Today’s Reflection

When we are forsaken by God we cannot possibly recover our former state of purity and delight by any groaning and efforts of our own; [we learn] our previous gladness of heart resulted not from our own earnestness but from God’s gift.

—John Cassian, edited by Keith Beasley-Topliffe, The Upper Room Spiritual Classics: Writings of John Cassian (Upper Room Books, 2017)

Save 15% on this week’s featured book when you use promo code NEM0726 at Store.UpperRoom.org.*

Today’s Question

Are you ever frustrated when your prayers and meditations on scripture seem pointless? How have you learned to continue even when it seems as if God has left the room? Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night but find no rest.

—Psalm 22:1–2 (NRSVUE)

Prayer for the Week

O God of all good things, prepare my heart for your presence, align my spirit with your intentions, and make me pure and blameless in your sight. Amen.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.

Lectionary Readings

• Genesis 29:15-28
• Psalm 105:1-11, 45b or Psalm 128
• Romans 8:26-39
• Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

*Offer valid through August 15, 2026.

Today’s Reflection

And so when [purity in heart] is set before us, we shall always direct our actions and thoughts straight toward attainment of it. . . . For the mind is sure to rove about from hour to hour and minute to minute in all sorts of wandering thoughts.

—John Cassian, edited by Keith Beasley-Topliffe, The Upper Room Spiritual Classics: Writings of John Cassian (Upper Room Books, 2017)

Save 15% on this week’s featured book when you use promo code NEM0726 at Store.UpperRoom.org.*

Today’s Question

How would you define purity of heart? How might you attain it? Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
—Philippians 3:13–14 (NRSVUE)

Prayer for the Week

O God of all good things, prepare my heart for your presence, align my spirit with your intentions, and make me pure and blameless in your sight. Amen.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.

Lectionary Readings

• Genesis 29:15-28
• Psalm 105:1-11, 45b or Psalm 128
• Romans 8:26-39
• Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

*Offer valid through August 15, 2026.

Today’s Reflection

The Christian religion was, indeed, often a tool of the oppressors. The religion of Jesus, however, was the exact opposite. . . . Jesus’ religion was for the poor, the disinherited, and the oppressed.

—Daniel Wolpert, Creating a Life with God: The Call of Ancient Prayer Practices, Revised Edition (Discipleship Resources, 2023)

Save 15% on this week’s featured book when you use promo code NEM0726 at Store.UpperRoom.org.*

Today’s Question

How have you seen Christianity used to cause harm? How have you seen it used to cause healing?
Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation;
neither shall they learn war any more;
but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,
and no one shall make them afraid,
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken

—Micah 4:3–4 (NRSVUE)

Prayer for the Week

God, you are. You are more than we could ever name, more than we can grasp. Help us to know you even in our unknowing. Help us to love you, even as we learn how to love from you. Amen.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.

Lectionary Readings

• Genesis 28:10-19a
• Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
• Romans 8:12-25
• Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

*Offer valid through August 15, 2026.

Today’s Reflection

While our daily prayer practices cannot change the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, praying in the face of an apocalypse has a long history in our faith. [Times of upheaval] are often fertile ground for spiritual transformation.

—Daniel Wolpert, Creating a Life with God: The Call of Ancient Prayer Practices, Revised Edition (Discipleship Resources, 2023)

Save 15% on this week’s featured book when you use promo code NEM0726 at Store.UpperRoom.org.*

Today’s Question

The book of Revelation contains many verses of worship even as it tells the story of an apocalypse. How will you praise God even in the middle of this climate apocalypse? Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord
and of his Messiah,
and he will reign forever and ever.”

—Revelation 11:15 (NRSVUE)

Prayer for the Week

God, you are. You are more than we could ever name, more than we can grasp. Help us to know you even in our unknowing. Help us to love you, even as we learn how to love from you. Amen.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.

Lectionary Readings

• Genesis 28:10-19a
• Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
• Romans 8:12-25
• Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

*Offer valid through August 15, 2026.

Today’s Reflection

When we begin to turn over large amounts of our resources to someone else, we encounter our fears. . . . Tithing is a prayer practice because it forces us into relationship with God. We must ask God for what we need.

—Daniel Wolpert, Creating a Life with God: The Call of Ancient Prayer Practices, Revised Edition (Discipleship Resources, 2023)

Save 15% on this week’s featured book when you use promo code NEM0726 at Store.UpperRoom.org.*

Today’s Question

What are you afraid will happen if you give away more money than you currently do? Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
—Matthew 6:31–32 (NRSVUE)

Prayer for the Week

God, you are. You are more than we could ever name, more than we can grasp. Help us to know you even in our unknowing. Help us to love you, even as we learn how to love from you. Amen.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.

Lectionary Readings

• Genesis 28:10-19a
• Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
• Romans 8:12-25
• Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

*Offer valid through August 15, 2026.

Today’s Reflection

Just as we are able to reach out to God with our hearts and minds, we are able to reach out to God with and through our bodies. For it is through our bodies that we see and experience beauty, love, joy, and peace.

—Daniel Wolpert, Creating a Life with God: The Call of Ancient Prayer Practices, Revised Edition (Discipleship Resources, 2023)

Save 15% on this week’s featured book when you use promo code NEM0726 at Store.UpperRoom.org.*

Today’s Question

How do you prepare your body for time with God? How do you honor God with your body? Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
—Genesis 2:7 (NRSVUE)

Prayer for the Week

God, you are. You are more than we could ever name, more than we can grasp. Help us to know you even in our unknowing. Help us to love you, even as we learn how to love from you. Amen.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.

Lectionary Readings

• Genesis 28:10-19a
• Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
• Romans 8:12-25
• Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

*Offer valid through August 15, 2026.

Today’s Reflection

Just as God sees visions of what is to be created and then creates, so too we are designed to see visions and create in accordance with the power and presence of God in our lives.

—Daniel Wolpert, Creating a Life with God: The Call of Ancient Prayer Practices, Revised Edition (Discipleship Resources, 2023)

Save 15% on this week’s featured book when you use promo code NEM0726 at Store.UpperRoom.org.*

Today’s Question

How do you align yourself with God’s power and presence before you create something? Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

He has filled him with a divine spirit, with ability, intelligence, and knowledge, and with every kind of skill, to devise artistic designs.
—Exodus 35:31 (NRSVUE)

Prayer for the Week

God, you are. You are more than we could ever name, more than we can grasp. Help us to know you even in our unknowing. Help us to love you, even as we learn how to love from you. Amen.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.

Lectionary Readings

• Genesis 28:10-19a
• Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
• Romans 8:12-25
• Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

*Offer valid through August 15, 2026.

Today’s Reflection

We can know God by not knowing God. . . . If we let go of our own limited way of knowing, God can infuse a deeper knowing into our consciousness, and so we know God by not knowing.

—Daniel Wolpert, Creating a Life with God: The Call of Ancient Prayer Practices, Revised Edition (Discipleship Resources, 2023)

Save 15% on this week’s featured book when you use promo code NEM0726 at Store.UpperRoom.org.*

Today’s Question

What do you believe about God that actually puts God into a box? Release that belief, even just for one prayer, and ask God to show you the truth. Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

Just as you do not know how the breath comes to the bones in the mother’s womb, so you do not know the work of God, who makes everything.
—Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NRSVUE)

Prayer for the Week

God, you are. You are more than we could ever name, more than we can grasp. Help us to know you even in our unknowing. Help us to love you, even as we learn how to love from you. Amen.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.

Lectionary Readings

• Genesis 28:10-19a
• Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
• Romans 8:12-25
• Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

*Offer valid through August 15, 2026.

Today’s Reflection

I could not cause God to speak when I wanted God to speak. I had to listen, and that meant not knowing what I would hear or when I would hear it.

—Daniel Wolpert, Creating a Life with God: The Call of Ancient Prayer Practices, Revised Edition (Discipleship Resources, 2023)

Save 15% on this week’s featured book when you use promo code NEM0726 at Store.UpperRoom.org.*

Today’s Question

How often do you hear from God when you pray? Does God’s response or silence make it easier or harder to pray? Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

I will stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the rampart;
I will keep watch to see what he will say to me
and what he will answer concerning my complaint.

—Habakkuk 2:1 (NRSVUE)

Prayer for the Week

God, you are. You are more than we could ever name, more than we can grasp. Help us to know you even in our unknowing. Help us to love you, even as we learn how to love from you. Amen.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.

Lectionary Readings

• Genesis 28:10-19a
• Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
• Romans 8:12-25
• Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

*Offer valid through August 15, 2026.

Today’s Reflection

Where, then, does God’s call beckon us? First, it calls us to live in an ever-increasing love and knowledge of the triune God. Second, it calls us to discern the particular vision God has for us.

—Christine Harman, For the Common Good: Discovering and Using Your Spiritual Gifts (Discipleship Resources, 2021)

Save 15% on this week’s featured book when you use promo code NEM0726 at Store.UpperRoom.org.*

Today’s Question

How is God calling you to support the vision that will serve the common good? Join the conversation.

Today’s Scripture

Therefore, brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider that Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also “was faithful in all God’s house.”
—Hebrews 3:1-2 (NRSV)

Prayer for the Week

Lord,
Give me knowledge and insight that will help me make the right choices in my life. Amen.
Submit your prayer to The Upper Room.

Lectionary Readings

• Genesis 25:19-34
• Psalm 119:105-112
• Romans 8:1-11
• Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Read the lectionary texts courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library here.

Looking for lectionary-based resources? Learn more about The Upper Room Disciplines.

*Offer valid through August 15, 2026.