To Please God

For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.

—1 Thessalonians 2:4 (NLT)

Heavenly Father,

Let my highest goal—my all-consuming, life-long mission—be to please You in everything that I do!

Thank You for approving me to be entrusted with the Good News—the Gospel of Jesus Christ—and for sending me out to be one of Your messengers of truth and grace and love, because of this hope which is mine, as a follower of Christ.

Keep me mindful that in order to please You, I must live by faith, out of a clean and obedient heart that is dedicated and submitted to You alone—so that everything I think, say, and do, will honor You, regardless of what others might think of me.

You alone know the motives of my heart, so I ask You to convict me, by Your Holy Spirit, me when my motives are not pure—when I’ve allowed my mind, will and emotions to stray from the truth and to taint my heart—and give me the strength to repent, so I can live more completely in Christ.

Let my highest goal—my all-consuming, life-long mission—be to please You in everything that I do!

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Not Loving This World

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.  For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.  And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

—1 John 2:15-17 (NLT)

Almighty God,

Help me to set my love on You alone—that through my faith, I might please You in everything I think, say and do.

Help me not to set my love on the world or the lesser things that this world offers—but help me to find true treasure in knowing, by experience, all that You are for me.

Help me to reject the temptation to only follow after the self-focused pursuit of the physical pleasures of this world and my desire for everything I see—and look instead for ways that I can be others-focused, as I reach out to help those that You place in my path for me to serve.

Help me to reject the pride, that this world promotes, over those things that I have accomplished—knowing that You alone bring me success and that the success that You bring me is not as the world measures success.

Help me to reject any pride over what possessions I have accumulated—knowing every good thing I have is not mine at all, but only temporarily entrusted to me to meet my needs—and the needs of others—while I am here.

Remind me that this world, and all that is in it, is quickly fading away—and that my hope of eternal life is only found in You.

Help me to set my love on You alone—that through my faith, I might please You in everything I think, say and do.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.