Without your mercy, I will die. Apart from your forgiveness, you will consume me in the fires of your holy judgment. How can I live apart from you? I would be lost entirely! Yet, how can I live in your presence? I should be devoured by your holy wrath! I will hide in Jesus. In … Continue reading Prayer Note #49 — A Prayer for Those Who Know Their Sins Well
Category: Prayer Notes
Prayer Note #48 — A Preachers Prayer to Be Used Rightly by the Word of God
[Yes, that's what I meant to say: "to be used rightly by the word of God."] Your word, Lord, is alive and powerful in the ears of faith. Grant me believing ears, so that I will hear your word clearly and welcome your word warmly into my mind, my heart, and my life. My calling … Continue reading Prayer Note #48 — A Preachers Prayer to Be Used Rightly by the Word of God
Prayer Note #47–A Prayer for Pure Pleasure
Lord, my Shepherd, shepherd my wayward will. Keep prodding me back onto the right path. You see my mind -- how it wanders after pretty, poisonous pleasures. I beg your help. Keep me from pursuing those enticing, envenomed enchantments Capture my heart with visions of your true joy, the powerfully pure pleasures of your kingdom. … Continue reading Prayer Note #47–A Prayer for Pure Pleasure
Prayer Note #46 — A Channel of Blessing: a Pastor’s Prayer
[Although I have called this a "Pastor's Prayer," with a slight adjustment of the language, this prayer might well work as a prayer for any Christian who wants to be a channel of blessing to the people in their lives. And what Christian wouldn't want to be a channel of God's blessing in the lives … Continue reading Prayer Note #46 — A Channel of Blessing: a Pastor’s Prayer
Prayer Note #45 — The Arithmetic of God
Where do I find hope, except in you, Good Father? Yet, I continue to look in other places. I continue to behave as if I expect to find something better, more pleasing than you. Of course, I never find anything remotely approaching you. Everything I find is cotton candy, sugar water, candy corn. You … Continue reading Prayer Note #45 — The Arithmetic of God
Prayer Note #44 — Longings
Lord Jesus, you are King and Lord. There is life nowhere except in you. Apart from you is the abyss, the nightmare, the acid fog that corrodes my flesh and my spirit and my life itself. In you, Good Savior, is freshness. In you is soothing sunshine and richness and life overflowing. In … Continue reading Prayer Note #44 — Longings
Prayer Note #43 — Fleeing My Pursuing God in the Dark Before Dawn
Lord Jesus, I'm scared. I'm far from you in my heart, and I persist in the things that will keep me far away from you. And yet, I feel you pursuing me. Your pursuit both comforts me and scares me. I know that because you still pursue me, you have not given up on me. … Continue reading Prayer Note #43 — Fleeing My Pursuing God in the Dark Before Dawn
Prayer Note #42 — A Prayer from Matthew 4:12-23
Read: Matthew 4:12-23 It must have been really hard, Lord, for Peter and Andrew, James and John to get up, leave their stuff behind, and follow you. I say that because I know how hard it would be for me to do that. But, Lord Jesus, why do I say … Continue reading Prayer Note #42 — A Prayer from Matthew 4:12-23
Prayer Note #41 — An Advent Devotional Prayer — Isaiah 47:1, 3b-15
The Death of Evil, the Birth of Hope Isaiah 47:1, 3b-15 O Lord, your anger frightens us. When we read such passages of scripture as this one, we are made uneasy. We move on quickly to happier lines and brighter verses. Through your prophet Isaiah here … Continue reading Prayer Note #41 — An Advent Devotional Prayer — Isaiah 47:1, 3b-15
Prayer Note #40 — On Dangerous, Desperate Prayers — Nehemiah 1:1-2:9
On Dangerous, Desperate Prayers Nehemiah 1:1-2:9 Nehemiah presents us with a picture of a practical, detail-oriented, can-do sort of man who is also a man of deep, dangerous, desperate prayer. For some reason, we can sometimes think that the practical and the prayerful can't function in the same heart. Nehemiah demonstrates that that kind of … Continue reading Prayer Note #40 — On Dangerous, Desperate Prayers — Nehemiah 1:1-2:9
Gary Chorpenning's Notebooks 