Wanting What You Want for Me

 

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the LORD laid on him
    the sins of us all.

 

—Isaiah 53:6 (NLT)

 

Loving LORD,

Like a shepherd lead me, along Your paths today,

and teach me by Your Spirit’s voice, to never stray away.  

 

I need You to lead me today.  Because just like a sheep, if left on my own, I will wander from the path of Your will for me—and follow a path marked by my own self-centered desires. 

 

Sometimes, I do it somehow blindly unaware of my wandering—as if I were sleepwalking—failing to wake up to the error of my way, until I am lost and a long way from home.

 

Sometimes, I fall back into my old ways of stubborn and willful rebellion—fully aware, but foolishly wanting what I want, more than wanting what You want for me.

 

And yet, always, even in my sin, You call me to return to You—having laid all of my sin upon Jesus, so that I might stand in the peace and protection of Your Presence once again.

 

Help me to keep my eyes fixed on You, and to value Your Presence as I should, so I will hear Your instruction and choose to follow You in obedience—as You lead me to every good thing that You have prepared for me.  

Like a shepherd lead me, along Your paths today,

and teach me by Your Spirit’s voice, to never stray away.  

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Effective and Powerful!

I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective and powerful because of your accurate knowledge of every good thing which is ours in Christ.

 

—Philemon 1:6 (AMP)

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Help me to share my faith effectively and powerfully—so that others might come to know You, too.

 

Teach me from Your Word every good thing which is mine in Christ—as I read and study Your Word, and as I listen for Your Spirit to instruct me—so that my knowledge would be accurate.

 

As I share my faith, remind me to begin with what I know to be true from my own life about the good things that are mine in Christ.  

 

And don’t let the things that I don’t yet fully understand hold me back from sharing what I do know to be true—those things I have learned from the riches of my personal experience with You.

 

Remind me that it is easy to tell the story of my faith, because You have written that story on the pages of my life—with the pen of Your love for me.

 

Help me to share my faith effectively and powerfully—so that others might come to know You, too.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Every Word True

 

Every word of God proves true.
    He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.

 

—Proverbs 30:5 (NLT)

 

Father God,

 

Thank You for all the times that Your words have been proven true in my life—and for the comfort and hope that comes over me when I remember Your faithfulness to Your Word!

 

Remind me to run to Your Word—the Bible—every day, so that by Your Spirit You can reveal the Truth that You have waiting there for me to discover.

 

And should I become discouraged, help me to look back and remember how in all my life Your words have always proven to be true—and have worked to my great gain, when I have been faithful to live in willing obedience to Your Word.

 

Help me never to forget that You have provided this pathway to Truth out of Your great love for me—so that if I seek out Your Truth and apply it to my life, You will be a shield for me, covering me, protecting me and keeping me in perfect peace.

 

Thank You for all the times that Your words have been proven true in my life—and for the comfort and hope that comes over me when I remember Your faithfulness to Your Word!

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Why We Never Give Up!

 

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!

 

—2 Corinthians 4:16-17 (NLT)

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Renew me once again today, so that I won’t be tempted to give up! 

 

Help me to draw on the power of Your Holy Spirit within me, to renew my strength, so I can boldly face what lies before me on my journey through this life.

 

Remind me that though my body has been aging since the day I was born, You cause me to be renewed in the inner man of my spirit—so that I find new life in You, discover more about who You are, and become more like You, with each new day.

 

Show me how to trust in You, and believe, and put my hope in You alone, knowing the temporary troubles that I face are simply tools which You will use for my good—to mold and fashion me into the person that You want me to be, so that I can bring You glory.

 

Grant me the humility to accept my human limitations, recognize my dependence on You, and to take my eyes off my troubles long enough to see You—and acknowledge Your great power to save me out of them all!

 

And help me to embrace life here with the joy and peace that You have called me to—until that great day when You call me home to be forever with You in glory.

 

Renew me once again today, so that I won’t be tempted to give up! 

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Things the LORD Detests

 

There are six things the LORD hates—
    no, seven things he detests:
haughty eyes,
    a lying tongue,
    hands that kill the innocent,
a heart that plots evil,
    feet that race to do wrong,
a false witness who pours out lies,
    a person who sows discord in a family.

 —Proverbs 6:16-19 (NLT)

 

LORD of my Heart,

 

Help me to surrender all my heart and life to You—so You would have no reason to detest the things that You find in me.

 

Remove any haughtiness or conceitedness from within me—especially when my eyes show contempt for others. Keep me from sinning by thinking more highly of myself than I ought to, while undervaluing others.

 

Check me by Your Spirit should any lie be formed in my heart—before it spills across my tongue—that my words would always reflect that I hold Truth as sacred in my life.

 

Purge from me any desire for the shedding of innocent blood—for cruelty or bloodthirstiness.  Help me to have precious reverence for the sanctity of life.

 

Expose any tendency to devise wickedness in my heart or to entertain or rehearse evil plans in my mind—that I might chose to meditate only on what is good and right.

 

Make my feet quick to run to do what is good, so that my feet will be kept from that which is evil.

 

Let me only speak the truth about others—and let those words be pleasing to You—so that I cannot be used as a tool of the enemy for his purposes.

 

And stop me from sowing any seeds of discord among my family—whether my natural family or my brothers and sisters in Christ—that unity would be preserved.

Help me to surrender all my heart and life to You—so You would have no reason to detest the things that You find in me.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

LORD, Break My Heart for What Breaks Yours

 

 

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.

 

Look to the LORD for Help

 

As for me, I look to the LORD for help.

    I wait confidently for God to save me,
    and my God will certainly hear me.

 

—Micah 7:7 (NLT)

 

God of My Salvation, 

Help me to remember that You are my source of help—that all my help surely comes from You!

 

Help me look to You and wait—in quietness of spirit and in confidence of heart—for You to save me from whatever circumstance or situation in which I find myself.

 

And help me to see Your hand working to accomplish Your plans and purposes for me along every path that You lead me down—as You teach me more about Your ways and show me Your salvation.

 

May I always cry out to You in faith—trusting that You will hear me. For You know my thoughts, even before I put them into words and are ever eager to answer the cries of my heart.

 

Help me to remember that You are my source of help—that all my help surely comes from You!

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.