Crying Out For Nourishment

So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.  Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.  Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.

—1 Peter 2:1-3 (NLT)

Father God,

From the moment that You saved me, I have tasted of Your kindness and found that You are good.  Help me to continually cry out for more of You!

Make me like a hungry newborn baby who cries for nourishment.  Let me always crave the life-giving, spiritual milk I find in Your Word—as revealed by Your Spirit—so that I can fully grow to experience all that Your salvation offers me.

Save me from any trace of wickedness and every desire there may be within me to cause pain, injury, or distress to others—that I might learn to be kind.

Save me from any tendency to try to deceive others—so that my true intentions will always be understood and my actions will always reflect my words.

Save me from each temptation that comes to entice me to pretend to be someone who I am not.  And help me to be—vulnerably and sincerely—just who I am, just who You created me to be.

Save me from any envy for, or resentment toward, the blessings I see in the lives of others—so I might be content and secure in Your generous blessing upon my own life.

Save me from ever using my words to slander another person's reputation, or to hurt or offend others—so that every word I speak would honor You.

From the moment that You saved me, I have tasted of Your kindness and found that You are good.  Help me to continually cry out for more of You!

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Just As God Who Chose You

So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

—1 Peter 1:14-16 (NLT)

Heavenly Father,

Since I have been adopted into Your family and declared to be one of Your own, help me to live as Your obedient child—rejecting my old life and embracing completely the wonderful new life that You, by Your grace, have freely given to me.

Save me from slipping back into the attitudes and patterns of behavior from which You rescued me—those old selfish ways that I once thought served me well, but in reality only led me closer to my own destruction and death.

Since I now know better, help me be obedient to Your Spirit, as You guide me to walk in the revealed Truth of Your Word—with gratefulness, at all times, in all circumstances and with complete willingness and submission to You.

Continue to work in me to make me holy as You are holy, as I seek to imitate Christ in all I think, say and do—that You might be seen in me and my life might bring You glory for who You are, for what You have done and for what You are doing in me.

Since I have been adopted into Your family and declared to be one of Your own, help me to live as Your obedient child—rejecting my old life and embracing completely the wonderful new life that You, by Your grace, have freely given to me.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

The Instructions Of The LORD

The instructions of the LORD are perfect,
    reviving the soul.
The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy,
    making wise the simple.

— Psalm 19:7 (NLT)

Dear LORD,

Thank You for giving me Your Word—the perfect instruction manual for my life!  For Your Word brings new life to my soul and shows me how even a simple man, like me, can become wise.

Thank You, that Your instructions are perfect and pure—not corrupted in any way—full of only that which is good for me, and designed to equip me in every way, to every good work that You have planned for me.

Thank You that Your instructions revive and refresh my mind, will, and emotions, with new strength—strength to obey Your Word—so that I can walk in that close relationship with You which brings me life.

Thank You, that I can completely trust what You have decreed, because Your words represent Your righteousness, they endure throughout all the generations of man and beyond, and they fulfill their purpose—as I honor them in my life.

Thank You, that as simple-minded as I am, through Your words, You help me to grow in understanding and judgment and give me insight into Your ways and even revelation of things that are yet to come—if I remain submitted to the instruction of Your Word.

Thank You for giving me Your Word—the perfect instruction manual for my life!  For Your Word brings new life to my soul and shows me how even a simple man, like me, can become wise.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.