Praying with Paul

1 Corinthians 1:26-31​

Dear Father, you of whom we boast,
Why have you chosen the weak, the foolish, the despised? You have done this so that no human being can boast. And we do not! We cast our lives at your feet. You alone are worthy!
You are the source of our lives in Christ Jesus, whom you made to be everything to us. He is our wisdom and our righteousness. He is our sanctification and our redemption.
Therefore, as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord" - and...

 

1 Corinthians 1:22-25​

Dear Father, confounder of worldly wisdom,
What you have caused us to preach is "Christ crucified," a stumbling block to tradition-followers, like the Jews, and folly to philosophy-lovers, like the Greeks. But to us who are called, he is your power and your wisdom. For we believe that your foolishness is wiser than our wisdom, and your weakness is stronger than our strength.
I am thankful that you have taken most of us from the lower echelons of society...

 

1 Corinthians 1:17​

Dear Father, author of all true wisdom,
Thank you that you do not send your emissaries out as mere recruiters. They are not just to baptize but to preach the Good News about Jesus, that he doesn't just want us to "join his club" but he wants us to be like him, yes, to be him, to be his body, in the world.
Thank you for not appealing to us with elegant ideas or eloquent speech, lest the message of the cross be emptied of its power. For while this word of the...

 

1 Corinthians 1:18-21​

Dear Father, author of all true wisdom,
You have said, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart."
Where is the wise man? Where is the debater of this age? I thank you, Father, that you made foolish the wisdom of this world.
For in the wisdom of your plan, mere "wisdom" has never enabled anyone to know you.
People were looking for something great, as they understood greatness. It pleased you, rather, by the...

 

1 Corinthians 1:10-13​

Dear Father, to whom I owe full obedience,
Let my attitude be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who made himself nothing and obeyed you, even in the matter of dying.
May I humbly and obediently exalt Jesus, even as you have exalted him and given him a name that is above every name, that every knee should bow and every tongue confess - to your glory, our God and our Father.
In the name of Jesus Christ, the source of our unity and salvation, I ask these...

 

1 Corinthians 1:10-13​

Dear Father, the one and only God of your one holy people,
Help me never to be part of any division within the body of Christ. Let me be perfectly united in mind and heart with all who follow you. Help me not be some kind of -ite, -ist, or -anian. Keep me from misplacing my loyalties with this man or that!
Christ, of whom I am part, is not divided. He is of one mind. So let me and all his people be together and in agreement. Let us be like-minded, having...

 

1 Corinthians 1:4-9​

Dear Father, my faithful God,
Thank you now and forevermore for the grace which you gave in Christ Jesus. In every way you have enriched me in all speech and all knowledge - even as the testimony of Christ has been confirmed before my eyes - so that I am not lacking in any spiritual gift, as I, along with all my brethren, wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You are my faithful God. It is you who have called me into fellowship with your Son...

 

Romans 16:1-27​

Dear Father, my strength,
I bless you for the multitudes of believing people who have gone before me, for those named in the Bible whose examples of love and loyalty to you I would like to imitate.
Help me to be a helper, to work hard and to be approved like they were. Never let me be among those who create dissensions and difficulties, in opposition to the doctrine of your word.
Help me be wise about what is good and guileless about what is evil, that through...

 

Romans 15:30-33​

Dear Father, giver of joy and refreshment,
Help us strive together in our prayers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of the Spirit, for every person who is proclaiming your word in difficult circumstances and places.
Be with them. Deliver them from their enemies. Let them find full acceptance among your holy people. Let them find joy and refreshment in their company.
In the name of Jesus we ask, praying with all our hearts that Israel according to the flesh...

 

Romans 15:25-29​

Dear Father, God of Israel,
Give us generous hearts toward the Jewish people throughout the world. "They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises, and the patriarchs; and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ."
We know that "as regards the gospel, they are enemies of God" for our sake, but "as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers."...