A PERSONAL PRAYER God, I read all my old prayers to you, God, and recognize how often they are filled with contrition and confession. I continually remind you of how far short I fall. I try to be honest before you, approaching you with humility. And I know that such contrition and confession is appropriate – my sin is real. But I also can see how unbalanced that prayer life is, and how weary you must get of hearing me apologize to you. It is as if your attitude toward me is primarily disappointment.  When I read your Bible, I see [...]

A PERSONAL PRAYER God, I am so thankful for this last Sunday. You did indeed breathe new life into me. I felt a resurrection of the heart. I felt my bones come together and form life again. I was lifted up. Thank you, God, for new life, abundant life, everlasting life. God, I pray that I would be able to continue to receive this amazing life you give me each and every day. But what shall I do with it? It needs to come out of me, to pour into the lives of others. It makes me want [...]

A PERSONAL PRAYER God of both Fridays and Sundays, “See from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down! Did e'er such love and sorrow meet…?” - Isaac Watts, early Methodist hymnodist. I stand amazed by your love, for me, God. When I stand in the court of the pavements of my imagination, watching the whip, the thorns, the humiliation…, my heart breaks. When I trail behind your son to the cross, watch him fall and struggle to rise, I bow my head in shame and sadness. But then I consider you, God… seeing what we do to [...]

Our inside-out habits: We pray. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. A PERSONAL PRAYER God, From the time I was little, I said “I can do it myself!” I don’t take any telling, because I know the answers all by myself. I am the helper, not the helpee. If I work a little harder or think a little more or behave a little better, I can make it right. But God, it seems that the more I try to do it myself, the further I wander away [...]

Our inside-out habits: We pray. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. A PERSONAL PRAYER God, Times are good, now, in my life. Thank you for that, for the many blessings that come my way, the good circumstances in which I find myself. I confess that these good times lead to a certain complacency on my part. There isn’t so much to learn from good times. I don’t grow. I don’t change. I see little reason to do anything any differently. I know things could be still better [...]

A PERSONAL PRAYER God, I love you so much. I want you to be at the very center of my life, and for everything else to revolve around you. But God, I also love so many other things.  I love my family. I don’t know what I would do without them. They are the very center of my life. God, have I made my family more important than you in my life? Forgive me if I have made an idol of my family. I love approval. I want people to like me, and for them to believe that I care about [...]