Introduction

In Mark 12:1–12, Jesus tells a parable that reminds us we are not owners of our lives, resources, or callings—we are stewards of what ultimately belongs to God. This passage invites us to examine whether we’ve been holding too tightly to what He’s entrusted to us. Today’s prayer asks God to give us grace to surrender, trust Him fully, and steward His blessings faithfully. If this prayer encourages you, please share it with someone who also desires to honor God with all He has placed in their hands.

Prayer

Father, I repent of acting like an owner to what’s truly Yours. You own it all; I’m only a steward. I’m willing to give You anything You ask for because it all belongs to You. Give me the grace to hold what’s in my charge loosely so I don’t forfeit my calling and my destiny in Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Mark 12:1-12

Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.