Ep.450: John 1: Three Strikes.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

What’s the biggest problem Jesus faced?

John hints at it when he says, “[Jesus] made the world, then he came into the world, but the world did not recognize him” (John 1:10).

The problem is, How can people recognize the creator of the world when he shows up with sawdust on his elbows and splinters in his fingers?

The religious people were certain that if God showed up, he’d approve their religion. But Jesus sure didn’t. The disciples saw his miracles for three years, but never clued in to who he was. And we, his modern disciples, have a wide range of beliefs and practices.

John points out a second problem. Jesus was the light that “shone in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it” (John 1:5). Here’s another question: How would you recognize the light if it showed up in your darkness? Would you be one of those who loves darkness rather than light?

John also says, “[Jesus] came to his own people, but they didn’t receive him” (John 1:11).

Jesus showed up with three strikes against him:
– Humans didn’t recognize their maker
– The darkness couldn’t understand the light
– His own people rejected him outright

What a great start for the gospel of John! It’s like, three strikes and you’re out. But John doesn’t call Jesus “out”. Not yet. Stay tuned to see where John takes the story from here.

Let’s pray.

Our father, Jesus’ problems at his coming are still problems for us today. Yes, our religion worships God, but is Jesus the one who inspires our lives and churches? Or have we strayed far from our maker?

Jesus was the light, but the darkness didn’t understand him. For years, we have studied scripture, but our lives and world are still dark places. Help us receive his light, his spirit, his truth.

With John as our guide, we follow Jesus once more. We believe he is our maker. We believe he makes us children of God. We receive his light and his way of life. We are his brothers and sisters.

Thank you for the life of Jesus. Thank you for his life in us.

Amen.

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.449: John 1: In the Beginning.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

What do you think of John’s gospel? Some like it because it’s more philosophical than Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Others prefer Mark’s style: short and fast-moving stories with little commentary.

Back when I was middle aged, John’s was my favorite gospel. I fancied myself as philosophically and spiritually sophisticated; John appeared to ride the same wave. Alas! Life burst my bubble and I discovered I’m just a simple man who understands little philosophy and only basic spirituality.

But guess what? Now, at the beginning of 2026, John’s gospel calls me. Not sure what it’s saying. But maybe if I reflect and pray on John’s message, my hearing will sharpen and my understanding will deepen.

Let’s try listening together.

The start of John’s gospel says, “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1).

John must have read Genesis. It also starts, “In the beginning” (Gen 1:1). That points to God creating the heavens and earth. How did he do that? By speaking. That’s all: by speaking! To an empty universe, God’s first word was, “Let there be light ” (Gen 1:3).

John’s beginning is also about speech, about words. He says, “In the beginning was the Word . . . All things were made through him” (John 1:1,3). The Word. A new name for Jesus, not found in the other gospels. Only in John.

I see three parallels between Genesis and John.

First, where Genesis says, “In the beginning GOD”, John says, “In the beginning was the WORD.” God was there and the Word was there, in the beginning.

Second, in Genesis, God is the creator. In John, all things were made through Jesus, the Word. So who is the creator? God? Jesus? Maybe both?

A third parallel is light. God’s first words in Genesis are, “Let there be light.” John says, “In Jesus was life, and that life was the light of human kind” (John 1:4).

Something momentous is happening here. Something bigger than creation. God, who created the world with his word is speaking again, sending his Word (Jesus!) into the world. He is sending light to everyone.

Are we ready for this? Are we listening to the word? Are we looking for that light?

Let’s pray.

O father, we hear John say, “In the beginning was the Word.” Help us hear the word you spoke at the beginning. Help us hear the word you spoke in Jesus. Help us hear the words you speak to us.

We worship you who said, “Let there be light.” We worship you for sending Jesus, the light of the world.

In our winter-dark northern January, we need more of the sunlight you created. In our sin-darkened world, we need more of Christ’s light. May he shine in our hearts, may he shine in the world, driving away sin’s night.

Walk with us as we read John’s gospel. Stir our minds to contemplate the Jesus who John knew and loved. Stir our hearts to believe in the Christ John preached. Stir our lives to follow the savior John followed.

Amen.

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.448: Between Christmas and New Years.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Christmas is past. Used wrapping paper recycled, used ribbon trashed, presents stashed away. Turkey has been digested, its bones boiled for broth. And the fruitcake is waiting your opinion: Is it your favorite snack? Or an abomination to be thrown away?

After Christmas, it’s jigsaw puzzle time, with nuts for cracking and eggnog for sipping and leftover turkey for dinner.

At church there’s a feeling of letdown. We built up to Christmas with four Sundays of Advent, followed by midnight mass on Christmas Eve.

Now begins the long haul to spring. T.S. Eliot called April the cruellest month, but for me, January and February are worse. Daylight and warmth don’t bless Canadian winters. As I shovel snow and spread sand, winter’s cold invades my soul and darkness clouds my mind.

And to top it off, this Sunday we remember the Holy Innocents, the children King Herod killed when he unsuccessfully tried to assassinate Jesus. Winter and King Herod leave me cold!

So, how to survive winter, especially January and February?

I like Plan A. An invitation to stay warm, curled up with a blanket, watching TV, reading fantasy novels, hibernating until Spring. But Plan B is better for my soul. I can face dark days by getting out to meet friends over coffee, going to church on wind-chilly Sundays, and offering daily prayers to God.

Another helpful practice is patience. Patience with myself when I’m not cheerful or productive. Patience with others who experience depression and pain all winter. Patience with creation as it hunkers down and slouches toward spring.

Plan B includes winter walks, often short and chilly. But the views are better than YouTube: I see live winter sunsets of rose and orange and blues and purples. I see white snow on green evergreens. And I sympathize with deciduous trees shivering naked in the north wind.

Let’s pray.

Our father, don’t leave us standing naked in these winter winds. Dress us in the warmth of your love. Clothe us with Christ’s righteousness. Speak warm words to our hearts. Shine Christ’s light on our darkness.

Herod’s attack didn’t kill the child Jesus. His parents found refuge in Egypt. As winter dark and cold attack our souls, give us refuge in you. Teach us to drink the wine you offer, to eat the bread of life, to nourish our souls with friends and music and patient waiting for spring.

Amen

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.447: Advent 4: Jesus is Coming.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Jesus’ Second Coming, where some people disappear in the Rapture and others remain for the Great Tribulation, was a popular evangelical topic when I was a kid.

My 2025 Anglican church says little about Christ’s Second Coming. But in preparation for Christmas, four Advent Sundays focus on Jesus’ first coming. The prayer for one of the Sundays invites us to think about both events.

It says,

O Lord Jesus, who sent your messenger to prepare the way for your first coming,
Grant that your ministers may prepare the way for your second coming [sic],
by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just.

John the Baptist was the messenger of the first coming. He advised poor people to be generous, tax collectors to be honest, and soldiers to be content with their pay.

According to the Anglican prayer, the Second Coming has many messengers–ministers or preachers who turn hearts of disobedience to the wisdom of the just.

I understand hearts of disobedience, because I sure have one. But what’s the wisdom of the just?

Let’s look at the word wisdom. A great Danish grook says,
Wisdom is the booby prize,
given when we’ve been unwise.

How many times have I earned that prize? Way too many! Sometimes it’s by surfing the fridge for sweets to soothe my restlessness. Sometimes I retreat inside myself instead of welcoming friends and family. Sometimes it’s expecting others to change, when it’s me who needs a new direction.

Such are my foolish approaches to life. So what’s a wise approach? I could start by pointing to wisdom as a way to navigate life that respects God, others, and self.

When I put God’s name in that sentence, I describe not just wisdom, but wisdom of the just. Justice is about what’s right and wrong, and God judges that.

The prophet Isaiah mentions a highway called holiness, where the pure in heart will walk (Isa 35:8). That’s the wisdom of the just. To abandon the low way of self-interest, and walk in the high way of holiness.

Let’s pray.

Our father, as we come to the last Sunday before Christmas, we ask for the wisdom of the just. Turn our hearts from disobedience. Direct our gaze to you, not self. Prepare us for Christ’s Second Coming, when you will judge our wrongs and rights.

Help us have wise and just relationships–eing kind to our partners, generous to the needy, patient with all.

Help us avoid the foolishness of may words and little listening, of caring for the body but not the soul, of giving way to undisciplined thoughts and wayward actions.

Give us the wisdom of the just, a wisdom to behave better, a wisdom to purify our hearts, a wisdom to look to you, not ourselves.

As we celebrate Jesus bringing his light to earth, may we walk the highway that will leads us to shine like stars with him in heaven (Dan 12:3).

Amen

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.446: Advent 3: Shepherds and Angels Today?

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Do you tire of Christmas? Every year the same story, the same songs, the same curse of commercialism. Why do we come back to Christmas every year? Are we stuck in a time warp?

An Anglican prayer for the third Sunday in Advent realigns our perspective on Christmas. It says,
God of power and mercy,
you call us once again to celebrate the coming of your Son.
Remove those things which hinder our love of you,
that when he comes again, he may find us waiting in awe and wonder.

I think we come back to Christmas not because the story has changed, but because we have changed. We are older. We’ve lived through another year of difficult relationships, debts that arrived uninvited, jobs where we tread water. Some of us have experienced new joy in life’s twists and turns.

At Christmas we can bring this year, we can bring our current situation, to the Christmas story. We can hear the angels sing into our lives. We can journey to the manger and look again at the child who restores our joy and points us to the hope of salvation.

As the Anglican prayer says, Remove those things which hinder our love of you. That’s the gift the angels and shepherds and wise men give. An opportunity to look with new eyes at the baby in the manger, who will renew our love and strengthen our resolve.

Let’s pray.

O Father, the third advent candle is hope.

May we who live Christmas on automatic pilot, hear fresh words of hope.
May we who are earthbound listen to the angels’ song.
May we who are melancholy sing carols of joy.
May we who are lonely find companionship at the manger.
May we who fear death hear the promise of life.
May we who are rich and thankful share the goodness with others.

This Christmas, help us to take our life and prayers to the manger. Help us worship the child the shepherds found. Help us see the star of promise. Help us travel with the wise men to Bethlehem.

Amen.

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.445: Advent 2: Words and The Word.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Do you speak powerful words? God does.

At creation he spoke the world into being. On a March day in the year zero BC, God’s word to Mary conceived a child in her womb. His word that Christmas brought Jesus to birth.

On the second Sunday of Advent, as we prepare for Christmas, an Anglican prayer reminds us of God’s word. It says,

Blessed Lord,
who caused holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant that we may hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word,
we may embrace the hope of everlasting life . . .

Scripture. Words to hear, read, mark, learn, and, surprisingly, to inwardly digest.

Do you inwardly digest scripture? What does that even mean?

On Christmas day I open presents with family. Then I make waffles for brunch, using egg whites beaten stiff to lighten the batter. We pile on strawberries, butter, whipped cream, and maple syrup. And then, with my sugar levels off the map, I nap while my body inwardly digests the riches.

Can one digest scripture in the same way?

Like Christmas brunch, I receive scripture with my senses–hearing, reading, and getting the flavor of the narrative and poetry. Sometimes, a morsel of scripture lodges deep inside, sustaining and giving me life. There it is! That’s digesting scripture, listening and waiting for God to speak. It’s treasuring and holding his word so that it becomes part of me, clarifying my thinking and improving my behavior.

Let’s pray.

Our father, how did we lose the wonder of scripture?
It is a feast of plenty, but we don’t know how to eat.
It is a river of living water, but we’ve forgotten how to drink.
It is a healing fountain, but we fear to take the plunge.

Books and sermons analyze and interpret your word, but seldom do we hear you speak to us through scripture, and seldom does it change us. O father, this Christmas, help us digest your word.
Give us ears to hear the stories.
Give us eyes to see the savior.
Give us your spirit to turn us from sin.
Give us your grace to lead us to freedom.

May your word in the holy scriptures and may your living word, Jesus, dwell richly in us, more richly than Christmas dinner and dessert.

Amen

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.444: Advent 1: Cast Away the Works of Darkness.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Where I live, the Christmas season is dark and cold. The lazy sun climbs reluctantly out of bed at 9:00 and returns to its nightly slumber at 4:30, leaving us to endure long, dark, frozen nights.

Sometimes the sun hides all day behind grey, snow clouds leaving northerners to freeze, while it tans sunbathers in Hawaii and warms surfers in Australia, places I can’t afford.

The Anglican Book of Common Prayer comments on darkness. One of the prayers says (Collect of the first Sunday of Advent):

Almighty God,
give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and put on the armour of light,
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ
came to us in great humility. . .

Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness. Like the dark depressions that fog our souls, despair that chokes, persistent temptations to give up. These are the works of darkness that assail me in the dark of winter. Other works of darkness follow close behind: anger, lust, and greed, lurking in hearts, darkening relationships.

The prayer advises us to cast off these works of darkness, to put on the armor of light.

I like that.

To arm myself with light. As I walk my dog around the neighborhood, Halloween ghosts and graveyards and skeletons are back where they belong, hidden for another year in basements, attics, and garages. Christmas decorations appear. Snowy lawns host Christmas inflatables and herds of wire-frame reindeer, lighted in sparkling white. Windows display bright living room Christmas trees and wrapped presents.

I like lights that shine in darkness. Lights strung on roofs and eavestroughs, lights looping around trees. Rotating lights patterning fences and homes. Light-infused inflatables of Santa and Rudolph and the Grinch.

All cheerful and Christmassy. Lights that arm themselves and me against the darkness.

Let’s pray.

Our father,
give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and put on the armor of light.

Advent Sundays measure four weeks to Christmas. Advent, a time in the darkness of our mortal life to wait and hope for the savior you promised.

A time to remember the angel choir that filled the sky with light and sang of Jesus’ birth.

A time to remember him, who came in the darkness of winter and said, “I am the light.”

Help us to receive your light at Christmas. Help us put on the armor of light. Help us be lights in the dark winter as we wait for spring. Help us to be lights in the world as we wait for your coming again.

Amen

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.443: Psalm 10: When God Goes Missing.

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Is your God sometimes missing in action?

Psalm 10 asks,
Why do you stand far off, Lord?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? (v 1).

The psalmist explains why he thinks God has gone missing. Listen to his evidence.

– The wicked are arrogant and violent (v 2). Think Mexican drug cartels, American school shootings, or war in Ukraine. Where is God in these?

– More evidence? World leaders have no room for God in their thoughts (v 4). Trump and Putin and Xi Jinping? Lots of thoughts, but not about God.

– A third evidence for God’s absence is that he isn’t helping the poor and weak (v 9). The strong and powerful of earth don’t care if the homeless live under bridges, if drug addicts haunt the inner city, and immigrants are abused, exploited, and deported. Does God also ignore the needy?

– The wicked say, “God doesn’t notice, he doesn’t care.” To them, life is a fight for survival where the strong win, the weak lose, and we move on to the next conquest. God doesn’t intervene. Does he even care?

Question: How does the psalmist respond when God goes missing?
Answer: He prays to the absent one. God may be missing but he’s still listening.

Let’s pray.

Arise, Lord. Lift up your hand, O God,
do not forget the helpless (v 12).
See the trouble of the afflicted;
consider their grief and take it in hand (v 14).

When we are tired, depressed, sick, or lonely, we feel you’ve forgotten us. When cancer stalks those we love, when our lives feel short and empty, where are you, God?

When evil rulers oppress with tariffs, expel immigrants and enrich themselves with cryptocurrency, where is your justice? When war is a way of life, when drugs are plentiful and jobs are scarce, you surprise us by not righting these wrongs.

And yet . . . we believe you hear us. You listen to our hearts, you attend to our prayers, you encourage our faithfulness, you do see the poor and needy (v 17).

We invite you to act like God, to judge the wicked and to ease our pain, to answer our prayers and heal those we love.

O God, don’t be absent from us longer than we can stand. Come near. Let us feel your presence. Comfort us with kind words. Treat us gently. Make us joyful in our relationship with you.

Don’t be a God who is missing in action.

Amen.

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.442: Psalm 9: Big Problems, Small God?

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Do you find God doesn’t answer when you pray? Doesn’t reward you when you work hard? Leaves you lonely when you look for community?

Psalm 9 helps us change gears from “Oh, woe is me” to “Praise God who knows and cares.”

The psalm begins:
I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart.
I will sing praises to your name, O Most High (v 1-2).

Great beginning. Cue some worship music, sing a happy hymn, tell God you’re thankful.

The psalm continues:
   You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked,
      blotting out their name forever.
   Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
      even the memory of them has perished (v 5-6).

God watches over the earth and the nations, noticing the evil and the good. He will crush your enemies forever.

What enemies, you ask? The psalmist’s enemies were kings and nations that provoked war. But my war is a battle for my mind and heart. God promises to heal the diseases that infect my body, the moods that afflict my mind, the disturbances that affect my relationships, the demons that drive me insane. I look forward to the day when endless ruin will overtake these enemies, when even the memory of them perishes.

The psalm continues:
The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know your name trust in you.
You never forsake those who seek you (v 9-10).

If I brood on my loneliness, vulnerability, and helplessness, I get depressed. The psalmist offers a more helpful picture of my life: God is my refuge and stronghold. He is a castle I can run to, lifting the drawbridge and dropping the metal gate to keep out my enemies.

God guards the walls of my life and shoots arrows at my enemies.

Let’s pray.

O father, with the psalmist we pray:
Arise, Lord, don’t let mortals triumph.
Judge the nations.
Strike them with terror,
let them know their mortality (v 19-20).

Teach us to let go of our fears for the present and future, to stop obsessing on our spiritual experience. Teach us to worship you and thank you, when we feel you are present and when we feel you are absent.

You are God, God of the world.
You are the judge of nations.
You are eternal, everlasting.

We come to you, like serfs running to a castle of refuge, like pilgrims seeking the safety of a hostel, like children to a father’s loving embrace.

You, God, will never forget the needy;
the hope of the afflicted will not perish (v 18).

We surf an internet of lies and deceit. We feel darkness that calls us to despair. We see violence that defies hope. Yet, we believe you see, we know you care. In your time you will act on our behalf, establishing goodness and justice.

We choose to be glad and rejoice in you.
We sing the praises of your name, O most high. (v 2).

Amen

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Ep.441: Psalm 8: Human?

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Psalm 8 asks God,
What are humans that you notice them,
mortals that you care for them? (v 4).

A good question. What are humans? Just another animal, or are we different?

Anthropologists used to define us as animals with language. But dolphins and bonobo apes have language too. We used to be the animal that used tools, but now we know that crows, sea otters, orangutans, and elephants use tools too. We used to be the animal with culture, but Jane Goodall observed chimpanzees learning and passing knowledge to others.

So what does make us different?

Not body size. Ostriches, crocodiles, and elephants are bigger than us. We have better science than the other animals, but dark matter and quantum entanglement expose the limits of our understanding. Our brains do more complex thinking and long term planning than our animal friends, but that hasn’t stopped us from waging war and destroying the earth.

Listen to the psalmist’s view of humans. He says,
You made them a little lower than God,
you crowned them with glory and honor,
you made them stewards of the earth (v 5-6).

We are unique because God created us in his image, asking us to care for the world and the animals, and for each other.

It’s not being at the top of the food chain that makes us special. It’s that we’re on assignment to care for the food chain and the earth.

Let’s pray.

O God, how majestic is your name in all the earth (v 1).
You made the universe, with trillions of stars.
And in the universe you hid a small sunny star that heats a wee green planet where creatures made of dust live out their lives.

Amazingly, you call yourself creator and father to these dusty creatures, shepherding our lives, teaching us to care for the world you gave us.

We do not understand life, but we live it in the vastness of the universe, and in the seasons of our little planet, and on sabbath days of rest we take to honor you.

O God, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

Amen

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube