COACH Toby Schwarz - Daily Coaches Prayer

COACH Toby Schwarz

I'm Not Selfish!

1/20/2026

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45

We are all busy and it is difficult to make time for "more". However, a good check on ourselves that should be done occasionally is "what am I doing right now, if anything, that is completely unselfish and has nothing in it for me?" No pay. No return on investment. No credit. No exchange of any kind. Simply, I do something and get nothing for it, and even pay a price for it. That is service.

Lord, help me to be aware enough of my selfish ways and help me to sacrifice more of myself in service to others.

Do Your Job!!!

1/19/2026

“You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain.” John 15:16

When I was growing up, my family would go to church every Sunday and never missed the "big" church events (Christmas, Easter). After one Christmas service, my three older brothers and parents and I started the 20min drive home with my mom asking the standard question, "what did you boys think of the service?" One of my brothers said what we all thought, "It was brutal. The pastor has ALL YEAR to prepare for a Christmas service. It is like his SuperBowl. And he goes out and delivers that? Do your job!". It was unfortunate, but it is a great lesson in that we all have a job to do and not necessarily one specific job, but we are put here for a reason. We need to "Do our job."

Lord, help me to avoid "mailing it in" and simply doing the minimum, especially when it come to what You have for me.

Avoidance is Not a Strategy!

1/16/2026

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Anxiety is something that everyone deals with. It is something we can't avoid and something that often takes over our day/life. Anxiety is not something to be avoided because it is impossible to avoid emotions, which is what anxiety is. Anxiety is something to be dealt with. Our response to anxiety is more important than the fact that we are anxious. You are not a failure for being anxious. However, if you let the anxiety take control instead of asking God for help to control it, you most likely will fail.

Lord, help me to realize that anxiety is a part of my life, but it doesn't need to control my life when I follow the steps You have laid out to deal with it.

Choose Your Attitude!

1/15/2026

“Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited." Philippians 2:5

Happiness and Sadness are reactions to our current circumstances. When something goes right, we are happy. When something goes wrong, we are sad. In contrast, an attitude is a choice. We choose our attitude. Joy is an attitude. We can choose joy even when our circumstance may lead us to be sad. Humility is an attitude. Gratitude is an attitude (and it even rhymes).

Lord, help me to choose to have the attitude that Christ had.

Not From here!

1/14/2026

“Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Philippians 1:27

When a person travels abroad and visits a foreign country, they don't become a citizen of that country. They are a visitor, someone spending time in a culture that is typically vastly different than their own. The food is different. The norms and even the language is often different. And the visitor themselves "stands out" as being different to those who are citizens. For those who choose to follow Christ, we are not citizens of earth as much as visitors, who are called to be different and to stand out and to be ambassadors of our home with God.

Lord, it is easy to be sucked into the norm and the culture we find ourselves, but please help me to remember that this is not home as much as a mission field and a training ground for my faith.

Purpose-Full!

1/13/2026

“I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

Trusting God is essential! If we don't trust God, we are simply like all of the people who don't trust God. We are left to trusting either ourselves or others, and I don't know about you, but I am not that competent and looking around, I don't see many people who have their stuff together, either. So trusting God seems like the best option and trusting that He created us for a purpose is a perfect place to start. We shouldn't spend too much energy trying to figure out exactly what that purpose is. It will become more obvious the longer we seek God. But simply understanding that we have a purpose puts us in a vast better place than 99% of the human population.

Lord, thank You for creating me for a purpose, and help me to trust in that fact so when I feel as if I don't have any value or worth or need some encouragement, I can keep moving forward in life.

Consistancy!!

1/12/2026

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

Some people have a pet or a morning cup of coffee or a favorite TV show at night or some routine that they follow that is a constant in their life, because humans crave consistency in a world that is anything but consistent. Our lives are in a constant state of change (that is the only constant) and mostly out of our control. It is natural for us to desire something we can "hang our hat on" and that is why home ownership is important for many. However, even the pet and barista at the favorite coffee hut and the TV show cast and any routine we may have is inconsistent. God and Jesus are the only consistent point in our lives and that is one of many great reasons to "hang your hat" on Jesus.

Lord, thank You for ALWAYS being there when even the most constant things in my life fail me.

Coachability!

1/9/2026

“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me on level ground.” Psalm 143:10

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink but you can take it's head and shove it in the water until it either drinks or drowns or pulls it's head out and kicks you in the face." From a leadership position, "teaching" is always a better approach than "telling". When we simply "tell" people what to do, they will be less receptive. Helping them understand why they need to do something and showing them how to do it will create a higher level of probably for success. From a learner position, being receptive to teaching is crucial. Asking for help is a fantastic first step but getting uncomfortable and taking the risk to apply the instruction may be difficult but it is the responsibility of the learner.

Lord, help me to be a receptive learner of what You are constantly trying to teach me.

But What If I don't Want to ...?

1/8/2026

“Do everything in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:14

"Do everything in love"! EVERYTHING??!! Now that is excessive. I don't mind people who love me and I don't mind loving people who are easy to love. But what about those other people. You know the ones. The people who are mean. The people who treat me poorly. Loving is hard. What if I don't feel like loving someone? Well, all of these are great points. And I don't have to do anything I don't want to do. But then it makes common sense that I don't get to be upset when people don't love ME because they are probably thinking the same thing about me that I am thinking about them.

Lord, thank You for telling me to do things that are hard and things that are not natural because You know what is better for me and I am simply am a selfish and lazy person that needs that encouragement.

Are You Lost?!

1/7/2026

“And coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ ”Luke 15:6

The one thing interesting about lost sheep is that they don't know that they are lost. They are simply walking around, eating grass and living life until a shepherd comes over and finds them and brings them back to the flock. Often times, when we see or hear the word "lost" our brains immediately go to the imagine of being lost in the woods and not knowing where we are. The reality is that most of the time, people are lost before they realize it, and they don't realize they are lost, so they continue to wander around until someone either points out to them that they are lost or they are so deep in the woods and nothing is familiar to them sot the only option is that they are lost.

Lord, thank You for looking for me and letting me know when I am lost, but help me to be more aware of when I stray off the path and start heading deep into the woods.