Your Nightly Prayer

The Comfort of Jesus' Coming - Your Nightly Prayer

Your Nightly Prayer

The Comfort of Jesus Coming
Your Nightly Prayer for Jan. 14, 2025
by Meg Bucher

TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE

“From then on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.’” – Matthew 4:17 NLT

SOMETHING TO PONDER

“No, you can’t skip school or Young Life,” I responded to my daughter. There are days she actually needs a break, as a Type 1 Diabetic, so I am sympathetic and compassionate for her occasional need to cancel the day and rest. But her continuous habit of staying up late, sometimes doing homework, sometimes coloring, binging a series, watching a movie, or scrolling (infuriating to most parents on the front lines of ‘how the heck are we supposed to handle this one!?). Regardless of why, she has the same 24 hours in a day the rest of us do, and part of life is learning how to manage it and suffering the consequence of being tired alongside the rest of us when she doesn’t. It’s not about choosing right all of the time, but admitting when we’ve not chosen well and accepting the consequences. Which we all do to the same tune as my teenager, let’s be honest.

Today’s verse is challenging and encouraging. ‘Repent’ isn’t the most comforting word. It’s a word that carries a lot of weight and a lot of work, especially for Christ’s followers who understand the deep turn and change it entails. We don’t like to do hard things. My teenager isn’t alone in her bad habits. Raising kids only makes us realize how pronounced our own bad habits are, believe me. Even when we know we’d rather feel rested, we’re scrolling, watching one more episode, eating a late-night bowl of ice cream. (Insert your own habit here.) The joy of repentance isn’t the challenge of downloading a new discipline into our lives. That’s hard. Rewarding but hard. The joy is in …no, not the journey. Come on; life is full of reasons to rejoice and be glad, but the reason we care about repentance at all is in the second half of tonight’s verse: “For the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

Near. In our human understanding, we expect to be able to track Jesus’ second coming right to our doorstep, even though we know that’s not how it works. But He is coming, and all the work will be worth it. The work, which is hard, but that we were placed here to do. Not just the serving and good deeds and tithing and praying and reading the Bible …the repentant stuff, too. It’s important, it’s intentional, and it’s not a surprise to God. He’s purposeful in all He does. So, if you have something you’re struggling with, let go of it. Step aside. Give it to Him and begin to walk the road of repentance away from it. Commit to the process, twists, turns, detours, and all. Repentance is simply to turn from sin and towards God …towards our futures …towards eternity. That’s what we are walking towards, following Christ.

YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER

Father,
Help us to embrace the process and purpose of repentance. None of us like to be called out on our bad habits, addictions, and sins, God. But it’s not for a lack of grace You allow it; it’s in preparation for our walk home, to heaven, for eternity! Encourage our hearts to embrace hard changes in this way, and uplift our thought life to be held accountable to this truth. Help us to relax and embrace Joy as we journey home.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON

1. Take a moment to reflect on something God has been nagging you to turn from. What is it? Think about it for a moment. Why would God want you to turn from it? If it’s not clear, ask Him!

2. Relax your mind by reminding yourself of God’s forgiveness through our faith in Christ Jesus. Talk to Him about anything you are feeling bad about, and ask Him to show you what to do and remind you who and Whose you are.

3. Imagine heaven. What does it look like in your mind? For me, it’s an old prayer card of a little girl hugging Jesus as she arrives in heaven. I long for that hug. Allow yourself to picture it and feel the warmth, peace, and joy of coming home.

Meg Bucher Meg writes about everyday life within the love of Christ at megbucher.com. She is the author of “Friends with Everyone, Friendship within the Love of Christ,” “Surface, Unlocking the Gift of Sensitivity,” “Glory Up, The Everyday Pursuit of Praise,” “Home, Finding Our Identity in Christ,” and "Sent, Faith in Motion." Meg earned a Marketing/PR degree from Ashland University but stepped out of the business world to stay home and raise her two daughters …which led her to pursue her writing passion. A contributing writer for Salem Web Network since 2016, Meg is now thrilled to be a part of the editorial team at Salem Web Network. Meg loves being involved in her community and local church, leads Bible study, and serves as a youth leader for teen girls.