Heavenly father
give us grace to be like you in not just loving those who love us today46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same?
47 If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same?
48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.There is a common misperception that deeply distorts the reading of the Scriptures and much spirituality. I call it “spiritual capitalism,” which centers around a common philosophy of “I can do it, and I must do it, and I will do it.” This is the mindset of early-stage ego consciousness. It puts all the emphasis and total reliance on “me,” my effort, and my spiritual accomplishments. It has little active trust in God’s grace and mercy.
Unfortunately, the driving energy is fear and more effort, instead of quiet confidence and gratitude.
It becomes about climbing instead of…
moreHeavenly father
give us grace to give today without drawing attention to ourselves.1 “Be careful that you don’t do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them,
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or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 Therefore, when you do merciful deeds, don’t sound a trumpet before yourself,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men.
Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.
3 But when you do…Heavenly father
give us grace to pray today, heart to heart5 “When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets,
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that they may be seen by men. Most certainly, I tell you, they have received their reward.
6 But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door,
pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
7 In praying, don’t use…‘But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.’ MATTHEW 6:6
Father God, you invite me to spend time with you. I accept!
‘The Christian spiritual journey is responding to God’s invitation to personal encounter in love. Prayer is our response. Prayer is the place of encounter. Growth in prayer is growth in loving intimacy with God.’ (David Benner, Opening to God…
moreHeavenly father
give us grace to …9 Pray like this:
“‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
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10 Let your Kingdom come.
Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also forgive our debtors.
13 Bring us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the…your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10https://www.thefuelcast.com/library/2025-06-18-fully-real-r25
“forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”
Brian McLaren identifies how prayers of petition help us to experience forgiveness:
Since being wounded or sinned against is a terribly common experience, I suspect we need to pay more attention to it. In fact, being wronged is directly linked in the Lord’s Prayer to the reality of doing wrong; we pray, “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”
Father Richard Rohr…
moreHeavenly father
give us grace to be forgiving today14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.Heavenly father
give us grace to focus on you when no one is looking (and when they are!)16 “Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces.
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For they disfigure their faces that they may be seen by men to be fasting.
Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.
17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18 so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret;
and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you…Heavenly father
give us grace to treasure the things of heaven in our hearts today.19 “Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal;
21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.Heavenly father
give us grace to see the light today22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.
23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness.
If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!Heavenly father
give us grace to use money today in the context of serving you, rather than using you to serve money.24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other.
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You can’t serve both God and Mammon.
25 Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink;
nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 See…‘No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Matthew 6:24
Richard Rohr challenges the ways we allow personal possessions and national boundaries to define us:
Jesus primarily talked about the kingdom of God as his defining worldview. Yet, the vast majority of Christians in history have identified with their own much smaller kingdoms for which they were willing to fight, kill, surrender, and grant pledges of…
moreDo Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life) 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour…
moreHeavenly father
give us grace to allow you to clothe us today.27 “Which of you by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?
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28 Why are you anxious about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin,
29 yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these.
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
won’t he much more…Heavenly father
give us grace to seek first your kingdom today.31 “Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’
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32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious…“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”
Authors Adam Bucko and Rory McEntee envision what a “new monasticism” could mean today:
Monastic [life], then, represents for us a complete commitment to the transformative journey, … which takes us into the fullness of our humanity, allowing divinity to flower within us in increasing degrees of love, compassion, joy, sorrow, and wisdom. The monastic is the one who devotes his or her life to this ideal, and allows all life decisions to flow out…
moreHeavenly father
give us grace to be generous in the measure we use for those around us today1 “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged.
2 For with whatever judgement you judge, you will be judged;
and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.
Daily Bible Verses
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