Short Prayers

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

June 10, 2025

Short Prayers

“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!

Matthew 6:7-8 

Verses 7 & 8, quoted above, are Jesus’ introduction to teaching us The Lord’s Prayer. Jesus’ prayer is just sixty-two words. It is short and succinct. It is the exact opposite of babbling prayers that repeat words again and again.

Max Lucado, in his book, When God Whispers Your Name, has a list of short statements that I believe can graciously inform our prayers.

 

Pray all the time. If necessary, use words.

God forgets the past. Imitate him.

Greed I’ve often regretted. Generosity – never.

Don’t ask God to do what you want. Ask God to do what is right.

No one is useless to God. No one.

Nails didn’t hold God to a cross. Love did.

You will never forgive anyone more than God has already forgiven you.

My Takeaway: We often close our worship service by praying, Gloria in Excelsis (Glory to God in the Highest). This prayer, only twice as long as the Lord’s Prayer, extolls the virtues, the grace and mercy, of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. I’ve found it helpful to graciously inform my prayer life.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2025 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Prevenient Grace

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

June 9, 2025

Prevenient Grace

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.

    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.

Yet the Lord laid on him

    the sins of us all.

Isaiah 53:6 

Isaiah 53 is a beautiful prophesy for Christ Jesus, God’s Messiah, and our savior!

In verse 6, quoted above, Isaiah reveals our condition, and he also reveals God’s solution to our condition. God took the first step in our redemption by laying on Jesus the sins of us all. Perhaps the most beloved of all the theological terms in my spiritual lexicon, is Prevenient Grace. John Wesley used this term to describe how God goes before us, God reaches out to us, even before we are aware of God, to warm our hearts to receive his revelation of saving grace.

Throughout the Bible, and especially in places like Philippians 1:6, and 2:13, it is clear God continues to take the first step in forming Christ within us, throughout our lives:

6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

 

13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

 

My Takeaway: As I seek the life in Christ as my way of life, I want to remain firmly in God’s grace for each day. I am helped, and comforted, in this quest by the truth that God is continually working in my life, He is continually taking the first step, to form me into a fully devoted follower of Jesus. 

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2025 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Carried Along in God’s Grace

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

June 6, 2025

Carried Along in God’s Grace

I will be your God throughout your lifetime—

    until your hair is white with age.

I made you, and I will care for you.

    I will carry you along and save you.

Isaiah 46:4 

Recently, I was asked my age. I slyly replied I was “Plus eight.” Recalling that Psalm 90:10 puts the human lifespan at “three score and ten” (KJV) I am plus eight years. Even so, I hold dearly to the promise of God that “I will be your God throughout your lifetime.”

Not long ago, Cheryl and I had the opportunity to spend time with a person who had received a terminal diagnosis. We listened carefully, and when asked questions we responded with the Godly wisdom we had gained in decades of pastoral ministry, which includes sitting with scores of saints preparing to pass into God’s glory. We both departed from this encounter with a deep awareness that God isn’t through with us. Our Gracious Master is indeed carrying us along.

My Takeaway: I am acutely aware of my long list of things I will not get to do again. Age has a way of narrowing our focus. I am also very much aware of what I can, though Jesus, still offer in service to my Lord. Taking comfort in He who made me, and He who will care for me, helps me stay in the grace for today. 

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2025 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Supremacy of Christ

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

June 5, 2025

The Supremacy of Christ

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

    He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,

for through him God created everything

    in the heavenly realms and on earth.

He made the things we can see

    and the things we can’t see—

such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.

    Everything was created through him and for him.

Colossians 1:15-16 

This beautiful passage on the Supremacy of Christ, Colossians 1:15-20, is some of the most beautiful and profound prose in the entire Bible. Please, take time today to sit before this passage and allow God to speak deeply into our soul.

I understand this passage as describing in part the theology of creation in Genesis 1-3, as God lovingly looking at a world that did not exist and speaking it into being through the power of His Word.

God’s creative order has been especially beautiful of late in my part of the world. Spring has sprung, the hummingbirds have returned and all throughout our yard the colors of the rainbow are replicated in our blooming flowers. Our part of the world, Western North Carolina, was devastated by the storm Helene last September. She left countless scars across our landscapes. This spring, God is repairing the damage and restoring the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains we so dearly love.

My Takeaway: Yes, everything was created through Jesus and for Jesus, but also created for us, as God made us stewards of His creation. I am blessed to see so many signs of Jesus’ creative genius all around me, and I am learning to allow His creation to ground me in his grace for today.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2025 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Lies vs. Truth

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

June 4, 2025

Lies vs. Truth

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.” And again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise; he knows they are worthless.”

1 Corinthians 3:19-20 

Bishop N.T. Wright has said the world is telling us a pack of lies about who we are, who God is and who our neighbors are. But God in Christ Jesus is telling us the truth. I have found it very helpful in my journey to make the life in Christ my way of life to often recall this phrase from Wright. On Monday of this week, I affirmed the importance of remembering who, and whose, we are. Imbedded in this affirmation is the assurance that the One to whom we belong has three bedrock qualities in relating to his children: He will not lie to us; He will not tempt us; and He will not motivate us through guilt.

The older I get, the more important it is for me to be completely grounded on the wisdom of God teaching me the truth of my God, of myself, and of my place in this world. Political leaders, both red and blue and all the colors in between, all have a take on the state of the world, and their expectation of how I should fit into their plans. Bah humbug to their expectations! Their expectations are foolishness to God!

My Takeaway: Only one truth matters to me: “You belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.” (1 Corinthians 3:23) Yes and amen. This truth grounds me in God’s grace for today.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2025 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Secret of Living

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

June 3, 2025

The Secret of Living

I have learned the secret of living . . .

Philippians 4:12b 

Immediately after starting the phrase above, the Apostle Paul added, “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) How did Paul learn the secret of living and that he could do all things through the strength of Christ?

In 2 Corinthians 11:23-27, Paul catalogs the many ways he has experienced the faithfulness of Christ giving him strength and thus learned the secret of living:

Put in prison often, whipped times without number, faced death again and again, five times given thirty-nine lashes, three times beaten with rods, stoned once, three times  shipwrecked,  once  spent a night and a day adrift at sea, traveled many long journeys, faced danger from rivers and from robbers, faced danger from the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles, faced danger in the cities, in deserts, and on the seas, faced danger from men who claim to be believers but were not, worked hard and long, endured many sleepless nights, been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food, and shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.

I have also experienced difficulties in life, but my experiences pale in comparison to Brother Paul.

My Takeaway: Our Lord Jesus proved his faithfulness to Saint Paul, and to countless others in the unseen cloud of witnesses that surround us and intercede for us. Our Lord Jesus has and will continue to prove his faithfulness to me as I seek to stay in his grace for today.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2025 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Your Workmanship Is Marvelous

Meditations on

Staying In the Grace for Today 

June 2, 2025

Your Workmanship Is Marvelous

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Psalm 139:14 (NRSV)

The NLT renders today’s verse as,

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! 

Both translations end verse 14 with a personal affirmation of owning God’s wonderful work in their creation, i.e.,

Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. (v.14b NLT) 

As I read these translations this morning, I sensed God asking me, “Well son, what do you say about my creation of you?” This question stung a bit, for as you know, one of my favorite prayers includes the line, “My life belongs to God. By creation and redemption, I belong to God.” In the ten thousand times I have said that phrase, I cannot recall ever adding,

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

I believe these words are not just expressing the heart of the psalmist. I believe it is the desire of God’s heart that all his children own that they are fearfully and wonderfully made. And to this affirmation we add, “Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.” (v 14b NRSV)

My Takeaway: Owning who and whose we are enables us to stay in the grace for today, and I believe it releases us to live out the spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit has bestowed on us.

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2025 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.