Romans 12:9-6

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
Romans 12:9-16

Dear God, in other words, “Get over yourself, love God and love others.” I wonder if a song has ever been written based on this passage. It’s one of those great admonitions I might hear at a graduation ceremony. If I were to ever give a commencement address, I can see building the whole thing around this passage.

When I sat down this morning, my first thought was that I really need to focus on worshipping you. I haven’t taken the time to pray in this way in a few days and I can feel it. I miss you. Yeah. I’ve missed you. So I want to worship you this morning. You are this unbelievable… well, God, and I am humbled in front of you. I’m just here right now to worship, bow down, and say that you’re my God.

Father, may the words of my mouth, the acts of my hands, and the meditations of my heart bring glory to you today.

I pray this through the grace of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection,

Amen

 

Romans 8:26-27

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
Romans 8:26-27

Dear God, it’s good to know that even for the Holy Spirit, sometimes there just are no words–just groans. Right now, I am asking that the Holy Spirit will plead for us to you in harmony with your own will. It’s a simple prayer, really. Holy Spirit, I am at a loss for words right now. There was a tragedy in our community last night. There are people impacted by the loss. There are people who are tasked with comforting those who lost while experiencing the loss themselves. There are people who are more on the periphery who simply care. But we are one community. We need each other. Use this to unite us. Please do not let this pain be wasted.

Father, right now is just a time to groan in pain. The day will come when we can pull our heads up and not experience the pain as deeply, but right now, in this moment, there is just pain. Pain and fear. So I don’t have much else to say today except thank you that you’re there, and thank you that you care.

I pray all of this under your Holy Name,

Amen

 

Romans 5:6

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
Romans 5:6

Dear God, helpless is an interesting word here. Last Sunday, I heard a sermon where the pastor talked about a family who lost everything in a house fire. Now, they were experiencing tremendous blessing, kindness, and charity from countless people and they didn’t know how to respond. The pastor was talking to the man, who was a neighbor, not a parishioner, and the man told the pastor that he was really struggling with accepting all of this charity. The pastor replied that the man was feeling helpless for the first time, needed the help of others, and didn’t like it. That was hard. It’s hard for nearly all of us, frankly.

I think back to when we were children and we just expected things to be delivered to us. We did nothing to provide for ourselves and we did little to show in-kind or commensurate appreciation or love to those who were providing for us. We simply didn’t have the capacity to give back.

I knew a woman who, a few years ago, had to care for her father in his old age. Actually, I’ve known a lot of people in this situation. And it’s hard for both to embrace their new roles. It’s hard for both to understand what to do and how to accept what is happening.

All of this is to say, this is also how it is between you and us. You and me. I am helpless. I simply am. As my wife and I prayed together this morning, I talked about weeding the soil in my life to give the Holy Spirit room to work in me. I cannot do it on my own. I cannot will myself to be more like you. All I can do is try to clear out the thorns of this world (Matthew 13:22) and then give your Holy Spirit room to grow in me. That’s what I’m trying to do this morning. Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I am helpless and I need you. Please help me to turn loose of the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, take up my cross, and simply follow you.

I pray all of this under your authority and with great gratitude,

Amen

 

Romans 6:20-23

²⁰ When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. ²¹ And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. ²² But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:20-23

Dear God, I was thinking recently about some of the things the modern church says you view as sin. And I’m not saying here which sins are which and which sins are seemingly more important to some than others (e.g. homosexuality vs. ignoring the poor). But what I do want to stop and think about is why different things are sins. Why is it a sin to ignore the poor? If homosexuality is on the list, why is it on the list?

I think it’s always been a teaching of the church that you set up the rules for our benefit. They are here so we can be happier and live more fulfilled lives. If we don’t lie, cheat on our spouses, covet, etc. then our lives our better. If we put no other gods or idols before you and observe the Sabbath, then our lives are better. So if we are going to say that not caring for the poor or homosexuality are sins, why did you set them up as things we should guard against?

Well, I’m not going to touch the homosexuality issue–at least not publicly–but what happens to my life if I turn a blind eye to the poor or those who are suffering? How does that hurt me? Well, for this example I go back to 2003. I was living a nice little cocooned life worshipping you, being married to my wife and raising our two children in our middle class home. In retrospect, it was pretty selfish and insular. I was supposed to be salt in the world, but I wasn’t being very salty. I wasn’t being your hands and feet. What’s more is the fact that by not reaching out to help people who were struggling made me much more judgmental and less merciful towards them. No, to be sure, I am a better man now than I was 20 years ago (almost exactly 20 years ago) because I have spent the last 20 years caring for others who are struggling.

Father, maybe the thing for us to do is to define why you designating something as a sin before we start going out and trying to convict people of that sin. Additionally, maybe it’s important to look at the existing sins in our own lives and humbly work those out with fear and trembling before you and then invite others into that process of living before you and worshipping you before we start to pick apart the sins we think we see them committing. I’m not saying that sin isn’t bad. Certainly not. Paul makes it clear above. But is the death he refers to in verse 23 hell or the hellish life we will live on earth if we allow ourselves to pursue different sins? Or both? Well, I suppose that is up to interpretation at some point. What I know right now is that I need to spend more time examining my own heart and finding sin to purge and less time examining the hearts of others. Holy Spirit, please help me to do that.

I pray all of this through the mercy given to me through Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection,

Amen

 

Romans 8:26-30

²⁶ And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. ²⁷ And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. ²⁸ And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. ²⁹ For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

Romans 8:26-30

Dear God, I have something that I don’t want to share specifically in this forum, but you know what is on my heart. It needs a lot of concerted prayer. Holy Spirit, you’ve put this on my heart. I’m just not sure what to do with it. You’re calling me to be open to something, but I don’t know what. On the one had, I want to be like Peter right now and just decide something needs to be done and do it (see Matthias in Acts 2). But I don’t want to get ahead of you like I think Peter did (my personal opinion is that Paul was the intended replacement for Judas and Peter jumped the gun). I feel like you’re telling me that there is a need here, but this is a moment to be prayerful and watchful. I need to pray about what to do and then listen carefully for your timing to act on it.

As I look at these verses today, I’m reminded of the Holy Spirit’s role in my life. Counselor. Comforter. Healer. Intercessor. He is your presence in me and around me. He is you, Father, and you, Jesus, with me. The Holy Spirit is the one Jesus said he would send after his ascension into heaven. Holy Spirit, you are praying for me above my ignorance. You groan for me and my situations. You are pleading for me in harmony with the Father’s will. And even when things look bad, I trust that the Father’s will is that the world would move into complete harmony with himself. This might not happen in my lifetime. I measure things in days, weeks, and months, while the Father measures time in years, decades, and centuries. So I am ignorant and don’t know for what I should pray, but I trust that the Holy Spirit is taking my prayers and guiding them into your perfect will.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit. Guide me. Give me ears to hear. Give me eyes to see. Give me discernment. Give me your vision for what you want me to do. Keep me from foolish impetuousness, but also don’t let me allow fear or reluctance to drive me into inaction. Make my path straight and hold my hand as I walk it.

I pray all of this under your authority and submitted to you,

Amen

 

Romans 8:28-30

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Romans 8:28-30

Dear God, you really do work it all for my good. Even the pain. It forms me. It breaks me, and then if I allow you to you mold me, fill me and use me. And when you are using me and I am submitted to you then that is where I find my peace.

There is a song by Garth Brooks, “The Dance,” that so completely encapsulates the pain I carry in my heart that I literally cannot hear it without having tears stream down my face. What I think is brilliant about it is that it expresses gratitude for ignorance: “And now, I’m glad I didn’t know the way it all would end, the way it all would go. Our lives are better left to chance. I could have missed the pain, but I’d have had to miss the dance.” Honestly, the pain I feel now makes the memories sweeter. At least I think it does. I know the memories comfort me. And now the pain forms me. Maybe it makes me more useful to you. I know it focuses my prayers and makes them very intentional.

Father, I trust you that you are working all of this for my good. Make it for the hood of others around me as well. Make it for the hood of your will being done and your kingdom coming in earth as it is in heaven. Make this pain count. Don’t let it be wasted.

I pray this in the name of the one, Triune God,

Amen

 

Romans 12:4-5

⁴ Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, ⁵ so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

Romans 12:4-5

Dear God, does that mean American Christians who are both Republican and Democrat are part of the same body? Do we all belong to each other? That just doesn’t seem right.

I’m being sarcastic of course. I am so tired of the animosity. I’m so tired of each side not being able to tolerate differences in opinion. Not because I don’t think there is a right opinion and a wrong opinion. I’m sure you have an opinion on everything. The problem is that both sides have opinions that are right and that are wrong. I have some opinions that are right. I’m sure I have many that are wrong. I have been taught good things, I have been taught erroneous things. I’ve developed my own thoughts on some issues. Sometimes through prayer. Sometimes just using my mind. But I’m smart enough to know that I don’t know. I’m smart enough to know I haven’t cornered the market on what it means to love you.

I have heard something from different sources over the last week that keeps resonating with me: “Never stop wanting to learn.” I can’t remember the first time I heard it this week, but it spoke to me. Then I heard it again this morning while I was listening to a sermon. I can be very cocky at work. I can feel like I know what to do, what not to do, when to do it, and when not to do it. I like to give my thoughts more than I like to ask others for their thoughts and really listen to their words. Sometimes, I probably miss you and what you might have to say to me, using their voice as your own–whether they are worshippers of you or not.

Father, Holy Spirit, please help me to be the part of the body you need me to be, appreciate the other parts of the body that I’m not, and also listen to those who have your wisdom to share with me. Give me a discerning heart that will seek you, your wisdom, and your glory. Forgive me for my selfishness, arrogance, pride, and self-indulgence. Help me to live in that repentance and turn from my foolishness.

I pray this through Jesus and the mercy He offers,

Amen

 

Romans 14:5-9

In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God. For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead.

Romans 14:5-9

Dear God, I’ve been spending so much time going through the prophets of the Old Testament with the Bible in a Year podcast that I can get lost between how you related to us pre-Jesus and how you relate to us through the new covenant established after Jesus. How much leeway do I have now? How much does my individual sin still grieve you?

Paul’s description here gives me a lot of agency on how I choose to honor and worship you, seemingly as long as my heart is in the right place. This concept can be very confusing and overwhelming. I’m sure my heart is in the right place. How much will bad theology on my part frustrate you?

Father, Holy Spirit, walk with me today. Guide my steps. Show your will for me to me. As I return to my daily life from vacation—as I leave the mountain and return to the valley—please help me to not miss where you are leading me to go. Do it all for your glory, your will to be done on earth through my life, and to make me the man you need me to be.

In Jesus’s name and through his life, death, and resurrection I pray,

Amen

 

Romans 14:10-13

So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God. ’” Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.
Romans 14:10-13

Dear God, when I read these words this morning I wondered how they would be received by the church now. Like, if Paul were alive today, had a Twitter account and sent this out, how would people in the church respond? Especially if he put the next few verses:

I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right.
Romans 14:14-22

There’s a lot packed into those nine verses. And a lot of it is loaded with potential controversy. Would we trust Paul enough to hear it? How do I know who to trust now?

Father, thank you for these scriptures. Thank you for the Scripture. Thank you for giving us this complicated set of stories and words of prophecy and wisdom to guide us. Thank you for showing us their weaknesses as well as their strengths. Thank you for showing us their seemingly petty conflicts (New Testament as well as Old Testament. Help me now as I go through this day. Help me to not judge and to simultaneously not cause others to stumble by giving them something to judge. Use me as a magnet for yourself. Bring others closer to yourself through my life. And bring me closer to you as well.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

Romans 8:26-28

²⁶ And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. ²⁷ And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. ²⁸ And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Romans 8:26-28

Dear God, I just got an image from reading verse 27. On a manual transmission, there is the motor and there is the transmission. When they are completely engaged with each other, they are moving together and doing great work. However, when they are moving at a difference speed, whether it be the transmission is stopped and the engine is moving or the transmission needs a new gear, but that will require disengagement and reengagement between the two, they need an intercessor. They need a clutch.

I think there is an analogy here between you and me. When we are clicking then the Holy Spirit is rocking with me and things are good. But if I’m having to slow down for a turn, speed up for something new in life, or even come to a total stop so I can mourn and regroup, the Holy Spirit is that link between you and me that makes it all work.

Holy Spirit, I need you now. I have some hazards in the road, and I’m not sure what they need. A higher gear? A lower gear? I’m not even sure how to pray, as Paul says in verse 26. But I don’t want to leave any stone unturned. I don’t want to walk away from things you have for me because they seem too difficult. I don’t want to miss an opportunity to worship you and do your will. I don’t want to miss an opportunity to love everyone I can.

Father, Holy Spirit, Jesus, please help me. Pray. Please pray. Pray for me. Pray for those I love. Be the intercessor I need to make the imperfection of my life match with the perfection of the Father.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen