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.

Laying My Requests Before You

In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice;
    in the morning I lay my requests before you
    and wait expectantly.

—Psalm 5:3 (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

Let me call out to You every morning with confidence—humbly placing my requests before You—and wait expectantly, in Your presence, believing You will hear and will answer the cry of my heart.

Help me to consistently come before You every morning with humility and reverence—confident that I will find You waiting to meet with me.

Help me to approach Your throne with a heart filled with gratitude—as I lay my requests before You and by faith believe that You hear my every word.

Help me to wait quietly in Your presence for You to speak Your answers to my heart’s desires—trusting all the while that You want what is best for me.

Let me call out to You every morning with confidence—humbly placing my requests before You—and wait expectantly, in Your presence, believing You will hear and will answer the cry of my heart.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

He Cares About You

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

—1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)

Heavenly Father,

What more could You have done to demonstrate how much You care about me, than to send Your Son to die in my place and then, by His resurrection, conquer death that I might find life forever in Him?

Help me to look to the cross to understand the depth of Your care for me, so I might more fully trust You with my life—and so the sin of my unbelief would be driven far from me.

Show me that when I anxiously try to carry my own worries and concerns—rather than giving them over to You and trusting You to take care of them all—I am discounting how much You care for me.

May I never allow my circumstances to have control over me—submitting to the fear that they try to bring into my life and allowing that fear to torture me—distracting me from the path of life, joy and peace that You have set me on and keeping me from being everything You have called me to be.

But may I always look to You—the One who cares for me and controls all circumstances—and patiently wait for the good plans that You have made for me to come to pass as You turn my mourning into dancing, my sorrow into joy.

What more could You have done to demonstrate how much You care about me, than to send Your Son to die in my place and then, by His resurrection, conquer death that I might find life forever in Him?

In the name of Jesus, Amen.