Daily Prayer for August 7
Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light. John 12:36, NIV Dear Father in heaven, as your children we come into your presence so that you may lead us with the light that streams out from you. We come to your light seeking an inner birth to make us what your children ought to be. Bless us as we thank you for all your goodness and for the powerful help you have given many among us. Accept the thanks we offer you, and grant that we never forget the good you are doing for us. Help us to go forward, always forward, until your kingdom is completed. May it not be in vain that we live in the Lord Jesus and in love to you, the God and Father of all. May it not be in vain that we bring you our requests and prayers for your kingdom to come soon. Yes, Lord Jesus, come! Come soon to this earth so that all people may acknowledge the true God and may love you. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Christians Refuse to Fight Ian M. Randall When Britain introduced military conscription in 1939, tens of thousands of Christians declared they were conscientious objectors. Read now Confessions of a Music User Peter Biles When we use music as a background mood enhancer or distraction, it negates its greater power. Read now Birding Can Change You Ragan Sutterfield In Birding to Change the World, Trish O’Kane describes how birding changed her life following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Read now Tethering Parental Ambition Michelle Van Loon Healthy ambition and competition can motivate, but how can one avoid their darker side? Read now A Cat Spoke to Me of God Martin Buber In this passage from his classic work I and Thou, a philosopher shares a transcendent moment of communication with another of God’s creatures. Read now
Daily Prayer for August 6
I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. Isaiah 44:22, NIV Lord our God, we thank you for establishing us on the firm foundation of your Word and your promise, your promise that expresses the great longing and hope in so many people’s hearts. For they do not want their lives to remain base and petty but want to look toward something higher, rejoicing that the promise can be fulfilled for them. So today we too stand ready for the coming time you are bringing, and we exult in our expectation of the future. We rejoice in the expectation of the time when you will give your Spirit to us and to all those who answer your call and become your helpers. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Confessions of a Music User Peter Biles When we use music as a background mood enhancer or distraction, it negates its greater power. Read now Birding Can Change You Ragan Sutterfield In Birding to Change the World, Trish O’Kane describes how birding changed her life following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Read now Tethering Parental Ambition Michelle Van Loon Healthy ambition and competition can motivate, but how can one avoid their darker side? Read now A Cat Spoke to Me of God Martin Buber In this passage from his classic work I and Thou, a philosopher shares a transcendent moment of communication with another of God’s creatures. Read now Peter Waldo, the First Protestant? Coretta Thomson Several centuries before Luther, a reformer and his band of itinerant preachers rattled the church. Read now
Daily Prayer for August 5
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:68–69, NIV Dear Father in heaven, we come to you and seek communion with you because we know that all life comes from you, all progress among us depends on you, and our innermost being can be strengthened through your Spirit. Protect us and renew our strength time and again so that your will may be done among us and we may all find courage for our lives, even when many difficulties loom up around us. Grant that we may remain your servants and go joyfully to meet what is to come. Bless us today and every day according to your promises. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Birding Can Change You Ragan Sutterfield In Birding to Change the World, Trish O’Kane describes how birding changed her life following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Read now Tethering Parental Ambition Michelle Van Loon Healthy ambition and competition can motivate, but how can one avoid their darker side? Read now A Cat Spoke to Me of God Martin Buber In this passage from his classic work I and Thou, a philosopher shares a transcendent moment of communication with another of God’s creatures. Read now Peter Waldo, the First Protestant? Coretta Thomson Several centuries before Luther, a reformer and his band of itinerant preachers rattled the church. Read now Naming Creatures Hadden Turner Naming is an act of love, because knowing the names of the creatures around us enables us to see them. Read now
Daily Prayer for August 4
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1–3, NIV Dear Father in heaven, we thank you for the blessings you give us on earth, for it is through your gifts and work, and through the work of your children, that we can believe and be saved. Protect us here in our household. Let us make allowances for one another in love and spare no effort to maintain unity in the Spirit through the bond of peace. Grant us new strength and new gifts whenever we need them on the path you have set for us. Grant that we may rejoice and trust in you until we reach the goal. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Tethering Parental Ambition Michelle Van Loon Healthy ambition and competition can motivate, but how can one avoid their darker side? Read now A Cat Spoke to Me of God Martin Buber In this passage from his classic work I and Thou, a philosopher shares a transcendent moment of communication with another of God’s creatures. Read now Peter Waldo, the First Protestant? Coretta Thomson Several centuries before Luther, a reformer and his band of itinerant preachers rattled the church. Read now Naming Creatures Hadden Turner Naming is an act of love, because knowing the names of the creatures around us enables us to see them. Read now In Search of Eternity Eugene Vodolazkin Why learn to play music if we’re all going to die? Read now
Daily Prayer for August 3
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:9–12, NIV Dear Father in heaven, we thank you that we may be your children. We thank you for giving us your Spirit so that we may truly be your children. Gather us into community with you so that our minds and hearts and all that is in us may realize what joy can come to us through your gifts. Though the world today is in turmoil, in doubt, lost in material things, grant us inner quiet to receive from you the power of faith. For through faith we can learn to know what you are and what you will be to all humankind one day, through Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen. Recent articles on Plough A Cat Spoke to Me of God Martin Buber In this passage from his classic work I and Thou, a philosopher shares a transcendent moment of communication with another of God’s creatures. Read now Peter Waldo, the First Protestant? Coretta Thomson Several centuries before Luther, a reformer and his band of itinerant preachers rattled the church. Read now Naming Creatures Hadden Turner Naming is an act of love, because knowing the names of the creatures around us enables us to see them. Read now In Search of Eternity Eugene Vodolazkin Why learn to play music if we’re all going to die? Read now Voice Exploitation Daniel Walden The expectations placed on professional singers, and on young choristers, can do real damage. How can we make singing more human? Read now
Daily Prayer for August 2
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, NIV Father in heaven, we thank you that we may feel your leading, your lordship, for you have blessed us with every spiritual and heavenly gift in Christ. We thank you that we may be among those who receive true life always anew, who praise and glorify you, exulting even in difficult days. For it is just in the difficult days that we need to belong to those who are thankful and joyful, who always find new certainty in their lives. With them may we experience the good you give on earth so that humankind may be blest and come at last into your hands. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Peter Waldo, the First Protestant? Coretta Thomson Several centuries before Luther, a reformer and his band of itinerant preachers rattled the church. Read now Naming Creatures Hadden Turner Naming is an act of love, because knowing the names of the creatures around us enables us to see them. Read now In Search of Eternity Eugene Vodolazkin Why learn to play music if we’re all going to die? Read now Voice Exploitation Daniel Walden The expectations placed on professional singers, and on young choristers, can do real damage. How can we make singing more human? Read now Make Christianity Strange Again Sheluyang Peng Nijay K. Gupta’s new book Strange Religion depicts the early Christians as weird yet compelling. Read now
Daily Prayer for August 1
However, as the scripture says, “What no one ever saw or heard, what no one ever thought could happen, is the very thing God prepared for those who love him.” But it was to us that God made known his secret by means of his Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9–10a, TEV Lord our God, bless us all through your Spirit, that we may find certainty of heart in community with you under your rulership. May we keep this certainty, whatever course our lives may take, whatever battles and suffering may come to us, for we belong to you and you rule and guide us as your children. Watch over all who are still far away from you but who long for you. Watch over all who are good-hearted and sincere, even if they often do not understand you. Protect them, and let your kingdom come so that your will is carried out more and more by the many who feel compelled to seek for you and for the goodness and truth which are your will. May we and many others serve you with our whole lives. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Naming Creatures Hadden Turner Naming is an act of love, because knowing the names of the creatures around us enables us to see them. Read now In Search of Eternity Eugene Vodolazkin Why learn to play music if we’re all going to die? Read now Voice Exploitation Daniel Walden The expectations placed on professional singers, and on young choristers, can do real damage. How can we make singing more human? Read now Make Christianity Strange Again Sheluyang Peng Nijay K. Gupta’s new book Strange Religion depicts the early Christians as weird yet compelling. Read now Eating Anything Caleb Coy We were good American industrial eaters – until Dad started dying. Both of us have come a long way since then. Read now
Daily Prayer for July 31
Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?” Let the light of your face shine on us. Psalm 4:6, NIV Lord our God, with all our hearts we come before your countenance. Our hearts shall always be in your presence, asking, longing, and believing that you will guide our affairs aright. Protect us, for you are our God and Father. Protect all who are in danger or who must go into danger. Make known your great love and your living presence to the hearts of the dying. Draw our hearts together so that we may have community in you, our faith and hope set on you alone. Protect us during the night, and help us to be at peace about all our concerns because they are in your hands. Every concern of every person is in your hands. We ourselves are in your hands, Lord God, our Father, and there we want to remain. Your hands can heal and restore everything. Praised be your name! Amen. Recent articles on Plough In Search of Eternity Eugene Vodolazkin Why learn to play music if we’re all going to die? Read now Voice Exploitation Daniel Walden The expectations placed on professional singers, and on young choristers, can do real damage. How can we make singing more human again? Read now Make Christianity Strange Again Sheluyang Peng Nijay K. Gupta’s new book Strange Religion depicts the early Christians as weird yet compelling. Read now Eating Anything Caleb Coy We were good American industrial eaters – until Dad started dying. Both of us have come a long way since then. Read now Heaven on Earth Thomas Traherne Learn to appreciate all the ways we’ve been blessed and you’ll be in heaven, says a seventeenth-century country priest. Read now
Daily Prayer for July 30
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7, NIV Lord our God, we are your children. Hear all our concerns, we pray, for we want help from you, not from men, not from anything we can think or say. May your power be revealed in our time. We long for a new age, an age of peace in which people are changed. We long for your day, the day when your power will be revealed to poor, broken humankind. Be with us, and give our hearts what will remain with us, the strength and mercy of Jesus Christ. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Voice Exploitation Daniel Walden The expectations placed on professional singers, and on young choristers, can do real damage. How can we make singing more human again? Read now Make Christianity Strange Again Sheluyang Peng Nijay K. Gupta’s new book Strange Religion depicts the early Christians as weird yet compelling. Read now Eating Anything Caleb Coy We were good American industrial eaters – until Dad started dying. Both of us have come a long way since then. Read now Heaven on Earth Thomas Traherne Learn to appreciate all the ways we’ve been blessed and you’ll be in heaven, says a seventeenth-century country priest. Read now Prison Tourism Dan Grote Dip a toe in the vast and lonely ocean that is the penal system. Read now
Daily Prayer for July 29
True, he died on the cross in weakness, but he lives by the power of God; and we who share his weakness shall by the power of God live with him in your service. 2 Corinthians 13:4, NEB Lord our God, we thank you for the love you show us so that we may be delivered from weakness and sickness, from sin and misery, and may be given strength to serve you, our Father in heaven. Bless us in all we have on our hearts, that through your mercy the battle of life may be fought aright. Bless us in our times and grant that justice may gain the upper hand and we may live in peace, praising you into all eternity. Protect us, your children, forevermore. May your name be honored, your kingdom come, and your will be done on earth as in heaven. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Make Christianity Strange Again Sheluyang Peng Nijay K. Gupta’s new book Strange Religion depicts the early Christians as weird yet compelling. Read now Eating Anything Caleb Coy We were good American industrial eaters – until Dad started dying. Both of us have come a long way since then. Read now Heaven on Earth Thomas Traherne Learn to appreciate all the ways we’ve been blessed and you’ll be in heaven, says a seventeenth-century country priest. Read now Prison Tourism Dan Grote Dip a toe in the vast and lonely ocean that is the penal system. Read now An Irreplaceable Cog in the Wheel Keturah Hickman If you make yourself indispensable, who will continue your work when you are gone? Read now