In The Name!

 

 

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

 

— Colossians 3:17 ESV

 

 

 

Father God,

 

Help me to represent my Lord Jesus well this day—in my thoughts, words and actions—and may my life become a continual act of giving thanks, through Him to You.

 

As a grateful follower of Your Son, Jesus, let every aspect of my daily life reflect well on the One whose Name and Love I carry with me, into this dark and lost world. 

 

Let me ever be conscious of the impression that I leave with others, so that I would always show them the love of Christ—that they might be changed by the Christ they see in me, for Your glory.

 

Help me remember to speak only words of life, truth, love and encouragement to everyone that I encounter, both today and every day.

 

Help me always remain obedient to Your commands and submitted to Your authority—to depend on Your strength and remain in Your peace, serving You in all things with joy.

 

Let my life be an offering of grateful worship to You for all the gentle compassion, patient mercy, complete forgiveness, amazing grace, and unfailing love that You have poured out over me through Jesus Christ.

 

Help me to represent my Lord Jesus well this day—in my thoughts, words and actions—and may my life become a continual act of giving thanks, through Him to You.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

God Chose You!

 

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.  Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 

—Colossians 3:12-14 (NLT)

 

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Help me today, as I seek to live a holy life—in grateful response to Your amazing love for me.

 

Help me to put on tenderhearted mercy for others—as I see each person through Your eyes of compassion.

 

Help me to clothe myself in kindness to all—having experienced for myself the abundant kindness of my Savior.

 

Help me put my own selfish desires aside and dress myself with humility—as I consider others before I consider myself.

 

Help me to put on the garment of quiet and gently disciplined strength—as I look to You as my only source of strength.

 

Let the clothing of tireless patience be mine to wear, as I bear with those around me, forgiving them freely, quickly, and completely—just as You, through Your Son, Jesus, have forgiven me.

 

And over all of these, help me to wear Your love—which holds every virtue in perfect unity—so that I might be known by the love of Christ in me.

 

Help me today as I seek to live a holy life—in grateful response to Your amazing love for me.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

 

Don't Speak Evil!

 

Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters.  If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law.  But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you.

 

—James 4:11 (NLT)

 

 

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Help me never speak evil against my brothers and sisters—never say anything about someone which would hurt them or defame their character in the eyes of someone else—as I choose instead to live by Your law of love.

 

Replace any critical spirit within me with a spirit of grace and truth.  Grant me the wisdom to discern truth in every situation—and as I seek after what is just and right, help me remain submitted to Your laws of forgiveness, kindness and grace.

 

Help me to capture and bring my every thought into obedience to Christ and His character, as revealed in Your Word—so that any word I speak would be true and useful to bring encouragement and unity between myself and others.

 

And if I ever feel offended by someone, keep me from sharing that offense with others.  Rather, help me always to go directly to the offender to express my complaint against them—in humility, with kindness and love—so that understanding can come, our relationship can be restored and strengthened, and the enemy’s plans to bring division between us can be stopped.

 

Help me never speak evil against my brothers and sisters—never say anything about someone which would hurt them or defame their character in the eyes of someone else—as I choose instead to live by Your law of love.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Just Love!

 

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD.  And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’  The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  No other commandment is greater than these.  —Mark 12:29-31 (NLT)

 

 

 

Dear LORD God,

 

Oh, that I could more perfectly return to You that same love with which You first loved me—and then actively love others in the same way that I love myself!

 

Help me to make room within my heart, so that You can fill it completely with Your love—that love that overwhelms me and consumes my soul—so that I would never miss any opportunity You give me to participate with You in loving those around me.

 

Help me to avoid the trap of believing that there could ever be anything more important than these all-inclusive commands—commands that are not restricted by time or place, commands I should follow no matter where I may find myself.

 

Just as You have loved me, help me to love others well—with that same compassion, patience, kindness, mercy, forgiveness, and grace that You have shown me—by willingly and obediently reflecting Your love for them in all my thoughts, words, and actions.

 

Oh, that I could more perfectly return to You that same love with which You first loved me—and then actively love others in the same way that I love myself!

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

My LORD and My King

 

 

In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

 

—Judges 21:25 (NLT)

 

 

 

 

My LORD and My King,

 

May You remain forever my only LORD and King, so that the way I conduct my life will be according to Your Truth and not according to my own opinion.

 

Help me to seek Your perfect will, rather than my selfish will; Your eternal plans, rather than my fleeting plans; Your righteous desires, rather than my corrupt desires; and Your pure motives, rather than my sinful motives—so that my heart would be fully Yours and I would reflect the character of Christ.

 

Keep me from the chaos that comes from deciding for myself what is right and what is wrong—based on my own limited and flawed intellect and perspective—and give me the faith to trust You for the best answers, knowing Your intellect is infinitely beyond my own and Your perfect perspective is limitless.

 

As I commit to obediently follow Your instructions—as revealed to my spirit by the Holy Spirit through Your Word—let my actions reflect Your standards for morality, mercy, forgiveness, grace, justice, truth, and above all, love.

May You remain forever my only LORD and King, so that the way I conduct my life will be according to Your Truth and not according to my own opinion.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

You Are the Salt!

 

You are the salt of the earth.  But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor?  Can you make it salty again?  It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. —Matthew 5:13 (NLT)

 

Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!                                      —Psalm 34:8 (NLT)

 

 

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Do not let me ever forget the calling that Christ placed on my life to be the salt of the earth—so that others may also taste and see that You are good and find the joy that comes when they take their refuge in You!

 

Help me to guard against losing my saltiness—that flavor my life in Christ brings to the world.  For without Christ, my life would be good for nothing and left to be trampled under the feet of a carelessly bustling world.

 

Help me to remember that in order to remain salty, I desperately need to invest my time in being in Your Presence, learning from Your Word and being taught by Your Spirit—as I pray, search the Bible, and sit quietly before You to hear what the Spirit would have to say to my life and circumstances—so that when You add me into the mix of this day, I will be in a position to improve its flavor.

 

So, fill me with the deep and unfailing love of Christ, until it overflows from within me by the power of the Holy Spirit—so that the flavor of every thought that I have, of every word that I speak, and of every action I take, will be made alive—having been seasoned with genuine compassion, patient kindness, fresh and daily-renewed mercy, freely-offered forgiveness, and abundant grace.

 

Do not let me ever forget the calling that Christ placed on my life to be the salt of the earth—so that others may also taste and see that You are good and find the joy that comes when they take their refuge in You.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

By the Way You Live

 

 

Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.

 

—Matthew 3:8 (NLT)

 

 

 

 

 

Father God,

 

May the way that I live be evidence of my repentance for my sins—my decision to leave my old ways behind, to turn, and run to You.

 

Save me from the hypocrisy of claiming that I have repented of my sins, when there is no visible proof of my claim to be found in the way that I live my life.

 

Instead, help me show others—by the way I live my life—that I have been changed, been set apart to do Your will, and that I am submitted to Your will, plan and purpose for my life.

 

May the best evidence of this change in me be seen in the way that I love others—with all the compassion, kindness, patience, mercy, forgiveness, and grace which can only come through Christ.

 

May the way that I live be evidence of my repentance for my sins—my decision to leave my old ways behind, to turn, and run to You.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Always Be . . .

 

 

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

 

—Ephesians 4:2 (NLT)

 

 

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Show me how to love others, just as Jesus has loved me.

 

Grant me a humble heart—that I would not think more highly of myself than I ought—knowing that any good thing that may be found in me is only there by Your hand.

 

Grant me a gentle spirit—that I would act with loving gentleness in all my dealings with others—offering them both truth and grace, which are born out of Christ’s great love for us all.

 

Grant me a patient disposition—that I would not blindly rush past any invitation of the Holy Spirit for me to be a part of what You are doing to change the hearts and lives of those You put before me.

 

Grant me a merciful attitude—that I would make allowances for the faults of others, out of my love for them—remembering that all of us are broken in some way and need Your healing touch.

 

Show me how to love others, just as Jesus has loved me.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

You Forgave!

 

 

I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.

 

—Psalm 32:5 (NASB)

 

 

 

 

Gracious and Forgiving LORD,

 

Help me to own up to my sin—to freely, openly, and completely confess it all to You in repentance—so that I may fully experience the wonders of Your forgiveness, Your grace, and Your unfailing love for me.  For only in understanding fully the grace that You have given me, can I begin to offer that same grace to those around me.

 

Help me to understand that when I try (in vain) to hide my sins from You—refusing to honestly and completely confess them before You—I am only inviting You to extend Your hand of discipline on my life, robbing myself of the blessing of grace that Christ died to bring me.

 

Help me always hurry to lay myself bare before You in true repentance of my rebellious, sinful nature—knowing that You forgive my disobedience, You put my sin out of Your sight, and You clear my record of all guilt, making me as righteous in Your eyes, as Christ Himself.

 

Show me my heart that I would see clearly those things I have yet to surrender to You—as I submit to the changes that You want to make in me by Your Word and by Your Spirit.  And help me to acknowledge that any goodness in me comes from You alone—and is intended only for Your Glory.

 

Help me to own up to my sin—to freely, openly, and completely confess it all to You in repentance—so that I may fully experience the wonders of Your forgiveness, Your grace, and Your unfailing love for me.  For only in understanding fully the grace that You have given me, can I begin to offer that same grace to those around me.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Because People Disobey

 

 

Rivers of tears gush from my eyes
    because people disobey your instructions.

 

—Psalm 119:136 (NLT)

 

 

 

 

Ever-Loving LORD,

 

May my heart break—along with Yours—and may my tears gush over the disobedience of Your people!

 

I confess that my heart has not been truly broken and far too few of my tears have been shed over the choices that Your own people have made to disobey, dishonor, and disregard Your instructions.

 

Instead of being broken, my heart has been self-righteously critical and judging of others when I witness the mess that they have made of their lives by the choices that they have made—thinking in my heart that they have gotten what they deserve.

 

Then I am reminded that I, too, have broken Your heart through my own disobedience and am deserving of much worse than I have received—and yet, You have loved me back to Yourself, time and time again.

 

Help my heart to break over sin—both mine own and the sins of others—and show me how to love others in the same way You have shown Your love to me. 

 

Grant me the humility of heart to love them as You would have me love them—to love them enough to love them back to You!

 

May my heart break—along with Yours—and may my tears gush over the disobedience of Your people!

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

You Offer Forgiveness

 

LORD, if you kept a record of our sins,

    who, O Lord, could ever survive?

But you offer forgiveness,

    that we might learn to fear you.

 

—Psalm 130:3-4 (NLT)

 

 

 

 

Gracious and Merciful God,

 

Thank You, that for my sin You offer me Your forgiveness—You completely remove my sin from me and choose to remember it no more—so that there is nothing left between us to keep me from You.

 

If You kept a record of my sins, how could I ever survive?  For my sin would be an ever-enlarging, impenetrable wall of judgment that kept me separated from You—that kept me from the strength of Your presence and left me to face this world on my own. How could I live without You?

 

But You, LORD, hold no grudge against me, when I sincerely repent of my sins—when I turn my back on my sinful behavior, ask for Your forgiveness, and pursue the ways of truth and life. 

 

You remove my sin—that wall of separation—and You look upon me as if I had never sinned, so that I can continue in fellowship with You, being strengthened by Your presence, so I can offer You the reverential respect and awe that is due You.

 

Help me to use Your model of complete forgiveness, when I forgive others—by not keeping a record of wrongs—so that the walls between myself and others may be torn down and I can live at peace with all men.

 

Thank You, that for my sin You offer me Your forgiveness—You completely remove my sin from me and choose to remember it no more—so that there is nothing left between us to keep me from You.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Confess, Turn, and Receive Mercy!

 

 

People who conceal their sins will not prosper,

    but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.

 

—Proverbs 28:13 (NLT)

 

 

 

Merciful and Compassionate LORD,

 

Keep me from the foolishness of trying to conceal my sins. Help me to confess and turn from them, so that I will receive mercy.

 

By Your Holy Spirit, convict me of my sins—and expose the evil that they contain and the power that they have to destroy me—so that I might learn from my sins and not repeat them. 

 

Help me willingly and openly confess my sins to You, for You already know them; tremble before Your justice, knowing that I deserve punishment; and fall upon Your mercy and grace, that I may be delivered from them through Your promise of forgiveness.

 

Help me to truly repent of my sins—to turn away from them and run the other direction, straight into Your merciful and compassionate arms of love. Then let me glorify You for the unmerited favor that You pour over me.

 

Keep me from the foolishness of trying to conceal my sins. Help me to confess and turn from them, so that I will receive mercy.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Nothing Hidden, All Naked and Exposed!

 

 

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

 

—Hebrews 4:13 (NLT)

 

 

 

Omniscient God,

 

Thank You for loving me, wanting me, and for continually calling me into a deeper relationship with You—even though You see and know all my imperfections.

 

You have created everything there is and there is not one thing that is hidden from You. You have perfect and absolute knowledge of the smallest detail about every person, everywhere, at all times.

 

You know all of my thoughts, even before they are formed; sense every one of my emotions, before they ever manifest; discern and understand my every motive, better than I ever will myself; hear my every word, even before it is formed in my mouth and crosses my lips; and You see everything I do, before I even begin to do it.

 

And You are the One to whom I am held accountable, so help me to see myself as I truly am—then help me repent of my sin, submit myself to You, and allow You to change me into the person I should be.

 

Help me each day to purpose in my heart to please You in everything that I think, say, and do—just as You are faithful to shower me daily with new mercy, grace, forgiveness, and love.

 

Thank You for loving me, wanting me, and for continually calling me into a deeper relationship with You—even though You see and know all my imperfections.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.