No Room For Idols

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

—1 John 5:21 (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

May I never have room in my heart for idols.

I want to so completely surrender to the Spirit of God within me, that You fill every place in my heart with Your love, peace, power and presence, so there is no room for idols there.

Help me to recognize that idols are anything that might try to take Your rightful place within my heart.

Help me to realize that anything that I put above You in my heart is an idol to me.

May I never idolize a person—making my relationship with them more important to me than my relationship with You—but rather, may all my relationships be in order, because my relationship with You is in order.

May I never idolize a place—and forget Your power to be all places—but rather, be willing and obedient to go wherever You lead me.

May I never idolize a thing—allowing my dependence on things to take the place of my dependence on You to be everything I need—but rather, may I realize that everything I have is Yours and is only placed in my hands to be used for Your glory.

May I never idolize an idea—substituting it for true faith in You—but rather walk in the freedom from fear that comes from the confident hope I have that Your Word is Truth.

Fill me with Your Spirit until all I want is Your love, Your peace, Your presence, Your power—until nothing else will do.

May I never have room in my heart for idols.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

A Very Special Thank You

Heavenly Father,

One year ago today, I set out on an amazing journey to purpose to know You better.  What a wonderful journey it has been, so far! 

I am so grateful for the things that You have shown me through Your Word about Your love, mercy, forgiveness, and Your provision, protection and plans for me. Thank You for the life-giving strength that I have found in Your Word and for the hope and faith it has brought to my life.  Thank You for always meeting me here, as I pray.

Thank You for allowing me to share my journey so that others might be encouraged in their own journeys to experience You more fully. 

I pray that You will continue to bless me with this opportunity to know You more and continue to use my words to touch others through Your love.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Life Or Death Decisions

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

—Romans 6:23 (NLT)

Gracious God,

Thank You for this choice that You set before me—and for making it so easy for me to choose life.

Your Word tells me I can work the works of evil and, for my sin, I will be paid with death.  Or I can accept the free gift of salvation and receive, from You, eternal life through Christ.

If I choose my first option, there is payment made for the work of sin that I do, in the form of a fleetingly temporary gratification of my flesh—but I become a slave to my evil master, with no power in myself to escape, until he drives me to death.

If I choose my second option, You save me from my sin and give me eternal life with You, not because I have earned it, but just because You love me—and all You require me to do is to reach out and take it from You, just as I would receive any gift that was freely given to me.

In my first option, I work and receive just what I deserve—eternal death.

In my second option, I don’t work and I receive what I don’t deserve—eternal life.

May my life be a constant flow of gratitude for Your mercy in allowing me to choose life, through Christ, forever with You.

Thank You for this choice that You set before me—and for making it so easy for me to choose life.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Knowing Love, Knowing God

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God.  Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.  But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

—1 John 4:7-8 (NLT)

Heavenly Father,

Help me always to love, as one of Your children.

Don’t allow me to pervert Your love into mere human emotions—and become selfish, chasing after this world’s lies about what love should feel like, or look like.

Help me to truly show others Your love, as I seek to know You better and allow You to reveal that love in me and through me.

Out of a childlike heart of abundant gratitude to You, may I make deliberate choices and take definitive actions to give of myself to others in love—just as Jesus did.

May those that see me, see Your love reflected in me, and come to know that God is love.

Help me always to love, as one of Your children.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Thinking Under The Influence

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 

So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

—Romans 8:5-6 (NLT)

Heavenly Father,

Out of an abundance of love for You, may I always allow Your Holy Spirit to direct my thoughts, so I walk in those paths that lead to life and peace.

Thank You for rescuing me from that time when I allowed my sinful nature to dominate my thoughts and influence my actions—for I was truly on the pathway that leads to destruction and death.

Thank You that, because I have accepted Jesus as my Savior, I have the Spirit of God within me—so I can relinquish my control of my mind to Him and He will help me think on things that please You.

Thank You that in order to check my walk—in order to make sure my pathway is leading me to life and peace—all I need to do is to check my thinking, because how I am thinking will determine which way I go.

Out of an abundance of love for You, may I always allow Your Holy Spirit to direct my thoughts, so I walk in those paths that lead to life and peace.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.