Summary Jesus' parable of the Lost Sheep is the first of three parables in Luke 15 about lostness. This parable is abound being found by God, and also about leaving the ninety-nine and going after the one, a journey that may be costly but that also leads to joy and freedom. Episode 59 | The Ninety-Nine and the One: Following the Good Shepherd 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. Wherever you’re listening—Spotify, Apple, or YouTube—subscribing, rating, and reviewing the show helps others discover what we’re doing here. It’s a small way to support the mission—and it means a lot to us. Resources Broken Vessels by Hillsong Worship You Found me by the Fray Leaving 99 by Audio Adrenaline
Summary Jesus' parable of the "Rich Fool" in Luke 12 is about money, and about a lot more than money. It's about what we put our store in–where we place our hope. In prayer, we can pay attention to the conversation we are having with ourselves about the barns that we are building. In prayer, this conversation can be scripted by God rather than by the culture in which we live. Episode 58 | God Loves Work: Barns and Self-Talk 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. Wherever you’re listening—Spotify, Apple, or YouTube—subscribing, rating, and reviewing the show helps others discover what we’re doing here. It’s a small way to support the mission—and it means a lot to us. Resources Download the FREE God Loves Work Devotional Vol. 2 focusing on Work & The Parables of Jesus. Listen to "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley.
Summary Jesus' story about the Samaritan who showed mercy to the wounded man on the road is not simply about being a good human. It's actually about who God is. It's about the eternal story of God, and how we can live this story out in our lives, through prayer. Episode 57: God Loves Work: The Good Merciful Samaritan 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. Wherever you’re listening—Spotify, Apple, or YouTube—subscribing, rating, and reviewing the show helps others discover what we’re doing here. It’s a small way to support the mission—and it means a lot to us. Resources Download the FREE God Loves Work Devotional Vol. 2 focusing on Work & The Parables of Jesus. Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Theme Song
This is the first of four episodes guided by four parables of Jesus. It is meant to be used alongside a devotional called God Loves Work: Work and the Parables of Jesus. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is a simple and convicting story that will shape our lives drastically if we do not just read it, but pray it. Episode 56: God Loves Work: The Pharisee and the Tax Collector 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. Wherever you’re listening—Spotify, Apple, or YouTube—subscribing, rating, and reviewing the show helps others discover what we’re doing here. It’s a small way to support the mission—and it means a lot to us. RESOURCES Celebrate Labor Day with us by downloading the FREE God Loves Work Devotional Vol. 2 focusing on Work & The Parables of Jesus. Jesus Prayer Chant by Sound of Prayers (*note, this is a 10 hour recording in case you ever want to to try praying for a whole day!)
Psalm 139 is one of the most powerful prayers in the Bible. It’s also daunting, because David prays about how God knows every thought and is present everywhere, always. In prayer, we can wrestle with this knowledge, and come to trust the God who knows us fully and loves us fully. Episode 55: Fully Known and Fully Loved: Praying to the God Who Knows Everything 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. RESOURCES “Beautiful Anyway” by Judah and the Lion
Summary Teach Us to Pray is on Summer Break! Meet our podcast producer, Naomi Hartman, and stay tuned for new episodes starting August 18. 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. Resources In the interim, listen to The Faith & Work Podcast also hosted by Denver Institute.
SUMMARY Psalm 34:8 is a very surprising line from David: "Taste and see that the Lord is good." What does it mean to taste God's goodness? Praying this prayer can help us perceive God within our embodied lives, in community, and, in particular, in the course of risky action. Episode 53: Taste and See That the Lord is Good: Bodies, Community, and Risk 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. RESOURCES "Psalm 34" by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
Psalm 27 orients us to God's presence, and calls us to practice that presence in every moment of our lives. This is what "Coram Deo" means, "before the face of God." What if we lived every moment with the awareness that we are in God's presence? Episode 52: Before the Face of God: Practicing God's Presence 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. RESOURCES "The Lord of the Rings; The Riders of Rohan" - Eliott Tordo feat. Victor Macabies "The Death of Theoden," Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers "What is Prayer and How to Begin" - Conversation with Roberta Bondi, interview by Krista Tippet
SUMMARY The seven last words of Christ on the cross end with a prayer of trust and surrender: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." This dying prayer of Jesus can be a prayer we live and work by. Episode 51: Trusting the Father (Last Words of Christ Pt. 7) 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. RESOURCES "I Surrender Now" by Mumford and Sons Pie Jesus, Recorded at Fremont Presbyterian Church; Cheryl Eshoff and Kalen Skinner, soloists
Jesus' sixth word from the Cross, "It is finished," is a whispered victory cry. The momentum of God's eternal love overtakes the momentum of sin and evil in the world, in in our lives. We may not fully be able to understand this cry, but we can receive it, in prayer. Episode 50: It is Finished (Last Words of Christ Pt. 6) 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. RESOURCES Judah and the Lion, "Beautiful Anyway" Schola Cantorum of Saint Peter's in the Loop, Chicago: "This is the Feast"
In the fifth word from the cross, Jesus says simply, "I thirst." This is an expression of Jesus' humanity. Because of the Incarnation, which was the intersection of eternity with history, we can be those who experience what is eternal within ordinary, earthly moments. Episode 49: I Thirst: The Humanity of Christ and Finding Eternity in Time (Last Words of Christ Pt. 5) 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. RESOURCES A Collection of Prayers for Our Daily Work "Sleeping at Last" by Saturn "The Dry Salvages" by TS Eliot
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
"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. Resources 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
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”
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. Resources Simulacrum "Numbers" by Wheezer
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"
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. Scripture 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. Psalm 103:1-2 Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— Psalm 62:5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Resources 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.