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
Daily Prayer for July 28
Now we find that the Law keeps slipping into the picture to point the vast extent of sin. Yet, though sin is shown to be wide and deep, thank God his grace is wider and deeper still! Romans 5:20, Phillips Lord our God, we come into your presence, pleading with you to bring the world what it needs, so that people may be freed from all their pain and enabled to serve you. Let the power of Jesus Christ be revealed in our time. For he has taken on our sin that justice might arise on earth, that all might have life and might see your salvation, which you will bring when the time is fulfilled. Let your power be revealed in the world, and let your will be done, your name be kept holy, and all wrongs be righted in this turbulent and difficult age. O Lord our God, you alone can help. You alone are the Savior of all peoples. In your great mercy you can bring peace. We look to you. And when we consider your Word, we remember the mighty promises you have given, promises which are to be fulfilled in our time. Amen. Recent articles on Plough 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 For the Least of These Jason Storbakken The Bowery Mission in Manhattan takes its cues from Jesus’ words. Read now Gerhard Lohfink: Champion of Community Timothy J. Keiderling We don’t follow Jesus alone. Read now
Daily Prayer for July 26
Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures. Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you. Psalm 119:89–91, NIV Lord God, we thank you for your Word, greatest and most glorious of all that comes to our human life. Every day we want to find more joy in your help, in what you are doing for us. Again and again we feel and rejoice in the new help, new strength, and new courage for life given by your Word. We seek and seek to find Jesus Christ, the eternal Life. He will surely come to establish your kingdom. Praise to your name, eternal, glorious, almighty God! Be with us poor, lowly people. Strengthen us in spirit, and enable us to persevere until everything is fulfilled that is promised by your Word. Amen. Recent articles on Plough An Irreplaceable Cog in the Wheel Keturah Hickman If you make yourself indispensable, who will continue your work when you are gone? Read now For the Least of These Jason Storbakken The Bowery Mission in Manhattan takes its cues from Jesus’ words. Read now Gerhard Lohfink: Champion of Community Timothy J. Keiderling We don’t follow Jesus alone. Read now Who Gets to Tell the Story? Lore Ferguson Wilbert In R. F. Kuang’s Yellowface a woman sells her dead friend’s novel as her own. Read now The Wonder of Moths Caroline Moore Gorgeous and fragile, moths showcase nature’s richness and vulnerability. Read now
Daily Prayer for July 24
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Hebrews 10:35–36, NIV Lord our God, we bow down before you in this time when you have brought us hardships and judgment. Change this earthly age, we beseech you. Bring in something from heaven so that your will may be done and your mercy come to all nations. Strengthen us on all our ways, we pray. We thank you for all you have done for us. May your name be praised and glorified at all times. We want to follow you and to remain in your heavenly life. Amen. Recent articles on Plough For the Least of These Jason Storbakken The Bowery Mission in Manhattan takes its cues from Jesus’ words. Read now Gerhard Lohfink: Champion of Community Timothy J. Keiderling We don’t follow Jesus alone. Read now Who Gets to Tell the Story? Lore Ferguson Wilbert In R. F. Kuang’s Yellowface a woman sells her dead friend’s novel as her own. Read now The Wonder of Moths Caroline Moore Gorgeous and fragile, moths showcase nature’s richness and vulnerability. Read now A Requiem for World War I Marianne Wright Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem was intended to serve as a warning to future generations of the futility of taking up arms. Read now
Daily Prayer for July 23
Salvation is to be found through him alone; in all the world there is no one else whom God has given who can save us. Acts 4:12, TEV Dear Father in heaven, we thank you that you have revealed to us the name Jesus Christ, the name of your Son, who leads us to you as your children. May your hand be plainly seen over all the suffering and dying people of our time. May your hand soon bring in a new age, a time truly of God and of the Savior, fulfilling what has long been promised. Watch over us this night. Bless us. In suffering, continue to uphold us with your mighty hand. In grief, may your name still be honored. May your kingdom come, breaking into all the evil of the world, and may your will be done on earth as in heaven. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Gerhard Lohfink: Champion of Community Timothy J. Keiderling We don’t follow Jesus alone. Read now Who Gets to Tell the Story? Lore Ferguson Wilbert In R. F. Kuang’s Yellowface a woman sells her dead friend’s novel as her own. Read now The Wonder of Moths Caroline Moore Gorgeous and fragile, moths showcase nature’s richness and vulnerability. Read now A Requiem for World War I Marianne Wright Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem was intended to serve as a warning to future generations of the futility of taking up arms. Read now When a Bruderhof Is Born Maureen Swinger What’s it like to be a young person in a young community? Read now
Daily Prayer for July 22
You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom Luke 22:28–30a, NIV Lord our God, we thank you that we may be your children and that we may hope in your Spirit. Your Spirit rules us as people whom you want to draw to yourself, as people who may serve you in their lives here on earth. Grant that we may be childlike, so that your Spirit can rule us more and more and what is good may come to many people in all places. May many come to know that their lives are not merely temporal. May they realize that they can live and act in you, and through you may experience the good that is to come to all nations on earth. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Who Gets to Tell the Story? Lore Ferguson Wilbert In R. F. Kuang’s Yellowface a woman sells her dead friend’s novel as her own. Read now The Wonder of Moths Caroline Moore Gorgeous and fragile, moths showcase nature’s richness and vulnerability. Read now A Requiem for World War I Marianne Wright Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem was intended to serve as a warning to future generations of the futility of taking up arms. Read now When a Bruderhof Is Born Maureen Swinger What’s it like to be a young person in a young community? Read now My Neck of the Woods Felix James Miller The Adirondack Park, a mixture of strongly protected public and private lands, is a great example of how humans can dwell in the natural world in a way that benefits both. Read now
Daily Prayer for July 21
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young – a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Psalm 84:2–4, NIV Lord God, our souls long for you and for your glory, for the day when it shall be said, “All is accomplished! Now your kingdom comes. Now your day appears. When we look back on all that has happened to us, everything becomes clear.” We thank you that we can live without fear, again and again refreshed and renewed, waiting for the good you give on earth. Show us the way we have to go. Grant your blessing in our hearts so that in need and death, in fear and distress, we may always have light and strength. You are our salvation, Lord our God. From you comes the salvation of our souls. We trust you today and every day. We praise your name, and in you we hope for the day you hold in readiness for the whole world, the day when light will dawn in every heart. Amen. Recent articles on Plough The Wonder of Moths Caroline Moore Gorgeous and fragile, moths showcase nature’s richness and vulnerability. Read now A Requiem for World War I Marianne Wright Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem was intended to serve as a warning to future generations of the futility of taking up arms. Read now When a Bruderhof Is Born Maureen Swinger What’s it like to be a young person in a young community? Read now My Neck of the Woods Felix James Miller The Adirondack Park, a mixture of strongly protected public and private lands, is a great example of how humans can dwell in the natural world in a way that benefits both. Read now Violence Is Counterproductive Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, Hans Denck and Menno Simons Early Anabaptist writers make the case against a Christian’s use of violence. Read now
Daily Prayer for July 20
They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. Jeremiah 32:38–39, NIV Lord our God, you want to be our God and you want us to be your people. Give us the inner integrity and the power to discern and reject what does not come from the heart, so that everything may be genuine among us. Then no lies and deception will creep in, and honesty and goodness will flow from our hearts to the glory of truth, to the glory of the gospel and the great hope you give us through the gospel. Guard our hearts. Protect the good that is planted in them, that it may grow and thrive and bear fruit. Amen. Recent articles on Plough A Requiem for World War I Marianne Wright Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem was intended to serve as a warning to future generations of the futility of taking up arms. Read now When a Bruderhof Is Born Maureen Swinger What’s it like to be a young person in a young community? Read now My Neck of the Woods Felix James Miller The Adirondack Park, a mixture of strongly protected public and private lands, is a great example of how humans can dwell in the natural world in a way that benefits both. Read now Violence Is Counterproductive Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, Hans Denck and Menno Simons Early Anabaptist writers make the case against a Christian’s use of violence. Read now Toward a Gift Economy Simon Oliver Some goods and services have value beyond their market price. Read now
Daily Prayer for July 19
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9–10, NIV Lord our God, we rejoice that we may be called your children. In our weakness we ask you to shelter us in your hands. Strengthen us in the hope and faith that our lives will surely go the right way, not through our strength but through your protection. Grant that through your Spirit we may come to know more and more that you are with us. Help us to be alert in our daily life and to listen whenever you want to say something to us. Reveal the power and glory of your kingdom in many people, to the glory of your name, and hasten the coming on earth of all that is good and true. Amen. Recent articles on Plough When a Bruderhof Is Born Maureen Swinger What’s it like to be a young person in a young community? Read now My Neck of the Woods Felix James Miller The Adirondack Park, a mixture of strongly protected public and private lands, is a great example of how humans can dwell in the natural world in a way that benefits both. Read now Violence Is Counterproductive Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, Hans Denck and Menno Simons Early Anabaptist writers make the case against a Christian’s use of violence. Read now Toward a Gift Economy Simon Oliver Some goods and services have value beyond their market price. Read now When the Bees Lose Their Way Nick Ripatrazone A review of Liquid, Fragile, Perishable by Carolyn Kuebler. Read now
Daily Prayer for July 18
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. John 4:23–24, NIV Lord our God, we thank you for being among us as our Father, for letting us be your children on earth. We thank you that as your children we can find life in spirit and in truth. Grant that each of us may find how our lives on earth can be lifted up by your Spirit. Your Spirit can bring us what we do not possess, so that our daily work, all our striving and struggling for the outward things of life, may be pervaded by what is higher and greater. Your Spirit can keep us from falling into base and petty ways, from getting lost in earthly experiences which do not last, no matter how much they demand our attention. We thank you for all you have done for your children. Continue to help us, that we may serve you every day in gladness and gratitude. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Violence Is Counterproductive Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, Hans Denck and Menno Simons Early Anabaptist writers make the case against a Christian’s use of violence. Read now Toward a Gift Economy Simon Oliver Some goods and services have value beyond their market price. Read now When the Bees Lose Their Way Nick Ripatrazone A review of Liquid, Fragile, Perishable by Carolyn Kuebler. Read now The Home, a Monastery? Evan B. Howard To what extent can an ordinary nuclear family live a fully consecrated life? Read now Let Yourself Be Eaten Chiara Lubich Put yourself at the service of your neighbors. Read now