Nativity Lutheran Church

10/21/2026

I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.
— Psalm 40:8

Thought

Too many of us are paranoid about the word "law" and find it hard to hear a scripture like today's verse. However, we must recognize that the goal of the New Covenant of grace and the gift of the Spirit is that God's law is written on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10, 10:16) and demonstrated in our lives (Romans 8:3-4). God is not concerned with the law being written on tablets of stone. He wants us to know his will in our hearts and live it out in our daily lives. Jeremiah prophesied of this day coming, a time when God's people desire to do God's will from the heart, with a passion to love what our Father loves and despise what he despises (Jeremiah 31:33). Having been saved by our faith in Jesus based on God's grace and filled with the Holy Spirit, we can now say with confidence:

“I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

Prayer

Abba Father, I long to do your will. I desire to please you, glorify you, and lead others to you. Please give me spiritual discernment to know your will, and spiritual courage to do it each day. I yearn for your character and righteousness to inform my heart when Satan tempts me not to live for you. Gently humble me when I am wrong, have lost my way, or ignore the Holy Spirit's influence in my heart. Awaken me, dear Father, to your law written in my heart, and unleash the power of the Holy Spirit to animate my life to live your will more completely. In the mighty name of Jesus, my Savior, I pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayers for Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

10/20/2026

10/20/2026

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. — Psalm 51:12

Thought

In the face of sin and separation from God, grace is God's refreshing stream that restores our salvation — making it existentially real to us. In our struggles with suffering, grief, and loss, only God's grace and his Holy Spirit ministering to our spirits can help us find a sustaining and willing spirit. This ongoing joy of salvation comes only when we realize and accept the forgiveness, grace, restoration, and Spirit-inspired refreshment God has given us — in other words, we get to drink from the stream of grace as the Holy Spirit wells up within us with heaven's living water to refresh us (John 7:37-39). So we can say with confidence that God will restore to us the joy of our salvation, and he will grant us a willing spirit to sustain us!

Prayer

Holy and Righteous Father, I long for the outbreak of joy in your salvation as I see in the book of Acts. I pray that your Spirit leads us into another era of outreach, conversion, and celebration. I pray for wisdom to know and for eyes to see those around me who are most open to the Gospel — people with a willing spirit open to your salvation. I want to be a partner with you in your ongoing work of salvation, for I know that, as I do, I will get to experience again and again the joy of your salvation. And I will experience the Holy Spirit welling up within me as a useful vessel in your Kingdom. In Jesus' name, I offer myself to you as I pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayers for Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

10/19/2026

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. — Psalm 37:4

Thought

Rather than seeing this as a way to get our wish list granted, let's see it for what it really is — an invitation to seek a loving, dependent relationship with God above all other things and to find our delight in him. In finding him, in delighting in him, we will find our priorities properly aligned and our hearts tuned to desire what is really valuable and what he longs to give to us. Then we will see that what we have in him is our heart's greatest desire. This is not a promise to get all the stuff we want; it's a promise to find in God all that we need, and then we find our delight in what pleases him.

Prayer

Awesome and Gracious Father, we confess to you that too often our hearts are full of selfish desires. Today, however, we recognize, dear Father, that you are the one we most need, and your will is what our hearts most desire. Please kindle your Spirit in us so that we can see through any selfish deception that would rob us of having you first in our lives. Please forgive us for the times we were petty, selfish, and shallow. May we know you as much as possible, as mortals can know you, not so that we may have our selfish desires fulfilled, but so that you may be honored in what we seek, and we find our delight in what you bring. Because of your grace, and in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayers for Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

10/18/2026

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
— Psalm 27:14

Thought

If there is anything we don’t like to do, it is to wait. Maybe that is why God is so interested in us learning to do it — to learn to prayerfully wait on him. There is something purifying about remaining strong in tough times and remaining faithful when ill winds blow. So God gives us times to wait on him to see whether our search is really about him or merely looking for an easy way out of our messes. I don't know about you, but I am going to wait on the Lord because that's where my future, my hope, and my strength will come from.

Prayer

Loving Father, I know you have waited patiently for me so many times — for me to show my faith, repent of my sins, grow in holiness, come to you in prayer, act more maturely, give to those who cannot return my grace and care, and you have waited on me for so many other things and in so many other times. Thank you! Thank you for waiting! Now please help me be strong and take heart as I wait for you to show me your way to handle my decisions, act to meet my needs, reveal your presence in my loneliness, and let me see your coming deliverance. I really do seek you with all my heart. So, dear Father, in Jesus' name, I wait and trust in you. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayers for Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

10/17/2026

The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.
My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare. — Psalm 25:14-15

Thought

Where does true deliverance come from? Only from God. Deliverance is found in God through deep reverential respect for his holiness and strength, through living faithfully in covenant relationship with him, and through maintaining our focus and dependence upon him. Any other roads to deliverance are false shortcuts that ultimately prove themselves to be a snare. Like the tightrope walker whose eyes are not on the ground or the surroundings, but on the rope in front of him where he will walk, so too our eyes must be on the Lord. Only by looking to him will he lead us to safety and from the snares of the one who longs to have us and destroy us. Our eyes must be ever on the Lord because we trust that he will lead us away from "temptation" and "deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13).

Prayer

Precious Father, you have done so much to save me. You, who are so holy and righteous, have reached down to take my hand when I was a sinner and in rebellion against your love (Romans 5:8-11). You saved me by your grace. Now, please teach me your ways. Please correct the wrongs in my life. Please guide me into the ways of your truth. I want to be saved not only from my past sins, but also from days of uselessness, vanity, and frustration. So I offer myself to you as a vessel to be used to honor you. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayers for Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.