Daily Bible Verses

Heavenly father
give us grace to be obedient to what we know you are calling us to do today 

²⁴ “Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine and does them,
I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock. 
²⁵ The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house;
and it didn’t fall, for it was founded on the rock. 
²⁶ Everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t do them
will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 
^27…

Heavenly father
give us grace to dare to put our hopes into words and listen to your response

¹ When he came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. 
² Behold, a leper came to him and worshipped him, saying, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.”

³ Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be made clean.” 
Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 
⁴ Jesus said to him, “See that…

Heavenly father
give us grace to voice our deepest needs and our highest hopes. 

⁵ When he came into Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking him for help, 
⁶ saying, “Lord, my servant lies in the house paralyzed, grievously tormented.”
⁷ Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
⁸ The centurion answered, “Lord, I’m not worthy for you to come under my roof.
Just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 
⁹ For I am…

Heavenly father
give us grace to live today as those who belong to the household of faith, lest we fall into faith-less habits and find ourselves in a dark place

¹⁰ When Jesus heard it, he marvelled and said to those who followed, 
“Most certainly I tell you, I haven’t found so great a faith, not even in Israel. 
¹¹ I tell you that many will come from the east and the west, and will sit down
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven, 
¹² but the children of the Kingdom will be thrown…

Heavenly father
give us grace to allow ourselves to be touched by you, and then to touch others with the same grace as we serve them

¹⁴ When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 
¹⁵ He touched her hand, and the fever left her. So she got up and served him. 

Heavenly father
give us grace to be unafraid when confronted with all forms of mental illness, and respond to the person graciously. 

¹⁶ When evening came, they brought to him many possessed with demons.
He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 
¹⁷ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
“He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”

Heavenly father
give us grace to live today as those whose who live in the kingdom of heaven 

¹⁸ Now when Jesus saw great multitudes around him, he gave the order to depart to the other side.
¹⁹ A scribe came and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
²⁰ Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Jesus had to flee persecution as a child when his parents escaped to Egypt. Throughout his life and in his death Jesus faced horrors you and I can’t imagine. And he knew what it was to be without a home. In Matthew 8:20 Jesus says, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’

Just as Jesus walked alongside people in crisis with compassion and mercy, We remember the plight of the 123 million refugees and displaced people in the world in this Week of Prayer for Refugees and Displaced People
 

Heavenly father
give us grace to follow your Son, Jesus today, particularly in the face of tragedy.  

²¹ Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.”
²² But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

Heavenly father
give us grace to be full of faith (rather than full of fear) in whatever storms we face today. 

²³ When he got into a boat, his disciples followed him. 
²⁴ Behold, a violent storm came up on the sea, so much that the boat was covered with the waves;
but he was asleep. 
²⁵ The disciples came to him and woke him up,
saying, “Save us, Lord! We are dying!”
²⁶ He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” …

Heavenly father give us grace to repent of our “pig-farmer” self interest and open our lives to you so that we may be blessing to others, particularly those who are damaged.  

²⁸ When he came to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, 
two people possessed by demons met him there, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that nobody could pass that way. 
²⁹ Behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God?
Have you come here to torment us before…

Heavenly father
give us grace to be a blessing to others today, particularly those who need our help.  

¹ He entered into a boat and crossed over, and came into his own city. 
² Behold, they brought to him a man who was paralysed, lying on a bed.
Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, cheer up! Your sins are forgiven you.”
 

Heavenly father
give us grace to be forgiving today

² Behold, they brought to him a man who was paralysed, lying on a bed.
Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, cheer up! Your sins are forgiven you.”
³ Behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man blasphemes.”
⁴ Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 
⁵ For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk?’ 
…

Heavenly father
give us grace to hear your voice today, particularly when we are going about our normal business

⁹ As Jesus passed by from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection office.
He said to him, “Follow me.” He got up and followed him. 

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.  10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw…

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’  Matthew 9:10–11

Jesus’ most consistent social action was eating in new ways and with new people, encountering those who were oppressed or excluded from the system.…

Heavenly father
give us grace to be channels of your grace today particularly to those who have lost their way

¹⁰ As he sat in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. 
¹¹ When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
¹² When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. 
¹³ But…

Heavenly father
give us grace to mourn in all situations where the absence of your grace and love is most accute

¹⁴ Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?”
¹⁵ Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 
 

Heavenly father
give us grace to make sure that our lives always have room for you. 

¹⁶ No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment;
for the patch would tear away from the garment, and a worse hole is made. 
¹⁷ Neither do people put new wine into old wine skins,
or else the skins would burst, and the wine be spilled, and the skins ruined.
No, they put new wine into fresh wine skins, and both are preserved.”

Heavenly father
give us grace today to face up to both our deepest needs and also your love and power

¹⁸ While he told these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshipped him, saying,
“My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”
¹⁹ Jesus got up and followed him, as did his disciples.