The Connection Corner

A daily source of encouragement and inspiration to connect your heart to hope and faith.

Put Me In Coach

Isaiah 6:8 — Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

A few years ago, if you had told me girls’ flag football would become one of the fastest-growing sports in America, I probably would have laughed.

I always wanted to play sports with my boy cousins. But no… girls didn’t play football.

Well, things have changed.

Nearly 70,000 girls are playing now. States like New Jersey are making it an official championship-level high school sport, and it’s even headed to the Olympics.

I love that.

Because somewhere right now, there’s a girl who could have stayed in the stands. Instead, she decided to step onto the field, run the route, call the play, and take the risk.

But I wonder how often we do the opposite with our faith.

We watch other people live boldly and think, They’re the ones who know what they’re doing. They’re the ones who make a difference. They’re the ones God chooses.

Meanwhile, we stay on the sidelines.

But Scripture tells a different story.

David was out tending sheep when God called him. Esther was afraid, yet she stepped into the king’s presence when everything was at stake. Peter was impulsive and imperfect, and Jesus still called him to follow.

God has never required His people to have everything figured out before stepping onto the field.

In Isaiah 6, Isaiah encounters God and realizes that God is calling him, too. And his response isn’t, “Send someone else.”

Nope.

“Here I am. Send me.”

It’s almost like Isaiah is saying, Put me in, Coach.

Friend, faith isn’t about knowing exactly what to do. Maybe today you feel unqualified. Maybe you’ve been watching someone else live the kind of faith you wish you had and wondering if God could really use you.

You don’t have to sit in the stands.

God has a purpose for ordinary people, and He still invites you and me to participate in what He is doing.

So let’s step onto the field.

“Here I am, Lord. Send me.”

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

Where in your life might you be standing on the sidelines because you feel unqualified, afraid, or unsure?
What do you think God may be inviting you to step into right now?
Whose faith have you admired from a distance, and what might it look like for you to take one small step of faith yourself?
What would it look like for you to sincerely pray, “Here I am, Lord. Send me”?
What is one step you could take today to move from watching to participating in what God is doing?

September 29, 2026/by Denise Pagano

The Best Part of a Bad Day

Daily Devotional, Kirstie Ford

2 Corinthians 12:9 — Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

My youngest daughter walked into my room one morning and sweetly asked, “Mama, can you turn the TV on for me?”

It felt like such a simple request… until I glanced at the clock.

7:26. On a Monday.

The panic hit instantly. I jumped out of bed, realizing I had completely forgotten to set my alarm. No quiet time. No workout. Just straight into survival mode.

Within minutes, the house was filled with tears. My youngest didn’t want to go to school, and my oldest was heartbroken because we missed our donut date. And just like that, the morning was off the rails.

As I rushed my oldest to school, I felt overwhelmed and said a few things I immediately regretted. When I finally got home, I decided I could still rescue the morning. I made protein muffins, but even that didn’t go as planned. They came out flat and gooey.

At that point, I just stopped, looked up, and said, “Lord, help me.”

Somehow, that became the best part of my morning.

God didn’t go back and fix the missed alarm or undo the words I had spoken. Instead, He met me right in the mess and reminded me that my weakness didn’t disqualify me from His grace. It was an invitation to depend on Him.

That’s what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 12:9. God’s grace isn’t something we earn when we finally get it all together. His grace meets us in our weakness—and His power can work through us right there.

Later that day, when I picked up my daughter, she looked at me and said, “I’m still mad at you.”

And instead of brushing it aside, I leaned in.

“I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?”

I couldn’t give her a perfect mother or a perfect morning. But I could show her what it looks like to apologize when I’m wrong, to receive God’s grace, and to trust Him to meet me in my weaknesses.

So, the next time your day starts falling apart before it even begins, remember this: God isn’t asking for perfection. He’s simply inviting you to depend on Him.

And sometimes the most powerful prayer you can pray is also the simplest:

“Lord, help me.”

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

When things start going wrong, is your first instinct to fix the situation or turn to God? What does your usual response reveal about where you’re placing your dependence?
What weakness or failure have you been trying to hide, fix, or overcome on your own? What would it look like to bring it honestly to God?
Paul says, “My grace is all you need.” Where do you need to receive God’s grace instead of demanding perfection from yourself?
Have you ever allowed a mistake to make you feel like you’ve failed completely? How might God be inviting you to see that moment differently?
Is there someone you need to apologize to? What would it look like to humble yourself, ask for forgiveness, and trust God with the outcome?
What does depending on God look like in the ordinary messiness of your life? Not the big spiritual moments, but the rushed mornings, difficult conversations, and things that don’t go according to plan.
What is one situation right now where you need to stop trying to hold everything together and simply pray, “Lord, help me”?

September 28, 2026/by Kirstie Ford

Because Somebody Prayed

Daily Devotional, Heart of the Artist

James 5:16 — Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

I had to put my phone down. Not out of discipline or digital detox—I just couldn’t stomach what I was seeing anymore.

I was sitting backstage between shows on the Hits Deep tour with TobyMac when I read about the horrific school shooting in Nashville at The Covenant School. Three children. Three adults. It was a place that should’ve been safe. My chest felt heavy under the kind of weighty news.

The headlines alone were gutting, but it was the comment section that knocked the wind out of me.

“Thoughts and prayers,” someone had written, emojis dripping with sarcasm.

“Oh great, prayer. That’ll fix everything,” said another.

My chest tightened. Did people really think prayer was useless?

I thought of my mama, bent at the edge of her bed, whispering prayers. I had caught her more times than I could count, head bowed, hands trembling. I knew those prayers had carried me through more heartache and sleepless nights than I could ever explain. And without those prayers, I might never have known Jesus.

Grief and gratitude tangled together inside me.

The tragedy I was reading about was real. The loss was unimaginable. But sitting there backstage, I kept thinking about my mama and all those quiet prayers. Prayers I may not have understood at the time. Prayers I probably took for granted. Prayers that changed me.

And I thought about how many people have quietly prayed their way through my life.

Maybe somebody prayed for me when I didn’t know I needed it. Maybe somebody asked God to protect me, guide me, or draw me closer to Him before I ever knew enough to ask for those things myself.

That thought stayed with me.

So before the next show, I closed my eyes and prayed—hard. I prayed for the grieving families. I prayed for the children who would never come home. I prayed for the people who were hurting and angry and didn’t know where to turn.

And I prayed for a world that seemed to be losing its hope.

When I opened my eyes, I couldn’t shake the thought that prayer matters.

I carried that thought with me the rest of the day. I found myself humming something under my breath, almost without realizing it. That night, I picked up my guitar, and the words and melody began to come together.

The song was “Somebody Prayed.”

Friend, if you know Jesus, it’s because somebody prayed for you. Maybe it was your grandma on a creaky porch swing or a friend on their knees. Don’t underestimate what those prayers can do.

Let us be the ones who hold up the hurting in a world that’s lost its way. Let’s believe together that prayer isn’t a cliché or a last resort. Because the most powerful thing in the hands of God is the desperate, hope-filled plea of prayer.

— David Crowder

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

Who is someone you know has prayed for you? Take a moment to thank God for that person and the prayers they’ve prayed on your behalf.
Is there a prayer from your past that you can see differently now? How might God have been working through that prayer, even when you didn’t recognize it at the time?
James 5:16 reminds us that prayer is powerful. Are there areas of your life where you’ve begun to treat prayer as a last resort instead of a first response?
Who in your life needs you to pray for them right now? What would it look like to become their “somebody who prayed”?
Have you ever experienced an answer to prayer that you know you couldn’t have brought about on your own?What did that experience teach you about God?
When you hear the words “thoughts and prayers,” do you sometimes find yourself becoming discouraged or cynical? How can you remind yourself of the difference between a cliché and a genuine, hope-filled prayer?
What burden are you carrying today that you need to bring honestly to God? Spend a few quiet moments praying specifically about it.

LYRICS:

Somebody Prayed
Every night there by your bed
You fold your hands and bow your head
Throwing out another prayer in faith
When you wonder if He’s hearing you
Look at me I’m living proof
I’m only right where I am today
Because somebody prayed

So I hit my knees
Cause I’ve seen all heaven move
(Don’t matter if you hit rock bottom,
My God pick you up when you call Him)
I pray, Father please
Cause I’ve seen what He can do
(Don’t matter if the storm cloud coming,
My God come through when you call Him)
These hands have no power
But there ain’t an hour He don’t come through
That’s why when mountains move I say
Looks like somebody prayed

For the child of God that’s far from home
The one who thinks they’re too far gone
I’m throwing out another prayer in faith
Worn out altars, tear stained pews
Still I won’t give up on you
I believe that anything can change
When somebody prays

I’ve seen miracles come from feeble words
I’ve seen hospital rooms turned into cathedrals
And I’ve seen freedom come to the prisoner
You can’t tell me that prayer don’t work

Every night there by your bed
When you fold your hands and bow your head
Not a single word you’ve ever said in vain
Cause He hears everything

September 27, 2026/by David Hall