02 Oct 2025
May we purpose to choose life. Choosing God is choosing life. He will help us to follow Him. The important thing is the commitment to follow Him. He is merciful as well as able to help us. We need to trust Him and follow His lead. Deuteronomy 30:15-20.
Today’s Verse – Psalm 34:1
I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. —Psalm 34:1 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… One way to keep our life on track and our hearts surrendered to the will and work of God is to joyously praise (“extol”) our glorious LORD continually. Let’s put our praise for the LORD on our lips with songs and memorized scriptures. Let’s tell his remarkable and glorious deeds to our children, grandchildren, and friends. Let’s give him thanks for all that he has done for us. Just as surely as the LORD is with us always (Psalm 139:1-24), let’s praise him always (Colossians 3:17). My Prayer… Almighty God, eternal and loving Father, I praise you for your great and incredible creativity displayed in your creation. I marvel at your vastness and incomprehensible glory revealed in the great expanse of the heavens. Thank you for your power, mercy, faithfulness, and grace demonstrated by your care for your people and the sending of your Son as you promised. You are wonderful. You are awesome. You are majestic. You are the LORD Most High! Thank you for loving me. In Jesus’ name, I extol you. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
01 Oct 2025
Operating in God’s will spares us from self-destruction. Constantly hearing Him and allowing Him to direct our paths is the best insurance policy. May we remain teachable and keep finding favour with God. Deuteronomy 7:26
Today’s Verse – Psalm 119:30
I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. —Psalm 119:30 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Yesterday we committed to follow the LORD Jesus wholeheartedly. Let’s not forget it and slip back into old habits and destructive patterns. Let’s choose the way of truth again today, and tomorrow, and each day until we go home to be with him! Let’s set our hearts on Jesus, follow his example, obey his words, and invite the Holy Spirit to conform us to his character as we seek to become JESUShaped disciples (Matthew 7:21; Luke 11:28; 2 Corinthians 3:18). My Prayer… Righteous Father, your way and your Word are my source of life and guidance. I choose your will, your truth, and your Son, today. Help Jesus, please come alive in me, through joyful obedience and transformation to be like you. In the name of my LORD and Christ, I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
30 Sep 2025
Changing as we get older is not easy. But nothing is impossible with God. As we yield to Him, He is able to guide us. May this be our reality. May we not struggle with conforming to His will and may the benefits abound. Ezekiel 36:26-27.
Today’s Verse – Matthew 10:38-39
And anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. —Matthew 10:38-39 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Jesus wants us to seriously look into our hearts and surrender those things that hold us back from fully following and serving him. He comes to us with his now nail-scarred hands and reminds us that he gave up everything to redeem us. He now wants us to surrender to the Cross all the things that distract us and hold us back from wholly yielding to him. Let’s do it today! Only in Jesus will we find true, fulfilling, and eternal life! After all, he told us that “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” My Prayer… Father God, Almighty King, I am sorry for the areas of my life that I have kept hidden away from the righteousness that your Spirit is working to cultivate in me. I now confess those secret areas of sin to you and ask that you cleanse me and liberate me from the evil one’s power that binds them to me and holds me back from wholehearted service to your Son. In Jesus’ name and by the power of the cross where Jesus triumphed over all evil and demonic powers (Colossians 2:12-13, 15), I pray to be holy, and wholly yours! Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
29 Sep 2025
A humble and contrite heart pleases God, one that allows Him to direct it. When it is “soft”, He is able to direct it and mold it. On the other hand, a hardened heart is set and makes the person rigid, not teachable. May we not miss His rest due to hardened hearts. Hebrews 4:1-11.
Daily Prayer for September 29
A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. John 16:21–22, NIV Dear Father in heaven, grant us your Spirit so that here on earth we may be united with you in Jesus Christ the Savior. May truth dawn on us with its light, bringing joy no matter what happens to us. May all the pain in our lives be turned into birth pangs of a new life in which we can rejoice as people you have created, people prepared for the struggle on earth, who are called into battle and led to victory. Grant that we may not be blinded by the surrounding darkness. Shed a clear light on the new life that is coming. May we see what has already happened because Jesus Christ came to the earth and remains on earth, and may we see what is still to come through him, the Savior. O God of wonders, keep us aware of the wonders that increasingly surround us, until all the pain on earth is finally overcome and we men glorify your love and your great goodness. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Daughters of Palestine Nicole Schrag A review of Leyla K. King’s Daughters of Palestine: A Memoir in Five Generations. Read now Six Kids and Six Pets Lauren Pope A chaotic puppy taught me to embrace the beautiful messiness of life. Read now Readings: On Angels Alfred Delp and Bernard of Clairvaux The medieval saint Bernard of Clairvaux and the Jesuit martyr Alfred Delp remind us that our unseen guardians are always near. Read now Teaching Children About Injustice Cristiano Denanni When a schoolteacher relates to his pupils what he found traveling the world, their responses amaze him. Read now An Experiment in Common Living Jeffrey Wald My wife and I thought we wanted more community. We got more than we reckoned for. Read now
Today’s Verse – Psalm 119:133
Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me. —Psalm 119:133 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… God’s Scriptures, the word of God, and the LORD Jesus, the incarnated Word of God, provide light to our dark paths in our morally uncertain and confused world. God’s Scriptures and our LORD Jesus must be our standards for right and wrong and set the goal for our behaviors as the Holy Spirit works to make them come alive in us (Colossians 1:28-29; 2 Corinthians 3:17). Let’s ask God to have the Holy Spirit use both his words in Scripture, and his Word the Son, to have the formative influence in our lives and deliver us from all sorts of destructive practices that can ruin them. My Prayer… Great and Almighty God, who raises the dead and restores the fallen, shape my heart to delight in your truth. Mold my life to more perfectly conform to your will. Lead me in your way, and please guide my footsteps in righteousness. I ask you to empower me to freedom from any form of bondage that Satan might use to control me and ruin my godly influence. Use your Scriptures, the power of the Holy Spirit, and my desire to honor you to conform me to your living Word, my LORD Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Today’s Verse – Proverbs 10:32
The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse. —Proverbs 10:32 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… How many times have you said just the “wrong” thing at the wrong time? For me, it is more often than I like. Jesus’ words on this topic are indeed convicting to me: “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34-37). In other words, poor words and bad timing in our speech are more issues of our heart than a lack of proper social skills and decorum. Let’s ask God to purify, mend, and re-focus our hearts on his will and passions, so that we can be a blessing to others. My Prayer… Almighty God, loving and merciful Father, please purify my heart of all evil, hate, duplicity, prejudice, malice, lust, and greed. By the powerful name of Jesus, please drive away any evil power or enticing temptation that would corrupt my heart and wound my soul. Please use the Holy Spirit to fill my heart with your love, grace, righteousness, holy passion, gentleness, forbearance, sensitivity, courage, and forgiveness. Give me discernment to know which of these qualities I need at any given moment. Sanctify me, body, soul, and spirit with your Holy Spirit.* In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. * I love this promise-prayer from Paul that we can pray for each other: Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV) All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.