"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

On at least two occasions Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as "living water." How does this image shape and guide our prayer? What is "peace like a river," and how can we access that peace through prayer?

Resources:

"It is Well with My Soul" - Reawaken Hymns

C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair

Noah's Ark

Contact me: jeff.hoffmeyer@denverinstitute.org

In this episode we continue our focus on the Holy Spirit during the season of Pentecost. The first two verses of the Bible encourage us in our work, which can mirror and participate in God's own work. We gain confidence to face the chaos and formlessness we often encounter in our vocations, trusting that God is using us to form something that is eternal.

Resources:

Noah's Ark

Contact me: jeff.hoffmeyer@denverinstitute.org

In this first episode of a seven-part series on the last words of Christ, we examine Jesus' prayer "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." In order to forgive we must first realize our deep need to be forgiven. We also can pray this prayer before we really "mean it."

Episode 45: The Hardest Prayer: Forgiveness (Last Words of Christ Pt. 1)

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

• "Ah Holy Jesus How Hast Thou Offended" by the Redeemer Choir
  
• Artwork courtesy of Andersen Hoffmeyer, circa 2011, aged 6 - “Jesus Between the two Thieves”

This episode kicks off a series on the Holy Spirit during the season of Pentecost. This text from John describes the resurrected Christ doing two odd things: showing his wounds, and breathing on the disciples. What do these actions mean for our lives, and how might they guide our prayers?

Music Acknowledgments: Based on the hymn by Edwin Hatch Written by © 2015 Alanna Glover, Liv Chapman & Philip Percival (Emu Music)

What might it look like for your life to be washed over by the tide of resurrection? In this episode, we explore an ancient Christian creed found in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. Also, I talk about my favorite surf instructor ever, Tony.

What if a day you have likely never thought about is central to God's saving work? Holy Saturday is the day in between. It is the space between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Ours is a Holy Saturday world, a Holy Saturday world on the edge of resurrection.

In this episode, we consider Mark 14:3-9, the story of an unnamed woman anointing Jesus before his death. Mark places this narrative in a prominent place, and Jesus praises the woman's actions beyond any other response in Mark's gospel. To pray this text is to allow our lives to conform to Jesus' lavish sacrifice for us.

Resources:

Please contact me anytime with questions and thoughts! jeff.hoffmeyer@denverinstitute.org

In this episode, the Teach Us to Pray Podcast interviews its first guest - Peter Greer, President & CEO of HOPE International. Listen in as we hear more about the work Peter is doing and hear insights from his recently released book Lead with Prayer: The Spiritual Habits of World-Changing Leaders.

Resources:

Lead with Prayer Resources

Isaiah declares the wonder and beauty of Christmas in three little words: "for unto us." Who is your "us"? God takes on human flesh so as to bring the divine into human community, a community that is, profoundly, not limited to the living. Handel's "Unto Us" Chorus takes center stage in this episode, guiding us in joyful prayer. Merry Christmas!

In this episode, we look at the prominent biblical theme of light and darkness through the lens of Movement 10 of Handel's Messiah. Light does not exist without darkness. Through prayer, we can both become aware of darkness and boldly face it.

Prayer is how we yield to God's refining work in our lives. God uses difficulty to bring us, ultimately, to delight - the joy of a transformed life. In this episode, I focus on Handel's surprising musical interpretation of Malachi 3:3 and share personally about how God has refined me.

Psalm 115 is a profound examination of the shadow side of our souls, what the Bible calls 'idolatry.' In this episode we examine how our souls both "make idols" and are in turn made by them.

Episode 44: Souls are Idol Making Factories (Then Sings my Soul Pt. 3)

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.

• Simulacrum
• "Numbers" by Wheezer 

This Advent on Teach us to Pray, we will be praying through some of the texts from Handel's Messiah. This episode focuses on the first words spoken in Messiah, "Comfort Ye."

Much is hidden in the common words, "thank you," including in how we use them in prayer. Gratitude toward God carries the possibility of seeing God for who he really is, and also, profoundly, can shape a transformative posture of repentance.

This episode concludes our prayerful examination of the Priestly Blessing.

What does the blessing "the Lord make his face shine on you" mean? This part of the Priestly Blessing is about recognition, which is humanity's primary need. We can receive this divine recognition through prayer, and this changes everything.

Tucked into some familiar lines of Scripture is an overlooked metaphor for who God is and how he works in our lives. Prayer is our we yield to and participate in the work of the Divine Gardener.

Praying toward a different kind of victory: surrender, kneeling, submitting, and waiting.

The subtle beauty of evil, and how to pray against it.

There is a temptation to not only define ourselves but what we do, but also to reduce God to what he does. How to pray so as to focus on who God is.

Bread, but not bread alone. How to pray about your primary tasks. 

God adopts us as his children, and this changes everything.

God has designed the soul for beholding, and we become what we behold. 2 Corinthians 3:17-19 lays out how this works, and how prayer can be a participation in beholding Christ and becoming more like him.

Episode 43: Soul Work (Then Sings My Soul 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.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NIV)

RESOURCES

• Chris Rice, "How Great Thou Art"

• Nathaniel Hawthorn, "The Great Stone Face"

Shred the resume, claim your identity.

What form of vocational uncertainty are you experiencing? Not in the right job? Overly stressed at work? Working too much? Whatever uncertainty you are experiencing at work, you can hear God say to you, “I love you, with you I am well pleased."

Although we often frame our faith as “following Jesus,” the Bible also teaches that God “follows” us. God pursues us, chases us, even. We can claim that promise by praying verse 6 of Psalm 23.

Although we may not have enemies like David did (the trying-to-kill-us kind), there are many in our lives who have hurt us or who are hurting us, or who are standing against us. How do we pray in the midst of these enemies? What is God’s response?

Belonging is the central orientation of a sheep to the shepherd and of our lives with God. No matter how far we have wandered, God goes after us, bringing us back, and invites us to offer belonging to others.

The primary tool shepherds use to lead their sheep is their voice. How does God use his voice to lead us? Where does God lead us to find “green pastures and still waters”? Turns out God often uses his voice to lead us into (not away from) difficulty and brokenness and injustice.

"The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing." Listen in as we take a deeper look at this familiar verse but with new eyes. 

Prayer is, simply, talking to God. How, though, do we make the move from talking about God, to talking to God? Psalm 23 answers this question. The dark valleys of our lives are occasions to claim the central promise of Scripture, “Thou art with me.”

In this first episode on the soul and prayer, we look at an underutilized form of prayer found in the psalms - talking to ourselves. This kind of self-talk is different from other popular conceptions, because God is listening in. Psalm 42 commends a kind of prayerful self-talk in which we discover what is going on with our own soul.

Episode 42: Self Talk (Then Sings My Soul Pt 1)

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.

Psalm 42:5

Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits— 

Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
    my hope comes from him. 

• The Killers, "All These Things That I've Done"

• "How Great Thou Art" - Tabernacle Choir

When Charlie Brown famously asks, "Doesn't anybody know what Christmas is all about?!" Linus responds by reciting the King James Version of Luke 2. As it turns out, Philippians 2 is also a good answer, leading us to pray about the wonder of God becoming flesh. Merry Christmas!

Episode 41: The Play within the Play - What Christmas is All About

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

• Charlie Brown Christmas Special, written by Charles Schulz with music by Vince Guaraldi

For the fortieth episode of Teach Us To Pray I discuss the first few verses of Psalm 40, one of my favorites, and also one of the best U2 songs ever. Prayer is about waiting, and about God stooping to hear us, and about God putting a new song in us that we can sing.

Episode 40: Sing a New Song (Beauty and Brokenness Pt 3)

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.

In part 2 of this series, I return to the Jesus and Peter conversation on the beach scene, and raise the question of how God might want to talk about painful memories, the idolatry of work, and using our wounds to heal others - but don't worry, this episode is merrier than you might think.

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 39: Beauty and Brokenness # 2: Because the Night (John 21:15-19) 

RESOURCES: 

• Penultimate

• Titular

• Accoutrement

• Bruce Springsteen and Pattie Smith, "Because the Night"

• Mormon Tabernacle Choir, "Joy to the World"

• Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer

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

This is the first of three episodes on the convergence of beauty, and brokenness as found in Scripture, and how we might learn to pray about God's redemptive activity in our lives. In this episode, I explore the famous conversation between Jesus and Peter on the shore of lake Galilee, examining how Jesus might want to address our own brokenness through conversation.

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 38: Beauty and Brokenness # 1: Questions and Charcoal (John 21:15-17)

RESOURCES: 

• Kintsugi: How to Pray about Our Work

• Art and Faith by Makoto Fujimura

• Tincture Definition

• Gungor: Beautiful Things

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

Christ's lament from the cross, "My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?" is the fourth and most important of the seven last words. By praying this prayer, Jesus transforms our own experiences of godforsakenness, enabling our words of lament to become seedbeds for hope.

RESOURCES

• "Not Alone" by Patty Griffin