Gospels by Category

Feeling profound sorrow, terror, or intense guilt due to recognizing one's sin, often stemming from the preaching of the Law, and prompting a desperate need for confession and absolution. This recognizes the sinner's existence before God.

²⁸ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (ESV)

Prayer

Almighty God, I confess that I am a poor sinner and have offended You. Relieve my anxious conscience. I believe there is forgiveness of sins in Christ Jesus. Grant me Your mercy, according to Your word. Amen.

The need for absolute confidence in the gifts Christ gives, particularly the certainty of forgiveness, which is a step away from comfortlessness and doubt. This includes reliance on the external Word rather than fluctuating internal feelings.

²⁸ And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
³⁰ But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
³¹ Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (ESV)

Prayer

Lord Jesus, grant me faith to trust not in my own feelings but in Your changeless heart and word of grace. Strengthen my assurance that I am Your baptized child and have eternal life through You. Amen.

Facing pain, distress, or affliction, whether physical, mental (like depression or anxiety), or external calamity, needing support and strength in the midst of trouble.

²¹ And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
²² And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”
²³ But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”
²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
²⁵ But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
²⁶ And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
²⁷ She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. (ESV)

Prayer

O Holy Spirit, strengthen and keep Your servant in the Word of truth and life, and support me in every time of trouble and distress. Turn my lament into praise. Be my Comfort, King, and Strength in this affliction. Amen.

Lamenting loss, death, or sorrow. The emotional aspect of human nature is acknowledged in suffering, requiring pastoral and biblical understanding.

¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.
¹² And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.
¹³ They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
¹⁴ Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. (ESV)

Prayer

Merciful Lord, in the valley of tears, sustain me with the hope of the resurrection. Be my Life in death. Give me rest in You until the dawn of salvation. Amen.

Struggling with worry, acute anxiety, or fear for the future, whether temporal or eternal. This feeling requires the removal of perturbation and a return to serenity of mind through faith.

²⁴ Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.
²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
²⁶ Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
²⁸ Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (ESV)

Prayer

O God, make speed to save me: O Lord, make haste to help me. Quiet my troubled soul and grant me the peace which surpasses all understanding, knowing that You care for us. Amen.

A desire for clear guidance or answers to current life issues, recognizing the insufficiency of secular wisdom and the primary need to consult God's Word for sound advice.

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
⁴⁷ Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:
⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
⁴⁹ But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” (ESV)

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray for Your Holy Spirit to lead me into the land of uprightness and teach me what I ought to say. Order my steps in Your word, that I may follow the path of true wisdom. Amen.

Feeling abandoned, alone, or lacking community, needing to be recalled inwardly to the love of God and the fellowship of the Church.

²⁸ And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
³¹ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (ESV)

Prayer

Lord, make me mindful that I live by faith in Christ, free for serving others in love. Draw me after You, and grant me fellowship with Your people, so that I may never feel utterly alone. Amen.

Battling temptations, spiritual attacks, or specific vices (like covetousness or pride), needing divine assistance to stand firm against sin and the schemes of the evil one.

³⁷ Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil. (ESV)

Prayer

Lord, lead us not into temptation, lest we be deprived of Your help. Deliver me from evil. Shield me from the plots of the enemy, and grant me vigilance to resist temptation. Amen.

Acknowledging personal weakness, inadequacy, or inability to perform tasks perfectly, and realizing that human limits reflect God's design, seeking strength and sufficiency from Christ.

⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (ESV)

Prayer

My Strength is in You, O Christ. I confess my weakness, but grant that Your grace may be sufficient for me. Let my faith rest not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Amen.

Struggling with lack of fervor, listlessness, or neglecting the pursuit of holiness and diligence in good works, needing encouragement toward spiritual alertness and perseverance.

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
³⁶ Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.
³⁷ For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’
³⁸ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” (ESV)

Prayer

Lord, rouse me from my deep slumber. Inflame my heart with longing for You. Grant me diligence in pursuing the knowledge of Your law and doing good works. Amen.

The necessity of focusing on future glory, the resurrection, and eternal joys rather than being consumed by temporary worldly matters, recognizing that true life transcends the temporal.

¹⁵ And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
¹⁶ And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully,
¹⁷ and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’
¹⁸ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’
²⁰ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
²¹ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (ESV)

Prayer

Thy kingdom come. Lift my wing of contemplation. May I pursue the one pearl and look forward to the everlasting kingdom of Your holy city, where I shall reign with You forever. Amen.

The realization that following Christ involves resistance and conflict from the world, requiring resilience and prayer when attacked or persecuted for righteousness' sake.

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
²¹ But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. (ESV)

Prayer

Sustain me, O Lord, in tribulation, knowing that the world hated You first. Grant me patience and fortitude, and wisdom in speech when I am delivered up, trusting that the Holy Ghost shall teach me what I ought to say. Amen.