In this episode, I explore Isaiah 9:2 and Handel's interpretation of that text in Movement 11 of Messiah. Advent is all about light, which means it is also all about darkness. This dialectic is beautifully explored by Handel in the way he juxtaposes major and minor chords. God's light is how we pray in the darkness.

Episode 62 | The Light Has Come: Seeing the Light

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute's Vice President of Advancement and Theologian in Residence, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life. I would love to hear from you! Please reach out to me at [email protected] with your feedback.

Wherever you're listening—Spotify, Apple, or YouTube—subscribing, rating, and reviewing the show helps others discover what we're doing here. It's a small way to support the mission—and it means a lot to us.

• Handel, Messiah, Movement 11 by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Psalm 127 is a wonderful and beautiful prayer about work. All of us long for our work to somehow remain, or endure, and praying this psalm is a way of praying about God's glory, which can act like the mortar for whatever it is we are building through our work.

Episode 61 | Soli Deo Gloria: God's Glory and Our Work

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute's Vice President of Advancement and Theologian in Residence, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life. I would love to hear from you! Please reach out to me at [email protected] with your feedback.

Wherever you're listening—Spotify, Apple, or YouTube—subscribing, rating, and reviewing the show helps others discover what we're doing here. It's a small way to support the mission—and it means a lot to us.

• "Holiday Road" by Lindsay Buckingham
• "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen
• "How Brightly Shines the Morning Star" by Johann Sebastian Bach, Bach Choir of Pittsburgh
• William Clark's inscription at Pompey's Pillar

Psalm 19 brings together God's work as creator and God's work as lawgiver in a beautiful hymn of praise that not only conveys the unity of God's creative work but also invites our praise.

Episode 60 | Psalm 19: The Starry Host Above and the Moral Law Within

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute's Vice President of Advancement and Theologian in Residence, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life. I would love to hear from you! Please reach out to me at [email protected] with your feedback.

Wherever you're listening—Spotify, Apple, or YouTube—subscribing, rating, and reviewing the show helps others discover what we're doing here. It's a small way to support the mission—and it means a lot to us.

• The Hallelujah Chorus by Handel

Jesus' parable of the Lost Sheep is the first of three parables in Luke 15 about lostness. This parable is abound being found by God, and also about leaving the ninety-nine and going after the one, a journey that may be costly but that also leads to joy and freedom.

Episode 59 | The Ninety-Nine and the One: Following the Good Shepherd

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute's Vice President of Advancement and Theologian in Residence, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life. I would love to hear from you! Please reach out to me at [email protected] with your feedback.

Wherever you're listening—Spotify, Apple, or YouTube—subscribing, rating, and reviewing the show helps others discover what we're doing here. It's a small way to support the mission—and it means a lot to us.

• Broken Vessels by Hillsong Worship
• You Found me by the Fray
• Leaving 99 by Audio Adrenaline

Jesus' parable of the "Rich Fool" in Luke 12 is about money, and about a lot more than money. It's about what we put our store in–where we place our hope. In prayer, we can pay attention to the conversation we are having with ourselves about the barns that we are building. In prayer, this conversation can be scripted by God rather than by the culture in which we live.

Episode 58 | God Loves Work: Barns and Self-Talk

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute's Vice President of Advancement and Theologian in Residence, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life. I would love to hear from you! Please reach out to me at [email protected] with your feedback.

Wherever you're listening—Spotify, Apple, or YouTube—subscribing, rating, and reviewing the show helps others discover what we're doing here. It's a small way to support the mission—and it means a lot to us.

• Download the FREE God Loves Work Devotional Vol. 2 focusing on Work & The Parables of Jesus.

• Listen to "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley.

Jesus' story about the Samaritan who showed mercy to the wounded man on the road is not simply about being a good human. It's actually about who God is. It's about the eternal story of God, and how we can live this story out in our lives, through prayer.

Episode 57: God Loves Work: The Good Merciful Samaritan

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute's Vice President of Advancement and Theologian in Residence, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life. I would love to hear from you! Please reach out to me at [email protected] with your feedback.

Wherever you're listening—Spotify, Apple, or YouTube—subscribing, rating, and reviewing the show helps others discover what we're doing here. It's a small way to support the mission—and it means a lot to us.

• Download the FREE God Loves Work Devotional Vol. 2 focusing on Work & The Parables of Jesus.

• Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Theme Song

This is the first of four episodes guided by four parables of Jesus. It is meant to be used alongside a devotional called God Loves Work: Work and the Parables of Jesus. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is a simple and convicting story that will shape our lives drastically if we do not just read it, but pray it.

Episode 56: God Loves Work: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute's Vice President of Advancement and Theologian in Residence, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life. I would love to hear from you! Please reach out to me at [email protected] with your feedback.

Wherever you're listening—Spotify, Apple, or YouTube—subscribing, rating, and reviewing the show helps others discover what we're doing here. It's a small way to support the mission—and it means a lot to us.

RESOURCES

• Celebrate Labor Day with us by downloading the FREE God Loves Work Devotional Vol. 2 focusing on Work & The Parables of Jesus.

• Jesus Prayer Chant by Sound of Prayers (*note, this is a 10 hour recording in case you ever want to to try praying for a whole day!)

Psalm 139 is one of the most powerful prayers in the Bible. It's also daunting, because David prays about how God knows every thought and is present everywhere, always. In prayer, we can wrestle with this knowledge, and come to trust the God who knows us fully and loves us fully.

Episode 55: Fully Known and Fully Loved: Praying to the God Who Knows Everything

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute's Vice President of Advancement and Theologian in Residence, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life. I would love to hear from you! Please reach out to me at [email protected] with your feedback.

Do you like Teach Us To Pray? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review! Now available on iTunes and Spotify.

RESOURCES

• "Beautiful Anyway" by Judah and the Lion

Teach Us to Pray is on Summer Break! Meet our podcast producer, Naomi Hartman, and stay tuned for new episodes starting August 18.

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute's Vice President of Advancement and Theologian in Residence, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life. I would love to hear from you! Please reach out to me at [email protected] with your feedback.

Do you like Teach Us To Pray? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review! Now available on iTunes and Spotify.

• In the interim, listen to The Faith & Work Podcast also hosted by Denver Institute.

SUMMARY

Psalm 34:8 is a very surprising line from David: "Taste and see that the Lord is good." What does it mean to taste God's goodness? Praying this prayer can help us perceive God within our embodied lives, in community, and, in particular, in the course of risky action.

Episode 53: Taste and See That the Lord is Good: Bodies, Community, and Risk

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute's Vice President of Advancement and Theologian in Residence, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life. I would love to hear from you! Please reach out to me at [email protected] with your feedback.

Do you like Teach Us To Pray? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review! Now available on iTunes and Spotify.

RESOURCES

• "Psalm 34" by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir