Meditation Reader, Today's prayer is the last one in this season before we take a week's break. It is also the longest and one of the most requested. It may take a few days to complete, but I am presenting it in full today. This prayer is a model of how to pray, what to pray, and also an encouragement for prayer. (As it is instantly answered by Gabriel.) As you copy this out, you'll feel Daniel's honest confession and his growing urgency. Daniel prays that God would be glorified through the...
7 days ago • 4 min read
Meditation Reader, Today we are copying one of the most dramatic and powerful sequences of prayers in the Bible. It takes place during the showdown between the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal and then Ahab. Elijah prays fervently twice in this passage, once for fire and then for rain. Once publicly out loud, once privately in silence. Both are pleas for God to reveal his power and glory to the people of Israel, who have turned away from him. Elijah's conviction, specificity, and...
8 days ago • 2 min read
Meditation Reader, Today's prayer is one that is likely very familiar. Solomon, in a dream, prays for wisdom. Copying this out slowly, one thing struck me more forcefully than I had noted before. Solomon was already somewhat wise when he issued this prayer. Solomon is motivated by two things— awe and fear. His awe in the face of God's kindness to David in providing a legacy as promised. The second is the fear that he, Solomon, personally isn't, and cannot be, up to the task. Solomon's "fear...
9 days ago • 3 min read
Meditation Reader, Jonah's story is so familiar to Christians and non-Christians alike that we often miss the finer details. Most of us can't remember hearing this story for the first time as we were so young. It begins its life in us as a remarkable tale about a man miraculously swallowed by a fish, but as we mature in our faith, we understand the overriding themes of Jonah's disobedience, how you cannot hide from God, repentance for sin and God's Justice and Grace. When you copy this...
10 days ago • 2 min read
Meditation Reader, For this last week of the current series we are back in the Old Testament, copying out a series of evocative prayers. Even though this passage is headlined "Jeremiah's complaint," it is loaded with faith. He begins by stating a clear attribute of God "You are always righteous." That is his starting point. The foundation of the whole prayer is God's righteousness. Jeremiah is pleading for insight out of his own perplexity rather than pointing to some fallibility within God,...
11 days ago • 2 min read
Meditation Reader, Today's passage differs from previous passages in this season. Rather than containing a prayer, it provides instruction for how to pray. Specifically, I've included it as the instruction is bound together with a clear command for believers to pray together through their trials and blessings. And not just to pray together but also to pray for each other in their presence. Prayer is the proper response to trials, but is not self-seeking. An active, transparent and collective...
14 days ago • 2 min read
Rembrandt's Simeon & Anna in the Temple Meditation Reader, As I've mentioned before, I grew up in a liturgical tradition, specifically in the Church of England. My hometown is Canterbury, which, for historical reasons dating back 1500 years, is the center of the Church, and I attended a School within the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral. Church attendance for us boys was mandatory on Sunday mornings, and most Wednesday evenings Evensong or Compline (nighttime services) would be celebrated. At...
15 days ago • 3 min read
Meditation Reader, I'll let you into my research process for BCC. When looking for passages to feature, I'll start off creating a list from memory and then ask friends and subscribers to identify passages that fit our theme. Then I do a lot of online research creating a shortlist of 40 or so passages that I then revise to create a final program from a variety of sources, reflecting a multitude of styles. The Old Testament books are a rich resource for lengthy and moving prayers. The New...
16 days ago • 3 min read
Meditation Reader, This morning, we are copying out the third part of what is known as Jesus' High Priestly Prayer found in John 17. It is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus in any of the Gospels. Jesus prays this after He finishes His final instructions to the disciples and before He is betrayed, arrested, and crucified. First, He prays a personal prayer for His glorification, then He prays for His disciples, and He closes the prayer by praying for all believers. We copied out the first...
17 days ago • 2 min read