Daily Bible Verses

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Heavenly Father
Give us grace today to understand what you say to us in our hearts

¹⁸ “Hear, then, the parable of the farmer. ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside. 

Heavenly Father
Give us grace today to allow your words to us take root in the way in which we live today.

²⁰ What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word and immediately with joy receives it; ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 

Heavenly Father
Give us grace today to avoid the deceitfulness of riches

²² What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 

Heavenly Father
Give us grace today to hear and understand the word of the Kingdom of God, so that we may bear fruit abundantly

²³ What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit and produces, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.”

Heavenly Father
Give us grace today to trust you when bad things happen

²⁴ He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, ²⁵ but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel weeds also among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ But when the blade sprang up and produced grain, then the darnel weeds appeared also. ²⁷ The servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did…

Heavenly Father
Give us grace today tol live at peace alongside all that is good and all that is not good in the world. 

²⁸ “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’

²⁹ “But he said, ‘No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel weeds, you root up the wheat with them. 
³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers,
“First, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into…

Heavenly Father
Give us grace today to allow the seed of the Kingdom grow in us

³¹ He set another parable before them, saying, 
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took, and sowed in his field, 
³² which indeed is smaller than all seeds.
But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree,
so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.”

33 He told them still another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about thirty kilograms of flour until it worked all through the dough.’

Richard Rohr describes why role models and personal examples often inspire change more effectively than right ideas and beliefs:  

Correct ideas and church mandates cannot cause the kind of change that the soul needs. The soul needs living models to grow, exemplars with the expansive energies of love. People…

Heavenly Father
Give us grace today to allow the leaven of the Kingdom of Heaven to do your work in us

³³ He spoke another parable to them. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened.”

Heavenly Father
Give us grace today to be attentive to the hidden things of the Kingdom of Heaven

³⁴ Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable, he didn’t speak to them, 
³⁵ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,

“I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”

Jesus said, “I will speak to you in parables and reveal to you things hidden since the foundation of the world.” —Matthew 13:35, quoting Psalm 78:2  

Richard Rohr describes how Jesus uses parables to challenge our ways of thinking: 

A parable is a unique form of literature that’s always trying to subvert business as usual, much like a Zen koan or a Confucian riddle, which both use paradox to undo our reliance on what we think is logic. Yet we typically do not let parables do that for us. Our dominant consciousness is so in control that…

Heavenly Father
Give us grace today to do what is right

³⁶ Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to him, saying,
“Explain to us the parable of the darnel weeds of the field.”

³⁷ He answered them, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, ³⁸ the field is the world, the good seeds are the children of the Kingdom, and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one. ³⁹ The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age,…

Heavenly Father
Give us grace to seek first the Kingdom of Heaven today

⁴⁴ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid.
In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Heavenly Father
Give us grace today to seek for what is finest and best today and deal with everything else appropriately.

⁴⁵ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls, 
⁴⁶ who having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Heavenly Father
Give us grace today to be of use in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

⁴⁷ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some fish of every kind, 
⁴⁸ which, when it was filled, fishermen drew up on the beach.
They sat down and gathered the good [useful] into containers, but the bad they threw away. 
⁴⁹ So will it be in the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked from among the righteous, 
⁵⁰ and will cast…

Heavenly Father
Give us grace today to discover new things about the kingdom of God

⁵¹ Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”

They answered him, “Yes, Lord.”

⁵² He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasure new and old things.”

Heavenly father
give us grace today to listen to wisdom whoever is speaking. 

⁵³ When Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from there. 
⁵⁴ Coming into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said,
“Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 
⁵⁵ Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? 
⁵⁶ Aren’t all of his sisters with us? Where then…

Heavenly father
give us grace today to discern if and when we need to speak about truth and justice 

¹ At that time, Herod the tetrarch heard the report concerning Jesus, 
² and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptizer. He is risen from the dead. That is why these powers work in him.” 
³ For Herod had arrested John, and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. 
⁴ For John said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her…

Heavenly father
give us grace today to stop us being foolish, particularly around pleasure and beauty

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced among them and pleased Herod. 
⁷ Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she should ask. 
⁸ She, being prompted by her mother, said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptizer.”
⁹ The king was grieved, but for the sake of his oaths and of those who sat at the table with him, he…

Heavenly father
give us grace today to seek you when we feel down (as Jesus did on the death of his cousin)

¹¹ His head was brought on a platter and given to the young lady; and she brought it to her mother. ¹² His disciples came, took the body, and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus. ¹³ Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place apart. When the multitudes heard it, they followed him on foot from the cities.

Heavenly father
give us grace today 

¹² His disciples came, took the body, and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus. 
¹³ Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place apart.
When the multitudes heard it, they followed him on foot from the cities.

¹⁴ Jesus went out, and he saw a great multitude. He had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ When evening had come, his disciples came to him, saying, “This place is deserted, and the hour is…

Heavenly father
give us grace today to be compassionate

¹⁴ Jesus went out, and he saw a great multitude. He had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ When evening had come, his disciples came to him, saying, “This place is deserted, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves food.”
¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They don’t need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

Heavenly father
give us grace today to see what resources we have and put them at your disposal

¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They don’t need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
¹⁷ They told him, “We only have here five loaves and two fish.”
¹⁸ He said, “Bring them here to me.” 

Heavenly father
give us grace today to take what you give us today, and to share it with others  so that we may be blessed and be a blessing to others, particularly when we are feeling broken. 

¹⁹ He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass;
and he took the five loaves and the two fish,
and looking up to heaven, he blessed,
broke and
gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. 

Heavenly father
give us grace today to  feed on the bread of heaven.

²⁰ They all ate and were filled. They took up twelve baskets full of that which remained left over from the broken pieces. 
²¹ Those who ate were about five thousand men, in addition to women and children.

Heavenly father
give us grace today to be find time to be alone with you 

²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. 
²³ After he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into the mountain by himself to pray. When evening had come, he was there alone. 

Heavenly father
give us grace today to not be afraid when we are in distress

²⁴ But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, distressed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. 
²⁵ In the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.
²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It’s a ghost!” and they cried out for fear. 
²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Cheer up! It is I! Don’t be…

Heavenly father
give us grace today to cry out to you when we are afraid

²⁸ Peter answered him and said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the waters.”
²⁹ He said, “Come!”
Peter stepped down from the boat and walked on the waters to come to Jesus. 
³⁰ But when he saw that the wind was strong, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
³¹ Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said…

Heavenly father
give us grace today to reach out to you and find wholeness

³⁴ When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret. 
³⁵ When the people of that place recognized him, they sent into all that surrounding region and brought to him all who were sick; 
³⁶ and they begged him that they might just touch the fringe of his garment. As many as touched it were made whole.

Heavenly father
give us grace today when finding fault with others to examine ourselves to see if we too have those faults.  

¹ Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, 
² “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat bread.”
³ He answered them, “Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? 

Heavenly father
give us grace today to do what is right, particularly when we are not in the habit of doing so

⁴ For God commanded, ‘Honour your father and your mother`, and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’
⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever may tell his father or his mother, “Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,” 
⁶ he shall not honour his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition. …

Heavenly father
give us grace to be gentle in our seeking after righteousness today

⁵ Blessed are the gentle,
    for they shall inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they shall be filled.

Heavenly father
give us grace today to be careful what we say

¹⁰ He summoned the multitude, and said to them, “Hear, and understand. 
¹¹ That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

Heavenly father
give us grace today to discern when others are giving a lead which we should not follow

¹² Then the disciples came, and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”
¹³ But he answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. 
¹⁴ Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

Heavenly father
give us grace today to cleanse our souls from everything which defiles us.  

¹⁵ Peter answered him, “Explain the parable to us.”
¹⁶ So Jesus said, “Do you also still not understand? 
¹⁷ Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly and then out of the body? 
¹⁸ But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man. 
¹⁹ For out of the heart come…

Heavenly father
give us grace to value you and all your goodness so much that it is you and your goodness that we look to for what we need today.  

²¹ Jesus went out from there and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. 
²² Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders and cried, saying,
“Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely possessed by a demon!”
²³ But he answered her not a word.
His disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away;…

Heavenly father
give us grace today to believe in your goodness particularly when we encounter the opposite.

^[A Canaanite woman asked Jesus about her daughter who was severely possessed by a demon!”]

²⁶ But he answered, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
²⁷ But she said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you…

Heavenly father
give us grace today to see you at work today in those most in need. 

²⁹ Jesus departed from there and came near to the sea of Galilee;
and he went up into the mountain and sat there. 
³⁰ Great multitudes came to him,
having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others,
and they put them down at his feet. He healed them, 
³¹ so that the multitude wondered
when they saw the mute speaking, the injured healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing…

Heavenly father
give us grace today to have compassion for those around us.

³² Jesus summoned his disciples and said, 
“I have compassion on the multitude,
because they have continued with me now three days and have nothing to eat.
I don’t want to send them away fasting, or they might faint on the way.”
³³ The disciples said to him,
“Where could we get so many loaves in a deserted place as to satisfy so great a multitude?”
³⁴ Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
…

Heavenly father
give us grace today to receive what you give us with thanks, and to use it, particularly for the benefit other others. 

³⁵ He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground; 
³⁶ and he took the seven loaves and the fish.
He gave thanks and broke them,
and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes.