February 11, 2025 

Today's Reading: 1 Corinthians 14:12b-20

Daily Lectionary: Job 7:1-21; John 4:7-26

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. (1 Corinthians 14:14–15)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Are you happy with the way you pray, or do you think you could learn to pray better? St. Paul talks about speaking in tongues here, but at the heart of it is how one’s fellow believers understand what you are praying or singing. 

Some people are really good at ex corde prayers— prayers that seem to flow effortlessly from their hearts to their lips and cover every need. Others may have trouble remembering the words to “Come, Lord Jesus.”

In the end, what matters is that one prays from a place of faith, that one prays a prayer for himself or others in a way that everyone can understand. It can be a printed collect from the hymnal, it can be a wonderful expression from the heart, or it can be a barely-remembered prayer from childhood.

What matters is that you pray, not how eloquently you pray. Sometimes, “Lord, have mercy!” is all you can manage, and that is fine. St. Paul also reminds the Romans that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groans beyond words and that even the Godhead remembers you in prayer.

It is hard to always know what to pray for, and that’s OK. Nowhere does God demand specific subjects or wording for your prayers. This very booklet has prayers to help jumpstart your own. Not confident in your praying ability? Pray to God by yourself with those printed prayers. Work those “prayer muscles” until it gets easier and easier.

God never turned away a prayer because you got the words wrong; he knows what you need even before you ask. He wants you to ask; he wants you to pray! And you are able to pray because God himself has given you the ability by making you his child in Jesus. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for you, the Gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation that is yours in Christ; these Gifts give you the assurance that God will hear your prayers and that you can speak boldly to our Lord and God and be heard. 

Someone will always pray better than you. It’s a Gift some people have. Rejoice in that you hear their requests to God so clearly. That’s what St. Paul is most concerned about, that the gathered people of God are built up together, and their love for one another grows stronger.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

As holy conversation, In silence or by word, In ev’ry situation Through Jesus, we are heard. So let us pray securely, expressing hopes and fears With confidence that surely Our Father ever hears. (LSB 772:3)

-Rev. Duane Bamsch, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.