Teach Us To Pray – Details, episodes & analysis

"Woman, behold your son. Behold your mother." With these words, as he was dying on the cross, directed to Mary and to the disciple John, Jesus founded the church. By praying these words our vision is transformed, enabling us to see anyone and everyone as a beloved child of God, and so continue to build Christ's church.

John 19:23-27
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.” And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

Episode 47:  The Church at the Foot of the Cross (Last Words of Christ Pt. 3)

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute’s Vice President of Advancement and Theologian in Residence, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life. I would love to hear from you! Please reach out to me at jeff.hoffmeyer@denverinstitute.org with your feedback.

Do you like Teach Us To Pray? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review! Now available on iTunes and Spotify.

• Ra-Ra Folklore d'Haiti
• "I Arise Today," by Emmaus Music

As Jesus is dying on the cross, a conversation occurs between the two convicts who were crucified on either side of him. One of these men then says to Jesus, "Remember me, when you come into your kingdom." Then Jesus says, "Today you will be with me in Paradise." By allowing this conversation to shape our conversation with God in prayer, our lives and work can become cruciform, taking the form of Christ crucified.

Luke 23:38-43
There was also an inscription over him,[a] “This is the King of the Jews.” One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him,[b] saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Episode 46: Jesus, Remember Me (Last Words of Christ Pt. 2)

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute’s Vice President of Advancement, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life. I would love to hear from you! Please reach out to me at jeff.hoffmeyer@denverinstitute.org with your feedback.

Do you like Teach Us To Pray? Be sure to subscribe and leave a review! Now available on iTunes and Spotify

RESOURCES

• Taize "Jesus Remember Me"
• Gandalf and Pippin in The Lord of the Rings
• Rembrandt's "Christ Crucified between the Two Thieves" c. 1653

Are you ever frustrated by not having enough information, foresight, and understanding, particularly in your work? Do you ever wish that things were just more clear? What if this lack, this scarcity, is by design? What if it could fuel your imagination for how God wishes to use you in your work? In this episode, I explore one of my favorite New Testament stories, Jesus' healing of Bartimaeus.

RESOURCES

• Download the 4-Day God Loves Work Devotional

• "The Maker" by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds

• Vocab words!

  • Lexicon

  • Superfluity

  • Paucity

  • Rococo

  • Hegemony

I would love to hear from you! Email: jeff.hoffmeyer@denverinstitute.org

How surprising that the very first human mentioned in the Bible as being indwelled by God's Spirit is a craftsman! In this episode I address what this might mean for our work, inviting a prayerful focus on human flourishing.

RESOURCES

• Download the 4-Day God Loves Work Devotional

• "The Maker" by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds

• Vocab words!

  • Inane

  • Pedantry

  • Plebeian

I would love to hear from you! Email: jeff.hoffmeyer@denverinstitute.org

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute’s Vice President of Advancement, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life.

Episode 35: God Loves Work #2: How Work Goes Wrong (Genesis 11)

The Tower of Babel is a story about how our work can go wrong, including using technology thoughtlessly, and working so as to "make a name for ourselves." The only antidote for these work mistakes (and others) is prayer.

• Download the 4-Day God Loves Work Devotional

• Faith & Work Podcast Episode - AI Series: Artificial Intelligence and Redemptive Work

• A Love Supreme - Pt II - Resolution by John Coltrane

• I would love to hear from you! Email: jeff.hoffmeyer@denverinstitute.org

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute’s Vice President of Advancement, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life.

Episode 34: God Loves Work #1 (Genesis 1 - Seeing Pennies)

This is the first of a four part series called God Loves Work, tied to a four day devotional you can do alone or with someone you trust. In this first episode, I look at the first book of the Bible, and invite you to consider how you can prayerfully see God's wonder in your work, as well as discussing liturgies for work.

• Download the 4-Day God Loves Work Devotional

• Burning Heart Moments (Episode 26 of Teach Us To Pray)

• Pilgrim on Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

I'd love to hear from you! Email: jeff.hoffmeyer@denverinstitute.org

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute’s Vice President of Advancement, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life.

Episode 33: All Boldness and Without Hindrance (Acts 28:30-31) Part II

The book of Acts ends with Paul under arrest, living out his vocation "with all boldness and without hindrance." In the second episode exploring this verse, Jeff examines how we can enjoy obscurity in our lives and how kingdom impact can often happen in unseen moments.

• Hopeless Wanderer, by Mumford & Sons

I'd love to hear from you! Email: jeff.hoffmeyer@denverinstitute.org

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute’s Vice President of Advancement, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life.

Episode 32: All Boldness and Without Hindrance (Acts 28:30-31) Part I

The book of Acts ends with Paul under arrest, living out his vocation "with all boldness and without hindrance." In part one of two episodes on these verses, I examine how we can pray toward the vocational freedom offered in this passage by coming to understand the relationship between freedom and constraint.

• Braveheart, starring Mel Gibson. Musical score by James Horner, performed by London Philharmonic Orchestra

• "Dithyrambic Yalp"? Sorry, got a little carried away there. A dithyramb is a type of poem marked by "an inspired wild irregular strain." A yalp is, well, a yalp.

I'd love to hear from you! Email: jeff.hoffmeyer@denverinstitute.org

Hosted by Jeff Hoffmeyer, Denver Institute’s Vice President of Advancement, this podcast seeks to focus on the practice of prayer through scripture as a primary way to know, trust, and rest in God in our daily work and life.

Episode 31: Praying Toward Resilience with Tod Bolsinger

 In this special guest episode of Teach Us To Pray, Jeff interviews Tod Bolsinger, author of Canoeing the Mountains and Tempered Resilience about the necessity and practice of prayer for leaders who are leading through adaptive change.

Resources:

Learn more about Tod Bolsinger at https://www.fuller.edu/faculty/tod-bolsinger/ 

Check out these incredible books by Tod Bolsinger: 

• Pre-Order the brand new 4-part book series, Practicing Change. Releasing soon!  

• Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory

• Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change

I'd love to hear from you! Email: jeff.hoffmeyer@denverinstitute.org 

Acts Chapter 15 records how early church leaders came to a compromise regarding a sharply divisive issue. This episode explores how that story can guide our own prayerful decision making, as well as how we can pray and act toward the unity of the Church.

Resources:

Alan Kreider, The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbable Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire

I'd love to hear from you! Email: jeff.hoffmeyer@denverinstitute.org