Surefootedly Confident

The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
   he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
   he enables me to tread on the heights.

--Habakkuk 3:19a (NIV)

Dear Lord God,

You are my Strength!

Because of You, I can fearlessly and courageously move forward through those high and hard places that come up before me.

I know that whether they are places of trouble, or suffering, or responsibility, I can be confident that You will hold me up and will keep me from falling, as I remain in faith and fellowship with You.

You are my Strength!

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

To Be Your Disciple

In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

--Luke 14:33 (NIV)

Lord of my life,

I want to be Your disciple.

Help me to see that all those things that I call my own—whether they are possessions, plans that I have for my life, or even relationships with family and friends—are in truth only on loan from You, and are only entrusted to me to manage according to Your will.

Help me to be ready and willing to surrender my perceived ownership of those things, so that I can fully follow You, even when where You are taking me requires me to give up things I hold dear.

Help me to realize that when I demonstrate an unwillingness to release those things to You, I am practicing nothing short of idolatry.

Help me to understand that holding on to things is acting out of my fear, rather than a testimony of my faith in You alone.

Help me to believe in Your teachings, to rest and take my peace in the sacrifice that You made for me, to abide with Your Spirit within me, and to imitate Your example, as a true disciple.

I want to be Your disciple.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Just Like You

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

--Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)

Father God,

Help me to imitate You in love.

Just like a child who is truly loved experiences that love demonstrated for him by his father and follows after his father’s example and teachings of how to love, so do I want to walk in the ways of Your love.

Help me to imitate You in love.

Just like You demonstrate Your love without caution or hesitation, but rather generously and extravagantly, so do I want to demonstrate my love to others not by loving to receive something from others, but loving to bring glory to You, by giving all of myself to others, just as Your Son did when He came and died for us to give us life eternal in Him.

Help me to imitate You in love.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.