Daily Bible Verses

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.’ 1 THESSALONIANS 5:16–18
 
Father, I want to live out my faith in every area of my life. Please help me use these three simple guidelines to do that.

Pray constantly (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Breathe in the breath of God 
Breathe out your cares and concerns 
Breathe in the love of God 
Breathe out your doubts and despairs 
Breathe in the life of God 
Breathe out your fears and frustrations 
We sit quietly before the One who gives life and love to all creation 
We sit in awe of the One who formed us in our mother’s womb 
We sit at peace surrounded by the One who fills every fibre of our being 
Breathe in the breath of God 
Breath out your tensions and…

Heavenly Father
* When I am tempted, give me grace to turn my eyes to my saviour Jesus
* When I find myself in despair, give me grace to turn my eyes to Jesus and find hope.
* When I am heard hearted fill me with your generosity
* When I am unforgiving fill me with your mercy
* When I encounter injustice make me a channel of your peace.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our…

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, may my goal today and every day be to love.
May my desires be pure,
May my thoughts be for good, particularly for the good of others
May I be faithful in my actions, arising from the faithfulness of Jesus.
What I pray for myself I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ.

³ As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer ⁴ …

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help us to understand what you are saying in and around what Paul said to Timothy

We know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully
We also know that the law is not laid down for a righteous person
but for those who are lawless and do not submit to rules
those who don’t respect what is holy and who miss the mark
those who don’t have reverence for and trample over what is holy
those who beat their fathers and mothers
those who murder, those who prostitute themselves
those who lie with men, those who traffic people…

Heavenly Father, when I am messing up my life and the lives of others
help me to learn what I am currently ignorant about, so that I may not act in ignorance
help me to trust what I currently don’t trust, so that I may not act from unbelief.
hen I see others who are messing up their lives and the lives of others
give me grace to see how they are acting from ignorance and unbelief
so that I may be a channel of the grace, faith and love that are in Christ Jesus

¹² I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given…

15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King…

(My experience of forgiveness is that the bigger the sin, the more difficult it is to forgive.  God’s experience seems to be different)
Prayer: Heavenly Father, give me grace to be patient with others, showing them mercy, so that they may have life in all its fullness.

¹⁵ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶ But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in…

¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Heavenly Father help me to hold on to, and not reject, the faith that you are indeed eternal and the only God, and let it be reflected in the way in which I live today, so that at the end of today day my conscience may be clear (and that I may not have contributed to my life being a shipwreck).
Protect me and others, Heavenly Father, from the sin of blaspheme, from believing that something is from you, when…

¹ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – ² for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³ This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, ⁴ who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all…

Heavenly Father, open my eyes to all those around me today, particularly those in authority
* give me grace to have good desires for myself, and to bring these petitions to you
* give me grace to think about others in a prayerful way
* give me grace to have good desires for others, and to bring these intercessions to you
* give me grace to see the good in others and be thankful for them
* May your kingdom of peace, truth and…

Heavenly father,
* give me grace to put what I believe about generosity and kindness into practice, so that I will clothed with good deeds.
* give me grace to avoid the pitfalls of giving too much importance to anything which is not of eternal significance
* and help me to discern the ways in which cultural pressures can harm me.

⁹ I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, …

(In the light of Paul’s instruction in chapter 6 for slaves to show full respect for their masters)
Heavenly Father,
* give me grace to discern how you are calling me to behave in a culture that is different to 2000 years ago.
* give me grace to learn
* give me grace to be quiet when I need to be quiet
* give me grace to discern when I am being deceived
* thank you for the childbearing that brought Jesus into the world through whom I am saved.

¹¹ A woman should learn in…

Heavenly Father, give me grace
* to be faithful in my family relationships, not neglecting what is my responsibility
* to be hospitable and generous in my relationships with those outside my family
* to be trustworthy, avoiding both the love of money and the desire for dishonest gain
* to be self controlled in regard to the pleasures of life
* to be gentle, avoiding all forms of violence
* to have a clear conscience, particularly with regard to what I say
and what I pray for myself I pray for others, particularly those who are in positions of power and…

Heavenly Father
Give me grace to conduct myself as a member of your household.
In particular give me grace to live in truth - being true to you, to myself and to others.

¹⁴ Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, ¹⁵ if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the…

Heavenly Father,
Give me grace to respond to you in my inner being as Jesus did
Thank you for the hope that I have in Christ for all time and eternity

By common consent, great is the mystery of the inner response to God
            He appeared in the flesh, (at his birth)
                        was vindicated by the Spirit, (at his baptism and in his resurrection)…

¹ Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. ² These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.

³ They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be…

Heavenly Father
Give me grace to live truthfully, prayerfully and thankfully

¹ But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, ² through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron; ³ forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be…

Heavenly father, give me grace to exercise myself towards godliness.
Just as I need to learn how to include bodily exercise into my life, show me how to include godly exercise into my life.

⁶ If you instruct the brothers of these things, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished in the words of the faith, and of the good doctrine which you have followed. ⁷ But refuse profane and old wives’ fables. Exercise yourself toward godliness.…

Heavenly Father, give me grace
            to speak goodness to others, with love and faithfulness;
            to be pure in my words and deeds;
            to use the gifts you have given me; and
            to pay attention to myself.

¹² Let no man despise your youth; but be an…

Heavenly Father give me grace to care for members of my family.

¹ Don’t rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father; the younger men as brothers; ² the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, in all purity. ³ Honor widows who are widows indeed. ⁴ But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety towards their own…

Heavenly father, give me grace
to be hospitable to strangers, to serve others and to relieve the afflicted;
to refrain from being idle, being a gossip or a busybody; and
to look after the needs of those close to me.

 ⁹ Let no one be enrolled as a widow under sixty years old, having been the wife of one man, ¹⁰ being approved by good works, if she has brought up children, if she has been hospitable to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if…

Heavenly father
Give me grace to refrain from prejudice; and
Give me grace to refrain from participating in the sins of others;

¹⁷ Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in the word and in teaching. 
¹⁸ For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox when it treads out the grain.” And, “The labourer is worthy of his wages.”

¹⁹ Don’t receive an…

Heavenly Father
Give us grace to serve others, whatever the circumstance.
Give us grace to be turn from conceit, argumentativeness, envy, strife, rudeness, suspicion, corruption and lies,
Give us grace to avoid seeing godliness as a means of gain.

¹ Let as many as are bondservants under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and the doctrine not be blasphemed. ² Those who have believing masters, let them not despise them…

Heavenly Father
give us grace to be godly and content.

⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly can’t carry anything out. ⁸ But having food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹ But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful…

But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6)

Journalist Krista Tippett describes an embodied form of grace—the surprising grace of aging. As our minds and bodies slow down, we make space for simple contentment:  

To inhabit my body in all its grace and its flaws appears as a gift for the new/mundane bodily territory I’m on in midlife. Aging is the ultimate slow motion loss, inevitable for us all, and yet somehow for me and everyone I know, it’s come as a surprise. You hit a point where it’s no longer so incremental, and no longer amenable…

¹¹ But you, man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you confessed the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. ¹³ I command you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus…

Heavenly Father
Give us grace to set our hope on you,
Give us grace so that we may be rich in good works and generous in giving and communicating.

¹⁷ Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be haughty, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy; ¹⁸ that they do good, that they…

15 The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. 
2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin.
The Lord is with you when you are with him. 
If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 
3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law. 
4 But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by…

Praise to the God of All Comfort

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of…

20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.

We’ve failed to communicate the unique nature of divine love. Divine love is infinite, but the notion of infinity cannot be conceived by the human mind. We can’t help but turn back to adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, one of my favorite Catholic mystics, shares, “There is a science about which [God] knows nothing—addition!”  What she was trying to say was that once…

8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive…

¹⁶ Therefore we don’t faint, but though our outward person is decaying, yet our inward person is renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory, ¹⁸ while we don’t look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold,  all things have become new.

6 Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you,…

⁶ Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work.

But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  (2 Corinthians 12:9)

https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2025-02-19-control-freak-r25 

My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.  
—2 Corinthians 12:9 

It is sufficient to recognise one’s weakness and to abandon oneself as a child into God’s arms.

People who follow this more humble and honest path are invariably more loving, joyful, and compassionate, and have plenty of time for simple gratitude about everything