prayer Archives - Page 3 of 11 - Faith Lutheran Church, Wesley Chapel

Kurt Steinbrueck February 5, 2026

Blog Lament, prayer

0

Praying with Jesus: Prayers of Lament

Praying With Jesus - Psalm 22:1-2

"Prayers of Lament"

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.”

Have you ever had a terrible day…or week…or month?

What did you tell God about it? Did you tell Him anything?

I remember talking with a guy, I’ll call him, “Alex,” here. Alex had been going through a very difficult time. He was not only feeling worn down and helpless from this struggle, but mad. He was mad that God wasn’t removing the struggle.

I think he was expecting me to say something about how it was all happening for a reason because he seemed rather surprised by my response.

“Have you told God?”

“Of course! I’ve told Him what was happening and begged Him to help.” Alex responded rather upset.

I replied, “No, I don’t mean you told God about the problem. I mean have you told Him how confused and mad you are that He’s allowing this to happen?”

“No. You aren’t supposed to complain to God,” he said, a little confused.

“Really?” I said. “Why not?”

Alex isn’t alone. I’ve talked with many people who thought this. We’ve been taught by our parents, coaches, and others not to complain and we have assumed that means we can’t express our confusion and frustration to God. We see it as being ungrateful and lacking faith.

Psalms of Lament
Yet, read through the Psalms guess what you are going to find…Laments. A lament sounds a lot like complaining and a lot like confusion and frustration.

The passage for today is from Psalm 22, but the first part of it is probably more familiar to you as the words Jesus spoke from the cross. He was reciting Psalm 22, a lament Psalm.

Yes, even Jesus lamented to God.

Perhaps you have felt anguish and frustration, but also felt like you can’t express that to God. You can.

God already knows. So, your thinking it or expressing it to others, but holding it back to God isn’t keeping God in the dark.
God wants you to turn to Him. Over and over in the Scriptures, God tells us to turn to Him in every situation.

There is, however, one more important thing to note about the Laments in the Bible.

The lament isn’t just a complaint. The lament is always accompanied by a statement of faith.

Yes, it’s,

“God! Why are You allowing this? Why aren’t You helping?”

However, it’s also,

“Because I know that You are good and mighty. I remember that You lift up the meek and care for those who suffer. So, I will wait on the Lord.”

If you think about it, the frustration happens because you expect God to act. So, the statement of faith is natural. It also reminds you of who God is. It reminds you that you can trust God, even through the suffering.

Jesus is well acquainted with suffering. The Father forsook Jesus on the cross because Jesus took all our sins. Jesus endured that so that you would not be forsaken, and as a child of God, you never will be.

Take a few minutes to read the rest of Psalm 22.

If you are struggling right now and feel frustrated (or in the future if it happens) don’t hold it in. Turn to God. Pray a lament. Maybe pray a Psalm of lament. He will listen.

Heavenly Father,

I know that you are a good and loving Father. Yet, there are times I go through suffering that I don’t understand. Honestly, it has made me mad. Help me to turn to You in those times. Help me to be able to express my frustration, but do so in faith, knowing that You care for me and that You are my hope and my salvation.

Amen.

As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:

Your family
Your local church
Your pastor
Some of your fellow church members
The people on your B.L.E.S.S. list
Your country and her leaders
Your community

After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck February 4, 2026

Blog praise, prayer, psalms

0

Praying with Jesus: Praying the Psalms

Praying With Jesus - Ephesians 5:18-20

"Praying the Psalms"

“Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Have you ever felt like your prayers were old and stale?

You can categorize prayers into the two categories of “prayers from the heart” and prewritten prayers.

Prayers “from the heart”
The idea of what some people call “praying from the heart” is that you pray what’s on your heart rather than something that is prewritten. These can be excellent prayers sometimes, and certainly, God encourages us to bring everything that is on our hearts to Him. However, sometimes it’s good to pray a prewritten prayer and can actually be quite refreshing.

Our passage from Ephesians encourages us to use different forms of speech and prayer, that includes hymns and, yes, psalms.

Why Prewritten Prayers?

The reason I keep putting “praying from your heart” in quotes is that the name implies that we aren’t praying from our heart if we pray a prewritten pray. This isn’t true. In fact, there are many good reasons to pray prewritten prayers.

It provides some help – The truth is that while praying from the heart sounds great, sometimes people struggle to do it. They feel like they don’t know what to pray. This can especially be true when you’re asked to pray with or in front of others. A prewritten pray can help you through those times.
It gives new ideas – Another reality of praying from the heart is that often our prayers become repetitive. Time after time, we find ourselves praying the same things. There’s nothing wrong with this, but there may be some things to pray for which you never think about. A prewritten prayer can make you aware of new things to pray for.
It gives new language – Similar to what I wrote above, when praying from the heart, our prayers can not only pray for the same thing over and over, but we may find that we always use the same words. This may not only be true from one time praying to the next but even multiple times in the same prayer. Prewritten prayers can give us new words and new ways of praying for things.

The Lord’s Prayer
The most common prewritten prayer people pray is the Lord’s prayer. It is absolutely wonderful that Jesus gave us this prayer which, though simple, includes everything we need to pray for.

Praying the Psalms
Not only did God give us the Lord’s Prayer, but He also gave us an entire book of the Bible for our prayers. The book of Psalms is used by many as a prayer book. It gives a variety of words and topics to pray. It also gives us different ways to pray, such as praise, confession, lament, and requests.

Give it a try.

In fact, here’s a good Psalm to start with.

Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?

5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

-Psalm 8

As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:

Your family
Your local church
Your pastor
Some of your fellow church members
The people on your B.L.E.S.S. list
Your country and her leaders
Your community

After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck February 3, 2026

Blog Give Thanks, praise, prayer

0

Praying with Jesus: Giving Thanks and Praise

Praying With Jesus - Luke 17:11-19

Giving Thanks and Praise

“Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us!’

When he saw them, he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Rise and go; your faith has made you well.’”

What kinds of situations cause you to pray?

I remember when my son, Eli, was born. Unfortunately, due to some complications in the pregnancy, Eli was scheduled to be born a little before his due date.

On Sunday night before bed, our whole family gathered together and prayed for a safe delivery. Then on Monday morning, Melissa and I got up and headed to the hospital. On the way, we spent some more time praying for Eli, Melissa, and the Doctors and nurses.

After Melissa was taken into the O.R., I waited outside the O.R. for several minutes. I spent most of that time praying. While in the O.R. during the C-section, more prayers were offered. We were praying for a safe delivery and for the health of Eli and Melissa.

Then Eli was born. He was healthy. Melissa was healthy. It was wonderful!

I started doing all the things you do…

I texted Melissa’s and my family.
I took some pictures of Eli and sent them out.
I posted the stats of the baby.
Then we headed to recovery and I went down and got family members to bring them up to the room.

It was all very exciting!

A little while later I had to head back to our house to deal with some things. As I was driving home it dawned on me. I had texted people, posted pictures, and visited with family, but I hadn’t stopped to pray and thank God for the safe delivery and healthy mommy and baby.

Praying in the bad and the GOOD times.
Prayer often comes easily and frequently when we are concerned about something or facing a difficult time. However, in times of joy and prosperity, sometimes our prayers become few and far between.

It reminds me of when 10 lepers saw Jesus and cried out to Him to heal them. He heard their cry and He healed them. Nine went off to show the priests they were clean. One turned around and thanked Jesus.

Jesus responded,

“Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

We have a wonderful gift in prayer. God tells us to bring everything to Him in prayer and He promises to listen. It’s good to bring your cares, worries, troubles, and confessions to Jesus. It’s good to pray for others. It’s also good to give thanks and lift up praise to God. Indeed, He deserves all praise, honor, and glory!

May we always remember to be the one who goes back and thanks to Jesus.

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for the many blessings you have given me. Help me to come to you in prayer at all times, whether I’m struggling through something or doing well. May I always remember to say thank you.

Amen.

As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:

Your family
Your local church
Your pastor
Some of your fellow church members
The people on your B.L.E.S.S. list
Your country and her leaders
Your community

After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck February 2, 2026

Blog prayer

0

Praying With Jesus – The Not So Super Secret Way To Get Anything You Want!!!…If…

Praying With Jesus - John 14:13-14

"The Not So Secret Way of Getting Everything You Want...If..."

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Have you ever asked God for something in prayer and not gotten it?

I love giving things to my kids. I like giving them gifts and making their favorite foods. However, I also know that I need to limit these things for their own sake, so they don’t become spoiled or have health issues. If I offered my son pizza and ice cream every day 3 meals a day, he’d probably be OK with that (Hey, I’d like to join him in that), but I don’t do that because I know it isn’t really showing him love. He needs protein and veggies, even if they aren’t his favorite.

God loves giving us things, too; but are there limits there as well? In fact, God is much better and knowing what we need and when than any parent.

You may have come across our Bible verses for today before and wondered what Jesus meant or maybe you thought you’d hit the jackpot.

“Wait, What? I can just ask for anything I want and as long as I say, ‘In Jesus Name’ I’ll get it?!”

Score!

Some people (even famous preachers) have suggested that Jesus is saying that if we believe in Him we can simply ask Him for anything and, as long as we add “in Jesus name” to the end of the prayer, Jesus will give it to us. “Name it and claim it.” But is that really what Jesus is saying? If we go back one verse we find Jesus saying this:

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. -John 14:12

Jesus isn’t giving a secret, magic phrase to get whatever we want.

What if we ask for something which, in the end, would harm us or lead us away from Him? What if we ask for God to harm someone else who angered us? God isn’t our personal genie, nor does He want to give us things that would harm us or others. In fact, the “name it and claim it” leaders usually add the caveat, “if you have enough faith,” because they know you aren’t going to get everything you ask for so they need an excuse.

What Jesus is saying is that as we believe and follow Him, He is there with us. He will provide for us. As we live and act in His name (as His people), “do[ing] the works [He] had been doing,” we can ask Him to help and to provide for us, and He will give that help and providence.

Sometimes we feel like we shouldn’t ask God for help.

After all, He’s already done so much for us, and we really don’t deserve it. And when we do ask for things, we try to make them “reasonable” or keep them small.

Jesus is telling us that we shouldn’t be shy in asking God to help in all aspects of our lives and our ministry according to His good and loving will. In fact, He will give much more than we ask that it may bring glory to the Father. In other words, what Jesus is really telling us here, isn’t we can get whatever we want, but rather, there’s nothing He can’t give. Nothing is impossible for God.

Prayer is incredibly powerful both in what God promises to do and in what it does to us. I want to encourage you in your prayer life. So, over the next few devotions, we’re going to explore prayer. I hope you’ll join us each day.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

I can’t do this without You. Please be with me today. Please guide me and lead me. Please forgive me and keep me from sin. Remind me of Your promises. Work in me to bring You honor and glory today through my words and actions that others may Glorify Your Name. Please give me everyhig I need for life and salvation. May Thy will be done. I pray this as one marked in Your name.

Amen.

As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:

Your family
Your local church
Your pastor
Some of your fellow church members
The people on your B.L.E.S.S. list
Your country and her leaders
Your community

After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck August 24, 2021

Special Posts prayer

6

Praying Together August a 26th at Noon

Praying Together
Thursday at Noon

Our Thursday prayers are now at a new time!

You are invited to join together with the members of Faith as well as other Lutheran churches in the Tampa area Thursday at noon on Facebook or Youtube as we pray for each other and our community.

You can send prayer requests which we will include in the time of prayer.

Please click here and submit send the prayer requests on the TampaLutheransPray.com website by 5pm on Wednesday.

Thank you and God bless!

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck July 8, 2021

Blog prayer

0

Praying With Jesus: Not My Will, But Thine

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” -Luke 22:42

Are you willing to submit to the will of God when you pray?

We want what we want, but that’s not necessarily what is best either for us or for others.

I’ve got a long list of things I pray for.

I pray for healing. I pray for safety. I pray for wisdom. I pray that I’d be able to pay the bills each month. The list goes on. These are all my will. Even when praying for others, I’m praying that my will be done for those people (like they would be healed or protected from all harm).

A lot of the things I pray for are good. Some may even be what is best, but some, though good, may not be what is best. When I pray for healing, that’s good, but I may need to go through the illness for some purpose I’m not even aware of.

Paul prayed that a thorn in his side would be removed. We don’t know what the “thorn” was, but Paul certainly wanted to get rid of it. Removing suffering is good, but in this case, it wasn’t best. God said He wouldn’t remove it. It kept Paul humble and reminded him to rely on God rather than himself. That was a better good.

My will is not perfect. My will can be selfish. God’s will is perfect.

Jesus’ prayer in the garden was not an easy one. He knew what lay before Him, the horrible suffering He was about to endure, but He trusted the Father’s will. He knew the Father’s will was perfect and loving, even if it was difficult.

As those called by the Holy Spirit into faith, our desire is that our will would be more and more like the will of the Father and that even when our will differs, we would be willing to submit our will to the Father’s will. Prayer is an act of submission.

Heavenly Father,

Your will is good and perfect. Sometimes, my will differs from Your will. When it does, I submit myself to You. May Your will be done, even if it is difficult. And may my will be more like Yours every day.

Amen

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck May 5, 2021

Special Posts evangelism, prayer

0

Bless Every Home and the 10:02 Challenge

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” – Matthew 28:18-20

The past Sunday we talked about the importance of sharing the Gospel with others. There are several aspects involved in doing this, including…

Prayer
Meeting People
Caring for People
Having Spiritual Conversations with People

This is not a command for just some special people in the church, it’s for all of us. So, I talked about two things we call all be doing to help us to be doing this in our lives. I wanted to follow up with you on those two things both as a reminder, but also so you would have the details where you could use them.

The 10:02 Challenge

The 10:02 Challenge is a simple challenge, but one which is both effective (because prayer is effective) and helps us to obey Jesus.

“And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” – Luke 10:2

The concept of the challenge is this. In Luke 10:2, Jesus told His disciples there are lots of people out there ready to hear the Gospel (the harvest is plentiful), but there aren’t many people to send out to share the Gospel (the laborers are few). So, we should pray earnestly that God would send more laborers, more people out to share the Gospel.

Set an alarm on your phone or some other device for 10:02 (morning, evening, or both). When the alarm goes off, stop what you are doing and pray that God would send people to share the Gospel and that many would hear the Gospel and believe.

Just so I’m being completely open with you…just know, you likely may be one of the workers God sends out into the field. Jesus told His disciples to pray this right before He sent them out to do it.

BlessEveryHome.com

BlessEveryHome.com is a simple way to start praying for your neighbors as well as to start being intentional about meeting your neighbors and having spiritual conversations with them. Here’s a brief overview:

I hope you will join me in this effort. I have signed up and started praying for my neighbors and am going out and talking with my neighbors. You can, too.

Click here to sign up (for free) and start praying for your neighbors, today.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck April 29, 2021

Blog Apostles creed, athanasian creed, begotten, jesus, john 3:16, Nicene Creed, prayer

0

I Believe in God’s Only Begotten Son

“And (I Believe) in Jesus Christ, His (the Father’s) only Son…”

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16

How important is a person’s identity?

At Faith, a while back, we had a sermon series on identity. Discovering how to find our identity and then what God reveals about who we are is life-changing. Identity gives purpose, confidence, a better ability to form relationships with people, and much more. You can watch the sermon series here on YouTube, if you’d like.

In this part of the Apostles’ Creed, we talk about who Jesus is, His identity.

We don’t just say we believe in Jesus, we identify Him according to what He has revealed to us through the Bible. Jesus is the Son of God.

Much has been said and written about Jesus, some correct and some incorrect. In fact, each of the ecumenical* creeds addresses more and more of who Jesus is in order to correct some of the incorrect ideas about Jesus (*ecumenical means that they are widely accepted by various Christian groups/denominations).

The Nicene Creed expands on what it means that Jesus is the Son of God, saying,

“And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made;”

Jesus is the only Son of God. He didn’t have any brothers or sisters from the Father as some have claimed, though He did have earthly siblings from Mary and Joseph. He is begotten, not made. And He is one substance with the Father, meaning He is God and He and the Father are one.

The word, “begotten,” is a little strange to us. We don’t really use it much outside of church. It speaks to the uniqueness of Jesus and His relationship with the Father. He is not a creation of God, He is one with the Father and Spirit. Also, He is the only one like Him. This distinguishes us, who the Bible also calls sons and daughters of God, from Jesus. We are adopted sons and daughters.

The Athanasian Creed takes this even further as it works to explain the Trinity nature of God (3 in 1). I’m not going to go through the Athanasian Creed here because it’s long, but you can download and read a copy here, if you’d like.

This may all seem a bit trivial like it’s a bunch of theological jargon that doesn’t really pertain to your life, but it’s actually important. We live in a society where there are many different religions. Many people say they believe in “God,” but the identity of that God matters. How God describes Himself in the Bible is different from the Islamic or Hindu beliefs of God.

Even within groups who claim to be “Christian”, people have come up with some different ideas of who Jesus is.

Is Jesus truly God?
Is He human?
Was He a created being who ascended to some near-god status?
Did He have a brother from God?
Do we eventually become like Jesus?

We aren’t actually free to answer these questions however we want. There are true and false answers to these questions. When we allow the Bible to inform us on who Jesus is, we discover His true identity, the person Jesus revealed Himself to be. That is who we believe in.

Dear Jesus,

You are the only begotten Son of God. Help us to know You as You truly are. Help us to accept You and You have described Yourself. Help us to believe in You.

Amen.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck April 19, 2021

Blog Gods Leading, prayer, trust

0

A Different Direction

“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’” – James 4:14-15

What are your plans for today?

Are you willing to change them?

A man was hiking through the woods one day. He had decided it was a great day to walk down to an old pond he had frequented in his younger years. As he was walking, he crossed paths with another person. She suggested taking a different path. She told him she had lived in the area for decades, hiking the woods several times a week, and that she knew of a beautiful waterfall he could see if he took the other path.

What would you do?

Would you decide to stay on your current path or try the new one?

What if, instead of directing you to a waterfall, she had warned that the pond had mostly dried up and several venomous snakes had taken up residence there?

Would you change course?

Making Plans
We all make plans. We have things we want to accomplish and we make plans to be sure we accomplish them. In our passage for today, God has something to say about our planning.

Before we get to what God is saying, let’s clear up something He isn’t saying. Some people have used this passage to say we should never plan anything. We should just go with the spiritual flow if you will, and see what happens. That’s not what this telling us. First, notice that the conclusion is to say,

‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.“

That still implies planning. It’s just planning that looks to God both when we plan and as we carry out those plans to seek God’s will. There are plenty of Bible passages that speak to the wisdom of planning.

So, what is this passage saying? How do we plan?

Humble Yourself – Realize that as much as you think you know, you don’t know as much as God and you can’t see into the future. God can.
Pray When You Plan – Realizing that you don’t know everything, ask the one who does to guide you as you plan. Pray before you plan, while you plan, and after you plan.
Pray As You Put Your Plan Into Action – As you start to put your plans into action, stay in prayer. Ask God to bless your efforts and for wisdom to know if you need to change anything.
Be Willing To Change Course – Sometimes we don’t really listen to God as we plan well and God needs to correct us. However, it’s not necessarily that you didn’t listen. Sometimes God doesn’t reveal the whole plan all at once. Sometimes we need to be moved down the path we expect in order to find another path we didn’t know about, but to which God was leading us.
Thank And Praise God For Guiding You – Don’t forget God at the end of the plan. Pray again, thanking Him, and ask Him to continue to lead you.

Sometimes God leads up step by step.

I’ve had several times, where I thought I knew the full plan, but realized soon into the plan that God had guided me to the first part, but I had filled in the rest. So, after the first step or two, God sent something to change my path. Maybe it was a person I didn’t expect to meet that led to a conversation or some different way of doing something which I couldn’t have even conceived of earlier.

The point is, don’t be so committed to the plan, that you aren’t open to God’s leading while you enact the plan. He may have something amazing in store if you are willing to follow.

Heavenly Father,

Guide me as I plan my days. Then, open my eyes to see where You lead me as I walk. Help me to be flexible enough to take a detour when you lead me to it. Bless my efforts that I may follow Your will, You would be glorified, and others would be blessed through me.

Amen.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck March 23, 2021

Blog holy spirit, prayer

0

Better Than Words

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” – Romans 8:26-27

Have you ever had someone say something to you that just left you speechless?

It happens to me now more than ever since I have kids. Sometimes it’s something that makes me think,

“I’m sorry, did you just dare to say that to me?”

Other times, it’s something that makes me think,

“Where did you learn such wisdom?”

Of course, there are also the times when I’m thinking,

“Did I drop this child at some point because that made no sense?”

Life gives us those speechless moments, too. Sometimes they are horrifying moments, other times they are awe-inspiring, and sometimes they are bewildering.

Prayer in the Speechless Times
In those times when we want to pray but are at a loss for words, what do we do?

Pray without words.

You can say something like,

“God, I am so overwhelmed right now that I don’t know what to say, but You know my heart.”

Then, just sit quietly with God. Let the Spirit do the praying for you. The Spirit knows the Father’s heart and He knows our heart better than we know it, ourselves. Trust that the Spirit is interceding for you. While we may not know what’s being uttered, I’d bet it’s better than anything we could have come up with anyway.

Holy Spirit,

You know me better than I know myself. Intercede for me in those moments when I don’t know what to pray. Then fill me with Your presence, overflowing with Your peace, comfort, and love.

Amen.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

prayer

Praying With Jesus - Psalm 22:1-2

"Prayers of Lament"

Praying With Jesus - Ephesians 5:18-20

"Praying the Psalms"

Praying With Jesus - Luke 17:11-19

Giving Thanks and Praise

Praying With Jesus - John 14:13-14

"The Not So Secret Way of Getting Everything You Want...If..."

Praying Together Thursday at Noon

Praying With Jesus: Not My Will, But Thine

Bless Every Home and the 10:02 Challenge

The 10:02 Challenge

BlessEveryHome.com

I Believe in God’s Only Begotten Son

A Different Direction

Better Than Words

Faith Lutheran Church in Wesley Chapel, FL serving Lutz, Zephyrhills, Land O’ Lakes, and New Tampa, FL

Praying Together
Thursday at Noon