60 Seconds of Hope with Horace McMillon

Send us Fan Mail A Prayer for When Trouble Comes to Our Door Loving God, sometimes trouble enters our lives without warning. A difficult conversation. Bad news. A loss we did not see coming. And when these moments appear, we are often overwhelmed. We wonder what happened. We wonder what comes next. We wonder how we will move forward. In these moments, help us not to collapse in fear. Help us remem...

Send us Fan Mail When Trouble Comes to Our Door Sometimes trouble enters our lives without warning. A difficult conversation. Bad news. A loss we did not see coming. And when these moments appear, we often ask: “How did this happen?” “Could this have been avoided?” “What do we do now?” First Epistle of Peter reminds us, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among y...

Send us Fan Mail A Prayer for When We Can’t Handle Everything Alone Loving God, sometimes we face problems we cannot solve. And what has always worked before stops working. The strength we once relied on no longer feels sufficient. Our confidence is shaken. And we are no longer sure what to do next. In moments like these, help us stop pretending… Help us acknowledge our limits without shame. Help...

Send us Fan Mail When What Used to Work Stops Working Sometimes we face problems we cannot solve. And what has always worked before stops working. “The bows of the mighty are broken…” — from 1 Samuel 2:4 When our bows are broken, our confidence is shaken. And we are no longer sure what to do next. 1 Samuel suggests that new strength often begins in humility: “the feeble gird on strength.” We do no...

Send us Fan Mail A Prayer for When Our Best Still Isn’t Enough Loving God, sometimes we try to do what is right, care for others, and live with integrity, yet things still go wrong. We still suffer loss, disappointment, hurt, and betrayal. In those moments, help us remember that we have not been abandoned. When we walk through difficult valleys, You remain near to us. Help us remain near to one an...

Send us Fan Mail When We Try Our Best And Things Still Go Wrong Sometimes we try to do the right thing, and things still go wrong. We still lose people. Still get hurt. Still face failure, disappointment, and even betrayal. “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones…” — from 1 Samuel 2:9 The Hebrew word translated “guard” is shamar — to keep watch over, to carefully attend to, to remain mindful...

Send us Fan Mail A Prayer for When We Want to Help but Don’t Know How Loving God, when we are not sure what we have to offer, or how our lives can contribute to something better for others, remind us that there are many ways to help, and that you have given each of us something we can do. Help us discover the gifts within us. And help us recognize the gifts present in the lives of others. Give us...

Send us Fan Mail A Prayer for When We Fear the Future Loving God, when we fear the future, help us remember that your Spirit is still being poured out upon the world. When division, violence, and greed govern the way people live together, help us remain connected to your Spirit within and among us. When we are tempted to despair, help us remember that fear, hatred, and violence do not have the fin...

Send us Fan Mail When People Fear the End of the World Some people fear the world is about to end. And some others hope for it. But the words of the prophet Joel, which are quoted in Acts, are less about destruction and more about a new beginning. “‘In the last days it will be,’ God declares, ‘that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh…’” — from Acts 2:17 These are not words of despair. They ar...

Send us Fan Mail A Prayer for the Gifts We Bring to One Another Loving God, help us recognize the gifts you have placed within ourselves and others. When we are tempted to believe that we have nothing to offer, remind us that every life carries value, meaning, and possibility. Help us encourage others instead of competing, dismissing, or overlooking them. Teach us to use what we have been given no...

Send us Fan Mail When We Struggle to See the Gifts Around Us Sometimes we fail to recognize what is already present in ourselves and in one another. We assume some people are gifted and others are not. But there is no ungifted person. Every one of us carries the breath of life within us. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” — 1 Corinthians 12:7 Each of us has bee...

Send us Fan Mail A Prayer for When We Feel Dismissed Loving God, sometimes people make assumptions about us before they really know us. They judge us because of where we come from, what we look like, how much money we have, or because we do not fit the assumptions they have already made about us. And sometimes that dismissal can lead us to become bitter. So when we are dismissed, misunderstood, or...

Send us Fan Mail When We Are Judged Before We Speak Sometimes people dismiss us before they really hear us. Not because we have nothing to say. But because of where we’re from, what we look like, how much money we have, or the assumptions they’ve already made about us. “But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’” — from Acts 2:13 These disciples were mocked and dismissed not bec...

Send us Fan Mail A Prayer For New Beginnings  Loving God, as one school year ends and another chapter begins… as people graduate, begin new careers, move into new homes, begin new families, and remember loved ones now gone… help us remember that no season of life is walked alone. You are with us in every beginning, every ending, and every step in between. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First a...

Send us Fan Mail A Prayer for When Stress Makes Us Forget the Good Loving God, sometimes the stress we carry makes it hard to notice all the good still around us. Help us remember the people who love us, and the many strangers whose work makes our lives better. Help us remain open to the beauty of creation, and to the wonder of all that human beings are still capable of making together. For whatev...

Send us Fan Mail A Prayer for the Work in Front of Us Today  Loving God, we spend so much time wondering about the future. Wondering when things will finally change. When justice will come. When peace will last. When the world will become what it was meant to be. But while we wait, keep calling us back to the work in front of us. Back to compassion. Back to generosity. Back to caring for one anoth...

Send us Fan Mail When Will Things Finally Change? We keep wondering when things will finally change. When hatred will lose. When justice will come. When the world will become what it was meant to be. “People of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” — from Acts 1:11 The disciples were looking upward, waiting for answers about the future. But they were being called back to the work in...

Send us Fan Mail A Prayer for the Power to Keep Loving Loving God, when fear, anger, and suspicion seem stronger than hope, compassion, and understanding, give us power. Not the power to control, dominate, or punish. But the power to remain hopeful in the face of overwhelming adversity. The power to recognize our shared humanity even in the middle of deep disagreement. The power to keep loving whe...

Send us Fan Mail The Power to Keep Loving Most of us were taught to think of power as the ability to control outcomes, win arguments, or force people to comply. But the Spirit points us toward a different kind of power. The power to remain hopeful in the face of overwhelming adversity. The power to recognize our shared humanity even in the middle of deep disagreement. The power to keep loving when...

Send us Fan Mail A Prayer for When We Just Want Answers, but They’re Not Coming  Loving God, sometimes we just want to know how everything is going to turn out. We want answers. We want certainty. We want to know if things are going to get better, if the situation will change, if the world will ever be a better place. But while so many questions remain unanswered, help us remember that there are s...

Send us Fan Mail When We Just Want Answers Sometimes we just want someone to tell us everything is going to be okay. We want to know if this relationship is going to last, if the diagnosis will improve, if the bills will get paid, if things are ever going to feel normal again. “He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods…’” — from Acts 1:7 But most of those answers do not arrive wh...

Send us Fan Mail A Prayer for When We Lose Connection Loving God, sometimes we give into anger, fear, resentment, or selfishness without realizing how deeply these things shape our lives. Over time, they impact: how we listen, how we love, and how we relate to one another. And when we hold tightly to bitterness or greed, we lose connection. Not only with one another, but with you, and even with ou...

Send us Fan Mail The Things We Feed Eventually Take Hold of Us Sometimes we give into our anger, fear, resentment, or selfishness. Over time, this impacts: how we listen, how we love, and how we relate to one another. When we hold tightly to bitterness, greed, or hostility, we lose connection. Not only with God and one another, but even with ourselves. “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the...

Send us Fan Mail A Prayer for When We Forget Love Reveals the Truth Loving God, sometimes we search for truth as though it is something we must possess or defend. The deepest truths in our lives have come to us through being loved. Welcomed. Nurtured. Embraced. Help us experience the truth of your love as we learn to love ourselves more fully and our neighbors as ourselves. May your love continue...

Send us Fan Mail How We Find The Truth Through Love Sometimes we think truth is something we possess. Something we prove. Defend. Or master. But some of the deepest truths in our lives were never learned that way. We learned them through being loved. Welcomed. Nurtured. Embraced. Through learning how to love God, ourselves more fully, and our neighbors as ourselves. “and I will love them and revea...