn’t work hard just to keep unbelievers in the dark about the gospel, but believers as well. I know I need the gospel today just as much as when I was still dead in my sins and trespasses (Eph. 2). So by the Spirit, through the Word, Lord Jesus, please reveal more and more of the gospel to me—more and more of who you really are; more and more of what you’ve already accomplished by your life, death, and resurrection.

More and more of what you’re continuing to do in your commitment to make all things new; more and more of what it’s going to be like to live with you, and the whole family of God, in the new heaven and new earth. Show me, convince me, dazzle me, change me; and then show me still more.

Don’t let me frame any notion of God apart from you, for you are the very image of God—God incarnate. Don’t let me read any part of the Bible without thinking about you—for everything written about you in the law of Moses, the Prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled (Luke 24:44).

Don’t let me desert you by turning to some other gospel—which is really no gospel at all (Gal. 1:6-7). As the gospel is producing fruit and growing all over the world, so may it enlarge my heart and bring forth fruit, in me and through me, to your glory (Col. 1:6).

Lord Jesus, if you’ve moved me from total blindness to a 20/200 vision of the gospel, take me on to 20/100, then 20/50, then 20/20, then 20/15, until the day I see you with glorified eyes. In that day I will see you as you are, and I will be like you (1 John 3:2). Hallelujah, many times over! By the light of this hope, I surrender to your purposes for this day. So very Amen I pray, in your peerless name and praise-worthy name.