Words,Thoughts, Actions

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,

To practice wicked works

With men who work iniquity;

And do not let me eat of their delicacies.

--Psalm 141:3-4 (NKJV)

Dear Lord,

May my words be words from You,

because my thoughts are thoughts like Yours,

so that my actions will be consistently in line with Your will. 

Just as a guard stands at the door to keep an evil man from escaping, I need You to stand guard at the door of my lips to keep evil words from escaping my mouth.

So, help me strive to fill my heart with only good and Godly things and leave no room for evil.

Just as a guard stands at the door to keep an evil man from entering, I need You to keep my heart from contemplating evil plans that might entice me to join those who make the evil that they do seem so delicious.  Show me that what they eat is a poison to my soul.

So, help me strive to fill my heart with only good and Godly things and leave no room for evil.

May my words be words from You, 

because my thoughts are thoughts like Yours, 

so that my actions will be consistently in line with Your will. 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Following Simple Instructions

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

--Luke 6:31 (NIV)

Dear Lord,

Thank you for the way you make things easy for me to understand.

There are some things that come from You that I try…but fail miserably…to understand.

That is why I am so grateful that You make Your most important instructions so wonderfully understandable and simple to apply.

Help this question be in my heart with every interaction I make with others, both today and every day:

How would I want this person to treat me if I were standing where they are and they were standing where I am?

Then help me to consciously answer the question and apply the answer to my actions, so that I may always act out of kindness and love.

Thank you for the way you make things easy for me to understand.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Faith In Your Power

That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

--I Corinthians 2:5 (KJV)

Forever Powerful God,

Thank you for continually demonstrating Your amazing power in my life!

Thank you for revealing to me those things that You are doing in and through me, by Your power alone, today and every day. 

And thank you for reminding me of all the times that You have shown Yourself faithful to demonstrate Your power in my life, all along the way.

I don’t want to place my faith in the limited and ever-shifting wisdom of men, who act like they know so much.

I want to put my faith in the limitless and never-changing power of God, who truly does know it all.

Thank you for continually demonstrating Your amazing power in my life!

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

I Want To Please You

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

--Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

Gracious God,

I want to please You…at all times!

I know from Your Word that it is impossible for me to please You, unless by my actions, I demonstrate that my heart is filled with faith in You.  

I want to please You…at all times!

By faith, I know that You exist and because of that faith, I can come to You fully confident that You will reward me, by revealing Yourself to me, as I sincerely and deliberately seek to know You.

I want to please You…at all times!

Help me to use that same faith…the faith that causes me to believe that You exist…to move me forward in the things that You call me to do that seem so impossible to me.

I want to please You…at all times!

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Perfect Perspective

As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

--Isaiah 55:9 (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

There is so much that I still do not understand…and that’s okay!

Help me not to get so consumed with trying to understand everything about what you are doing, that I forget that I don’t have to understand everything…that You simply expect me to have faith and consistently trust that You are always at work for my good.

Remind me that just like the heavens are much higher than the earth, the way that You do things, and even Your way of thinking about things, is absolutely perfect…a result of Your unhindered and infinite perspective.

At the same time, don’t let me forget that how I do things, and even the way I think about things, is greatly flawed…because of my distorted and limited perspective.

Help me to trust that You will let me see things from Your perspective when and if the time is right…and give me the peace of mind to rest in Your love, in the meantime.

There is so much that I still do not understand…and that’s okay!

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Not One More Moment

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

 --Philippians 4:6-7 (NLV)

God of Grace,

I don’t want to give the enemy one more moment of my valuable time.

Help me to remember that when the enemy relentlessly attacks my mind with 

• everything that has gone wrong in my life so far,
• the seemingly hopeless situations that find myself in now, as a result,
• and everything that might go wrong from this point forward, 

that You have given me a way to 

• escape the torment,
• quiet the enemy,
• and receive Your peace which abundantly exceeds my ability to understand.

I don’t want to give the enemy one more moment of my valuable time.

When that flood of negative thoughts assaults me, remind me to thank You for how You have always carried me through my life, miraculously providing for my needs and consistently working for my good.

Remind me to come to You and spell out what is bothering me, trusting You to take the mess from me and fix it as only You truly can.

Help me to know that as much as I am able to leave it all in Your hands, so will Your peace be multiplied back to me.

Knowing how important it is to guard my heart, help me to remember that as I live my life in Christ Jesus, You have promised Your peace will guard my heart and mind.

I don’t want to give the enemy one more moment of my valuable time.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.