Praying Matthew
Every day (Mon-Fri) I send out a short prayer via WhatsApp to the members and attenders of Banstead Community Church based on a verse from The Big Read book for that month.
Here are 20 short prayers based on verses from the book of Matthew
Matthew 1:1
“An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” (Matthew 1:1)
Our faithful God, we praise you that the promises you make to your people, you really do keep. You promised King David, that one of his sons would rule from his throne forever. You promised Abraham that one of his offspring would bring blessing to all the nations on earth by undoing the curse that sin has brought upon creation. Thank you that with the announcement that Jesus is the Son of David and the Son of Abraham these promises have been kept. We thank you for saving us from our sins by living the life we could not live, dying the death we deserve to die, and conquering the twin enemies of sin and death we could not conquer. Help us, by your Spirit, to trust Him to forgive us and to follow Him by obeying everything He has commanded. We praise you, Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Amen.
Matthew 4:23
“Now Jesus began to go all over Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” (Matthew 4:23)
Lord Jesus, we praise you that you are the light of the world, who came to drive away darkness. Where there is confusion about what to believe and how to live, you brought the light of revelation. Where sin abounds in immoral and rebellious lives, you brought light by proclaiming the good news of forgiveness and peace with God. Where there is suffering and sadness and misery, you came to make sure that one day tears will be wiped away from your people’s eyes as you completely heal them. Thank you that through faith in you, we can experience what it is like to be in your kingdom of light in part now, and one day fully when you return. Keep us turning from darkness of sin and following you who has brought us light. Amen.
Matthew 5:20
“For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20)
Our God, there is nothing we can do to make ourselves acceptable in your sight. If the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees was not sufficient to gain entry into the kingdom of heaven, our righteousness and obedience will not be sufficient either. We need the righteousness of your Son Jesus Christ who fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. Thank you that His perfect righteousness was credited to us when we put our faith in Him. And having been given His righteousness, we praise you that we can now show we have a righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees because you have written your law on our hearts and given us your Spirit which moves us to keep it. Help us to give evidence of this today by keeping in step with your Spirit’s work in our lives. Amen.
Matthew 6:25
“Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25)
Loving Father, please calm our anxious hearts. We confess that we are prone to have all kinds of worries, and often it is right to. Yet we pray that our trust in you would be such, that we don’t let these concerns we have take over our lives and shape our behaviour, because you are able to provide what we need for every situation and circumstance we face. We thank you that you are a faithful God who takes care of His children, and so we can rely on you to take care of us. Help us to do that today by bringing our worries to you. Amen.
Matthew 7:21
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.“ (Matthew 7:21)
Our God, we take seriously the warning your Word gives which tells us that it is possible to think we are a Christian, to say we are a Christian, to outwardly appear to be a Christian, and turn out not to be a Christian and someone to whom Jesus says “I never knew you”. How we need to make sure we have truly entered through the narrow gate by turning from our sins and trusting in Christ alone because only He can get us into the kingdom of heaven through His blood and righteousness. Father, thank you that if we are looking to Him and relying on Him as our only hope on the Day of Judgment, we can take heart, for He will make sure we will enter in. Help us to trust that He really can do this for us. We praise you for the wonderful Saviour that He is and the love you’ve shown to us by sending Him into the world to save sinners. Amen.
Matthew 8:4
“Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” (Matthew 8:4)
Lord, how we need to be made clean. Not just to have a reformation of our outward behaviour, but to have a new clean heart so that we can be acceptable in your sight. Thank you Lord Jesus, that when we come to you in our hopelessness and helplessness and say to you, “Lord, if you are willing you can make me clean,” you can! We praise you that you are willing and able to make sinners clean because when you died on the cross, you took upon yourself all the uncleanness of your people. We come to you again now, asking for forgiveness for all the ways we have fallen short of your glory and for all the times we have transgressed your commands. As we trust in your forgiveness, by your Spirit, let us hear your voice say to us again, “Be clean!” Amen.
Matthew 10:7
“As you go, proclaim, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’” (Matthew 10:7)
Sovereign God, we know that we each have a responsibility to go to the lost with the good news of the gospel. We feel so ordinary, so weak, so flawed, and yet those are the people you delight to use in this task of making disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that you can use us to proclaim that Jesus is the Saviour of the world and there is forgiveness of sins and eternal life for everyone who trusts in Him. Give us opportunities each day to speak to someone about your love for the world and the salvation found only in Christ. As we seek to go to all nations as you have commanded us, we pray that we wouldn’t neglect those who are from a Jewish background. May we pray for them and for those ministries seeking to reach them, as well as speaking about the Messiah to any Jews who we are in contact with. So help us to go and to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is open to all who come to Jesus. Amen.
Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
Thank you Lord Jesus that when we come to you tired or anxious, disappointed or feeling guilty, or weighed down by the burdens of life, and we hand over to you all our sins, all our cares, all our failures, all our worries, all our sadness, and trust you to take care of them, you are able to. Thank you that you promise that when we do, you will give us rest. The rest of enjoying life under your rule, the rest of enjoying your blessings, and the rest that comes from knowing that we have the guaranteed hope of perfect eternal rest in the future. We pray that we would know this rest in our hearts now. For those who have not yet come to you, we pray that you would be merciful to them by convicting them of their need to come to you and receive this promised rest. Amen.
Matthew 13:52
“Therefore,” he said to them, “every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom treasures new and old.” (Matthew 13:52)
Father, you don’t want us to keep to ourselves, what we have learned from the Lord Jesus as we have listened to His words. You want us to bring out of our storeroom the treasure we have discovered about Him and His kingdom by sharing it with other people. We pray that as we do, we will encounter good hearts which will believe the word, persevere under difficult circumstances, not be pulled away by the world, and be true followers of Jesus so that the kingdom of heaven grows. We pray that people as they hear of Jesus will see Him as the greatest treasure of all, and joyfully and willingly give up everything to follow Him. Bless our efforts when we speak of what we know about our Saviour. Amen.
Matthew 14:31
“Immediately Jesus reached out his hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)
We praise you our gracious and loving, merciful and compassionate King and Saviour that even when we are in the middle of stormy circumstances, facing difficult situations, we can have the peace that comes from knowing that Christ is with us and for us, and is working all things for our good. Yet we confess there are times when our faith in Him falters. When it feels like we are sinking. Thank you that our hope is not that we will keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, but that He will keep His eyes fixed on us and will reach out His hand to stop us from sinking forever. Give us the faith we need to look to Jesus and trust Him to come to our help when life’s strong winds cause doubts to creep in and fears to rise. May we be certain of His presence with us and receive comfort from this. Amen.
Matthew 15:18-19
“But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander.” (Matthew 15:18-19)
We praise you, our God, that our greatest need has been met by your Son. Our hearts by nature are deceitful above all things and beyond cure. It is because they are unclean that we sin in thought, in word, and in deed. We desperately need forgiveness for all our sins and a new heart to enable us to live holy and godly lives that please you. Thank you that forgiving us and giving us new hearts is what Jesus came to do. Yet we confess that we still sin in countless ways because our old sinful nature remains. How we wish it was gone. So, we pray, Lord, forgive us. Lord, fill us with your Spirit. Lord, create in us a new heart and renew a right spirit within us. Lord, take away the love of sinning. Help us to be holy as you are holy. Amen.
Matthew 16:18
“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.“ (Matthew 16:18)
Lord Jesus, you have promised to build your church. To grow it in number as you increase it in size by seeking and saving lost people. To grow it in maturity as your Spirit conforms those you have saved into your likeness. We praise you that this is happening right now as you keep this wonderful promise you have made. You have also promised to guard your church, so that the gates of Hades will not overpower it. Help us to know that not even the greatest of enemies, death itself, can damage or destroy your church. We praise you that death is not able to keep those you have saved captive, nor prevent them from rising to eternal life. Oh that we would be certain that there is nowhere more safe and secure than to be in your church which you are building. Amen.
Matthew 17:5
“While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)
Glorious Son of God, Lord Jesus Christ, we worship you and adore you. You alone have pleased the Father in every way, and He has commanded us to listen you and believe what you say. Help us to read, study, memorise, and meditate on your Word, so that by it we are made wise for salvation and thoroughly equipped for every good work. Calm our fears as we hear you say to us “Do not be afraid,” and give us fresh hope as you remind us that you will come again. Christ Jesus, there is no-one else and nothing else worth following compared to you. You alone are worthy of our love and worthy of losing our lives to find you. So, as we seek to live by your Word today, give us the strength we need to please you in every way. Amen.
Matthew 19:14
“Jesus said, “Leave the little children alone, and don’t try to keep them from coming to me, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14)
You, O Lord, are an awesome God, an almighty God, and an all-sufficient God who knows all things. You are holy, holy, holy. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil. And before you, we are weak and frail, sinful and guilty. We don’t deserve to be part of your kingdom which is marked by righteousness, beauty, justice, love, and purity. Our only hope is to become like little children, not in terms of age or in childlike innocence, but in recognising our need for help, that we cry out, “Lord, save me, have mercy on me.” Thank you for your grace that humbled us so we came like little children to Jesus. Thank you that He has welcomed us in His kingdom. Help us not to do anything that would hinder others from coming to Jesus, and instead bring both adults and children to Him that they might become like children and be saved through faith in Him. Amen.
Matthew 21:22
“And if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22)
Our God, we thank you that when we pray according to your Word, asking you to be faithful to what you have promised, we know that you will. But Lord, there are many concerns we have, where we don’t know exactly what you will is concerning them. So, as we bring them before you, as we cry out to you concerning them, help us to trust that you hear us and have the power to do what we ask if it is part of your plan and purposes. As we wait for answers to our prayers, give us patience and the faith we need to trust that you know what we do not know, you see what we do not see, and you are working all things together as a loving Father for the good of your children. Amen.
Matthew 22:37
“He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)
Lord, we want to love you with all our hearts, and all our souls, and all our minds, and all our strength. So help us by your Holy Spirit to love you like this. Help us to love you with our hearts; to love you exclusively, affectionately, and to turn from any other god we might be tempted to put before you. Help us to love you with our souls; to find satisfaction in you more than any other thing. Help us to love you with our minds; to have our minds renewed and shaped by your Word. And help us to love you with our strength; to walk in obedience to all your have commanded trusting that your will is best. We thank you that we can love you this way because you first loved us by sending your Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. May we grow in our love for you we pray. Amen.
Matthew 24:7
“For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.“ (Matthew 24:7)
Our God, as we look at the world around us, it is clear that we are living in the last days. The birth pains of wars and famines and natural disasters have begun, and this reminds us that one day your Son will come to put all things right and renew creation. We thank you for this great hope we have. We confess that what we see happening in other nations and our own nation is at times overwhelming and unsettling and it makes us fearful. Lord, help us to trust that you are working all things according to the counsel of your will and your plans and purposes are taking place, so we do not need to panic. Increase our longing for Jesus to return and may we remain faithful to Him as we patiently wait. Amen.
Matthew 26:10
“Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for me.” (Matthew 26:10)
Lord Jesus, the love you have shown us by dying on the cross in our place is so amazing, so divine, and it really does demand our souls, our lives, our alls. And because your death is so precious to us, there is nothing that is too big a gift to say “thank you” to you with. So, please Lord, work in us by your Spirit, that we would be willing to give up our time, our physical and emotional energy, our money and possessions for your sake, and as a sign of our gratitude to you for all that you have done for us. Thank you that you see everything your people do, even the small things, as beautiful and never a waste. Amen.
Matthew 27:54
“When the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54)
God, we pray for people who don’t know Christ to come to Him and confess that truly He is the Son of God. For our family members, our friends, our neighbours, our work colleagues, those we regularly pass by who are still dead in their transgressions and sins and blinded by Satan from seeing who Jesus is, would you by your Spirit make them alive. Shine a light into their hearts that opens their eyes to see Him for who He is and to see what He did for sinners when He died on the cross, and by your grace, bring them to faith in Him. We pray this for those far from us, including those unreached with the gospel, who have never heard of Jesus, may they hear and may they believe and be saved. Amen.
Matthew 28:6
“He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” (Matthew 28:6)
We praise you, our God, that because your Son Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day just as He said He would, it means we can trust that everything He said is true. We can trust that every command He gives is for our good. We can be confident that every promise He made will be kept. We can believe every single Word of Scripture He has breathed out by His Spirit. Lord, we confess there are times when we waver in our belief that your Word is trustworthy and true. Forgive us we pray, and by your Spirit, strengthen our convictions by removing any doubts we may have about what you have spoken. Amen.