Category: Daily Prayer

But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ (Acts 11:8-9)

Peter was a devout Jew and obeyed the dietary laws found in the Torah. He has just received a vision from God telling him to eat some of the animals that were previously forbidden, and he reacts according to those laws, saying he has never violated them. Perhaps he thought God was testing him to see if he would be faithful.

In fact, just the opposite was true. Peter was being led to a new truth, that God wanted him to be able to see past the human-manipulated intricacies of the law to broaden his knowledge and accept that those outside Jewish practice were also children of God.

God gave the people of Israel laws as part of their desert experience to protect them and mold them into the nation of priests He called them to be (Exodus 19:6). Now God called them to go into the world, to see that they had more in common with their Gentile neighbors than they thought, and to share His love with them. Their relationship with Him was to be strengthened through their obedience and ministry. May we be obedient today, as God calls us to go to people who live differently than we do, stepping out of our comfortable routine and into the mission field where He sends us.

Patient God, help us to see past the rules we impose on ourselves that often keep us from being the disciples You call us to be. Make us strong in Your love, ready to go where we are needed to spread the Good News of Your salvation. Amen.

Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” Acts 11:1-3

The Book of Acts (or Acts of the Apostles) is important to us because it records what the followers of Jesus did after His resurrection. It tells the first stories of their evangelism, the sharing of the Good News with the world. They didn’t just sit around and talk about what Jesus taught, they went and taught His lessons to others.

As we can see from this passage, even early on there was disagreement about how the church should grow, who should go share the Word and to whom. Jesus knew we would have different opinions, but He modeled the way to witness by eating with sinners Himself, and caring for those that society shunned.

We face similar issues today, but we must remember that under the Great Commission He gave us to “go and make disciples of all the world” (Matthew 28:19), no one is to be left out. Jesus wants all of God’s children invited back into relationship, part of the plan of salvation. We are all uniquely gifted and called to different places and ways of service. No one should question another’s mission, but prayerfully support God’s work through them.

Gracious God, we don’t always see the same needs or the same solutions to the problems we face. Help us understand that you have a special outreach for all of us and to lift up our brothers and sisters in their service. Amen.

Happy Mother’s Day! Please honor your mother today, whether living or with the Lord, and share with others how much she means to you. Our mothers are among the first to teach us the love of Jesus and to know we are God’s children, too.

Loving our God and each other is so important that it is remembered as the Great Commandment from a lesson Jesus gives us in Mark 12:30-31. He says there is nothing more important than this. If we could keep this commandment as God intended, we’d be a lot better off!

God loves us each equally and wants us to live together in peace. Like willful children, we often disagree and fight to get our own way. I remember my mother stepping in to mediate disputes between us when I was younger. God may not show up to stop every disagreement we encounter, but if we remember His love for all of us and honor the Great Commandment, we can be the peacemakers He calls us to be.

Loving Lord, you blessed us all to know Your love and to return it to You as well as to share it with all our brothers and sisters. Help us to see each other as You see us, members of Your family, precious and worthy of being called Your children. Amen.

In John 10:22-30 Jesus gives a lesson to the religious leaders of His time and to us today as well. They ask for proof that He is the Messiah, some perhaps honestly inquiring, but many only trying to trap Him that they might bring charges against Him. Does this sound familiar? How often do we ask Jesus to prove Himself in order to make us believe?

Like the religious leaders to whom Jesus spoke, we also are guilty of asking and listening only to be able to accuse others and make ourselves seem righteous. We see it happening in our institutions, but if we are honest, it occurs in many small ways in our daily lives. Jesus calls us to believe in Him because of who He is and what He offers us. We must hear His voice and know we are to follow.

In addition, Jesus calls us to listen with love to the concerns of others, even if their problems are not ours; even if we disagree with them. We will never know what they experience if we don’t pay attention, and we can’t expect them to hear us if we don’t hear them.

Loving Lord, You hear the prayers of all Your children. Help us to hear the call You place on our lives, to listen and learn from each other that we may live together in the world You have given us. Bless us to be patient with each other and share Your grace always. Amen.

What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”
John 10:29-30

The religious leaders asked Him to tell them plainly, and Jesus does: “The Father and I are one.” How much more clear can it be? If they really wanted to hear the truth, it was there for them and it was Jesus.

He tells them the promise God has given us through the work of His Son as well, that if we believe, we are His eternally and no one can change that. Unworthy as we are, Jesus came to make things right, that we might be saved from our own wrong choices and be part of His plan.

How many times will Jesus need to make His point for us? Are we like those who keep asking when He has already answered? Listen for His voice and follow, knowing that He is the eternal answer, the solution to every problem we face and our only hope of salvation.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of our Savior who came to change the world by changing us. Help us to hear the answer we need every day, and to go in Your name to share that with everyone. Amen.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.
John 10:28

In this short statement, Jesus makes the most wonderful promise – we are His and He will bring us to eternal life. It is an amazing gift He offers, that our sins can be forgiven and we can be saved. No one else can make this promise; nothing else we can ever do will gain this for us. Jesus and Jesus alone is our salvation.

He promises that no one can ever take us away. By our own foolishness we can wander away, but if we cling to Him the power of evil cannot pull us back. As long as we live in Him and for Him, our souls are safe.

Jesus has made this promise to us, now what is our promise to Him? Without His love we are lost, but if we give Him our lives and follow His teaching, the powers of evil can never sweep us away! Let us stand on Christ, our solid rock.

Loving Lord, we are ever grateful for Your sacrifice that washes us clean and reunites us as Your family. May we be loving and obedient children, ready to do the work You give us. Amen.

My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28

In most cases Jesus uses the term “sheep” gently and with care. He isn’t putting us down, merely indicating the depth of His love for us and how much He is willing to do for us. It describes our relationship with Him – we are to hear and follow where He leads.

Sometimes we’re not listening at all. We miss the call and wander off on our own. Other times we may hear, but being willful sheep, we try to go our own way. Even when we stray, Jesus loves us so much He comes after us, wanting to bring us back to the safety of connection with Him.

Will you be obedient to His call today? Every morning brings a new opportunity to be part of His flock, to follow Him on the path that leads to salvation. Listen for the Good Shepherd’s voice and be saved!

Gracious God, we are not always the faithful followers we should be. Help us to listen and obey that we may be safe in Your arms forever. Amen.

Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.

John 10:25-26

Jesus says He has told us and shown us and we still have difficulty believing. In everything Jesus has said and done, He leads us to God, not taking any credit for Himself. Still, when He speaks the truth about Himself, people don’t get it.

Have you ever been in a situation where people doubted you? Did it make you angry that they didn’t believe you? That might be our human reaction, but while Jesus may be disappointed when we don’t believe, He never gives up on us. Jesus, like the shepherd He often compares Himself to, is always willing to come after us, to bring us back to the safety of the flock.

While being compared to sheep may not be flattering, it is a sadly true evaluation of our faith. We stray easily and wind up in danger without the care and guidance of our Good Shepherd. He is always ready to tend us; we must be willing to belong to Him.

Loving Lord, forgive us when we wander away from the shelter You offer us, looking for blessings that only come from our connection to You. Help us to see that Your love and grace are the only things that can satisfy and save us. Amen.

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” John 10:22-24

Jesus was asked frequently if He was in fact the Messiah. As humans, we are always searching for answers and facts, something we can prove. We have a hard time with just believing, but that is what we are called to do.

God made us with the ability to choose for ourselves, a free will to decide what we believe. He wants us to choose Him and the blessings He offers, but it is an invitation, we are not forced to worship Him.

The apostle Paul writes “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) Jesus told His disciples “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” (John 20:29) We are called to have faith and believe because of what Christ has done for us, His sacrifice that we might be saved.

Gracious God, we are skeptical people, often only aware of things we can quantify. Help us to have faith in the things we can’t prove through human means, the blessings You send to Your undeserving children. Amen.

The scripture for this week, Acts 9:1-20, teaches us many things. In this passage we again meet Saul, the persecutor of the early church, on the road to Damascus with authority to arrest those who follow Jesus. He experiences the presence of the risen Christ and is struck blind until the disciple Ananias prays for him to be restored. When he recovers, he becomes a follower of Jesus and begins to proclaim Christ boldly.

What do we learn from this teaching? First, the Lord can use anyone He chooses as a bearer of the Good News. Paul had no intention of becoming part of the movement he went to stamp out, he thought he was doing God’s work by opposing them. However, he was shown by Jesus Himself that his efforts were wrong and his life was changed by that knowledge.

We learn that Ananias was reluctant to go pray for this man who persecuted the church, and God teaches us that we are called to care for those we would rather not associate with, even those who work against us. Jesus told us to love our enemies and in this story we see that lived out through Ananias responding obediently.

God placed a call on Saul’s life just as He does on our lives. We were created in His image for a purpose – to love and praise Him, and share His love with everyone. May we listen and respond when the Lord calls us, ready to do His will with joy!

Loving Lord, we are grateful to be part of Your work here on earth, taking Your love and truth to all parts of Your creation. Help us to be bold disciples, ready to proclaim Your name wherever we are sent, and showing what a life dedicated to You means every day. Amen.