Praying the Scriptures
Tuesday Morning Prayer
September 2, 2025
As servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger… We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (2_Corinthians 6:4–5, 8b–10)
Lord of mercy and strength,
As this September morning dawns fresh and cool, I feel the shifting of the seasons in my soul. The summer has passed with its labors and heat, and now the air carries a hint of change—a reminder that life, too, is marked by both endurance and renewal.
I come before You mindful of the words of Paul, who endured afflictions, hardships, calamities, sleepless nights, and hunger, yet bore them with the steadfast grace that comes only from You. My own burdens may be smaller or greater, but they weigh on me all the same. At times, I feel misunderstood, dismissed as if my witness were nothing. At times, I feel sorrow pressing close, or poverty of spirit dimming my joy. And yet, Lord, in You I discover the great paradox: that in seeming weakness I am strong, in sorrow I rejoice, and in having nothing I find that I possess everything in Christ.
This morning sun, rising over the horizon, speaks to me of Your constancy. The crisp air reminds me that endurance is not empty struggle but a path where Your Spirit breathes renewal. As the world turns toward autumn, so I turn toward Your promises, knowing that even in seasons of loss, You clothe my days with hidden abundance.
Grant me, O Lord, the strength to endure with faith, and the joy to shine as a witness of Your unshakable love. Let my life today proclaim that though pressed, I am not crushed; though sorrowful, I rejoice; though poor, I am rich in You.
Amen.
May the God who turns sorrow into rejoicing and weakness into strength guide your steps this day with steadfast grace and abiding peace.
The Bible passages come from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible, copyrighted © 1989, 1993 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America and are used by permission. All rights reserved. Praying the Scriptures is penned daily by Kenny Sallee, ThM.
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