31 Days of Prayer: DAY 11

FOCUS VERSE: “Who can live in your tent, LORD? Who can dwell on your holy mountain?” —Psalm15:1 (CEB)

PRAYER OF PRESENCE:
Holy and ever-present God,
In this moment, we pause to rest in You.
Quiet our minds, calm our hearts, and awaken our spirits.
Draw us near, that we may feel Your presence surrounding us,
Guiding us, loving us, and holding us.
Here we are, Lord—fully present to You,
As You are always present to us. Amen.

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 15

HYMN FOR REFLECTION:
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8PkINdctoM

Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee
Charles Wesley, 1707–1788

1. Father, I stretch my hands to thee,
   no other help I know;
   if thou withdraw thyself from me,
   Ah! whither shall I go?
2. What did thine only Son endure,
   before I drew my breath!
   What pain, what labor to secure
   my soul from endless death!
3. Surely thou canst not let me die,
   O speak and I shall live;
   and here I will unwearied lie,
   till thou thy Spirit give.
4. Author of faith! to thee I lift
   my weary, longing eyes;
   O let me now receive that gift!
   my soul without it dies.

REFLECTION:

Martin Luther lived during a time of deep theological turbulence. To him, the state of the church was deplorable, the world around him riddled with sin, and his own life weighed down by guilt and fear. Tormented by a deep sense of unworthiness before God, Luther believed that God was a harsh and exacting judge, taking count of his every fault and failure. As a young man, he tirelessly sought to prove his worth through confession, sometimes spending six hours detailing his every sin to his confessor. Yet, no matter how thoroughly he examined his soul or how fervently he confessed, peace eluded him. Instead, he found himself trapped in an unrelenting cycle of fear and doubt, consistently questioning whether he had done enough to satisfy God.

Luther’s struggle, though it may seem unusual to some, does not exist in a vacuum or beyond the context of human life. The words of the Psalmist paint a vivid picture of the blameless life required to stand in God’s presence—a standard that, for Luther, felt impossibly out of reach. How could he, burdened by his propensity to sin, ever hope to approach a God so perfectly holy? Luther wrestled with the idea that perfection seemed not just difficult but utterly unattainable. Yet, through his study of Scripture, a profound truth began to emerge: perfection is not a goal that human effort can ever achieve. Instead, it is a journey, one made possible only through the sustaining power of God’s grace.

Luther came to understand that it is not our own righteousness or ability to follow God’s law that enables us to stand before Him, but Christ’s righteousness given to us through faith. This grace does not remove the call to live blamelessly but transforms it into a response of gratitude rather than an impossible obligation. Perfection, in this light, is not an accomplishment we complete but a state of being that God, through His Spirit, continually works within us. It is only through the unmerited favor of God that we can stand before the One who is holy, confident not in ourselves but in the work of Christ on our behalf. This realization freed Luther from the crushing weight of his own inadequacy and opened his heart to the joy of knowing that God’s grace was sufficient.

Luther’s story reminds us of the transformative power of grace. Like the Psalmist, we might wonder what it takes to dwell in God’s presence. Like Luther, we might wrestle with our inadequacies and fears. Yet the cross points us to the truth: It is not our efforts but Christ’s wounds that bring us into communion with God. As the Charles Wesley hymn declares:

“Father, I stretch my hands to Thee,
No other help I know;
If Thou withdraw Thyself from me,
Ah, whither shall I go?”

Luther’s journey to understanding grace reflects our own struggles to accept that God’s love is not something we earn but something freely given. It calls us to stop striving for perfection and to rest in the assurance that through Christ, we are already made whole. This is the heart of the Gospel: that God’s love and grace are sufficient, and through them, we are set free.

CLOSING PRAYER:

Let your goodness, Lord, appear to us, that we, 
made in your image, conform ourselves to it. 
In our own strength 
we cannot imitate your majesty, power, and wonder, 
nor is it fitting for us to try. 
But your mercy reaches from the heavens 
through the clouds to the earth below. 
You have come to us as a small child, 
but you have brought us the greatest of all gifts, 
the gift of eternal love. 
Caress us with your tiny hands, 
embrace us with your tiny arms 
and pierce our hearts with your soft, sweet cries. 

—Bernard of Clairvaux

WEEKLY PRACTICE: Jan 5 - 11 (Sun - Sat)

Confession: Releasing and Seeking Forgiveness in Prayer

Let this week be an opportunity to find hope in letting go. When we confess our sins, it is more than a statement. In fact, while a part of our liturgy every Sunday when we receive communion in worship, when we seek forgiveness we humble ourselves and open ourselves to be able to do more than we thought possible. The preferred practices and patterns of life have room to take root within us when we find freedom from our past failures and shortcomings. It’s like cleaning a home of junk food, when all that’s left are things which are good and pleasing to our bodies then there is plenty of room in the mind to take on the healthier habits and practices already available to us. 

May the forgiving power of grace abound and sin no longer make a home in your heart and mind as you confess in your prayers before God and one another among people of faith. Amen.