To Pay Attention to What God Says

My child, pay attention to what I say.
    Listen carefully to my words.
Don’t lose sight of them.
    Let them penetrate deep into your heart,
for they bring life to those who find them,
    and healing to their whole body.

—Proverbs 4:20-22 (NLT)

Heavenly Father,

Help me to pay attention to what You say—as I listen carefully to Your words and let them penetrate deep into my heart—so that I can fully experience the life, health and wholeness they bring.

With Your Holy Spirit as my teacher, help me fully hear what You would say to me—when I read and study my Bible, while I listen to teaching and preaching, through my conversations with others, and as I quiet myself before You.

Help me to receive, remember and treasure every word You would say to me—allowing the truth of Your words to find a home in the deepest parts of my heart and abide there forever.

Then help me to apply the truth that I have hidden in my heart to everything I think, say and do, so that I can truly live for You—walking in health and wholeness, in my body, soul and spirit, to Your glory, for the rest of my days.

Help me to pay attention to what You say—as I listen carefully to Your words and let them penetrate deep into my heart—so that I can fully experience the life, health and wholeness they bring.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

The Weapons We Fight With

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

—2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

Help me always to remember this:  The real battles I must fight in this life are spiritual battles against anything that challenges Truth—that is the knowledge of God—for the control of my heart.

Thank You that my battles are not like those of the world which—when waged in the flesh—only bring misery and destruction to all who fight them.  Thank You there is victory in Christ for every battle I face!

Remind me that You have given me divinely powerful weapons—to use in the spiritual battles I must fight for the control of my heart, soul and spirit—weapons that are able to demolish any strongholds of the enemy, every argument he may make and each lie that he spews which contradicts the Truth I find in Your Word.

Grant me the wisdom to use these weapons—the weapons of prayer, the power of Truth of Your Word proclaimed, the witness of Your Holy Spirit within my spirit, and my authority in Christ as Your child—to enforce Your victory over the enemy in my life.

Help me to examine carefully every thought or argument that enters my mind and hold it captive and isolated—unable to escape, deceive, or influence me in any way—until such time as it conforms to, and agrees with, and is obedient to Truth, as measured by Christ.

Help me always to remember this:  The real battles I must fight in this life are spiritual battles against anything that challenges Truth—that is the knowledge of God—for the control of my heart.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

He Who Heals My Broken Heart

He heals the brokenhearted
    and bandages their wounds.

He counts the stars
    and calls them all by name.

How great is our Lord! His power is absolute!
    His understanding is beyond comprehension!

—Psalm 147:3-5 (NLT)

Gracious God,

You alone know and understand the brokenness in the depths of my heart—so to whom can I bring my broken heart for healing, but to You?

By Your absolute power and understanding, You count the stars of Your own creation and call each one by name—yet You choose to set Your compassionate love and affection on us.

You are intimately familiar with every wound I carry—every hurt, every pain, every injustice, every disappointment and worldly betrayal—and You know how the enemy has tried to scar my heart permanently with each one.

Only You are infinite in Your understanding and hold the mighty power to heal my heart—to bind up every wound left by the evil of this fallen world.

Even when I cannot understand myself—when I am at a loss to explain my own thoughts, words or actions—You understand me altogether perfectly and love me completely, in spite of my sin—and You desire to bring me back to wholeness again. 

How I need for You to remove from me any self-serving thoughts or motives, so You can become the center of all my desires—and so I might then begin to comprehend better who You are—and who You have made me to be in Christ.

You alone know and understand the brokenness in the depths of my heart—so to whom can I bring my broken heart for healing, but to You?

In the name of Jesus, Amen.