Remain

 

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”

 

—John 15:4 (NLT)

 

Gracious Father God,

Let me continually and forever remain in Jesus Christ—for He is my Savior, my Lord, and the very source of my life.

 

Help me always to abide with Him—to inseparably link every aspect of my life to Him—and live in according to the Truth which He came to declare to us all, comforted by the knowledge that He will remain in me.

 

For it is only in Christ—through my openness to receive the full measure of grace and truth that He pours out over me—that I find everything that I need to accomplish every plan and purpose for which He has uniquely crafted and equipped me.

 

And without Him I cannot produce any good thing—I cannot fulfill Your will for me—and I cannot enjoy the privilege of being used to be a part of the great things that You are doing in the lives of those all around me.

 

So, help me to be fruitful—producing good works which are a reflection of Your amazing love, truth, and grace—so that others might see Christ in me and give You the glory, honor, and praise that You are due.

Let me continually and forever remain in Jesus Christ—for He is my Savior, my Lord, and the very source of my life.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

A Humble Heart and Pure Motives

 

Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

 

—Romans 12:16 (NLT)

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Give me a humble heart and pure motives, so that I might have the privilege of joining in with You to touch the lives of others with Your love.

 

Help me to live in harmony with those around me—by celebrating the diversity of souls that You have created and making my first consideration my own shortcomings, rather than the shortcomings of others.

 

Keep me from taking a proud and haughty attitude with others, thinking I am better than them, when in truth it is only by Your mercy, grace, and strength that I can stand at all.

 

Teach me to enjoy the company of “ordinary” people—people who are just broken in different ways than I am—and help me to work willingly alongside them as you lead, understanding that You are the One who knows it all.

 

Give me a humble heart and pure motives, so that I might have the privilege of joining in with You to touch the lives of others with Your love.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

You Heal Me, You Save Me

 

O LORD, if you heal me, I will be truly healed;

    if you save me, I will be truly saved.

    My praises are for you alone!

 

—Jeremiah 17:14 (NLT)

 

Sovereign LORD of My Life,

 

All my praise belongs to You alone!

 

Thank You for being the One who truly and fully heals me of all my brokenness—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually—as You draw me closer and closer to You and form the true character of Christ in me.

 

Thank You for being the One who truly and completely saves me—from all my sins, from all my faults, and from all my failures—the One who sets me free to become everything that I have been created and called to be in Christ. 

 

No one else deserves my praise, so help me never give to another that which belongs to You alone. For You are the One who truly heals me, the One who truly saves me. May Your praises forever be on my lips.

 

All my praise belongs to You alone!

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

For the Good of Others

 

Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.

 

—1 Corinthians 10:24 (NLT)

 

Loving and Compassionate God,

 

Save me from any self-centered tendency in me that would cause me to consider only that which is good for me!

 

Too often I make decisions according to what I think is best for me—with little thought to making those decisions based on what is good for others.

 

Help me to think about myself less, so I can think more about the people that You divinely place in my path—and what I might do that would be best for them.

 

Today, grant me opportunities to be more self-sacrificial—and help me to be willingly obedient to Your Spirit’s promptings, so that Christ may be glorified in me.

 

Save me from any self-centered tendency in me that would cause me to consider only that which is good for me!

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Our Hope

 

Let your unfailing love surround us, LORD,
    for our hope is in you alone.

 

—Psalm 33:22 (NLT)

 

Loving and Merciful LORD,

May I forever place all my hope in You, LORD—as You faithfully surround me with Your unfailing love.

 

Teach me not to place my hope in my possessions. Help me to understand that what I have is not my own, but Yours—and remind me that if it were all stripped away from me today, I would have lost nothing, because I still have You, the One who is everything to me.

 

Teach me not to place my hope in other people. Help me to see that other people are human and just like me, they sometimes disappoint, they sometimes fail, and they sometimes let me down. Remind me that even if everyone else abandoned me, You would still be with me always.

 

Teach me not to place my hope in my position or in my own strength. Help me to see that any position or strength that I have was given by Your hand—to be used for Your glory and not my own—and that even if I was removed from my position and all strength was drained from me, You would still uphold me in Your everlasting arms.

May I forever place all my hope in You, LORD—as You faithfully surround me with Your unfailing love.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Salvation From the LORD

The LORD is good to those who depend on him,

    to those who search for him.

So it is good to wait quietly

    for salvation from the LORD.

 

—Lamentations 3:25-26 (NLT)

 

Good and Faithful LORD,

 

May I always depend on You, and see that You are good. May I always search for You, and discover that You can be found. And may I always wait quietly for You, and find my salvation always and only comes from You.

 

Help me to acknowledge that I am totally dependent on You—that apart from You I have no hope. Display Your goodness in every corner of my life, as it is Your desire to do.

 

Help me to search for You with all my heart, so that You can usher me into Your presence and show me who You are.

 

Help me to wait quietly for You, trusting in Your faithfulness. Let me experience the salvation that comes to everyone who puts all their hope in You.

 

May I always depend on You, and see that You are good. May I always search for You, and discover that You can be found. And may I always wait quietly for You, and find my salvation always and only comes from You.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

 

Turn Back and Live!

 

 

“I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign LORD. Turn back and live!”

—Ezekiel 18:32 (NLT)

 

Sovereign LORD,

 

Thank you that even in my wanderings away from You, You never wanted me to die. You wanted me to turn back to You and live!

 

Thank You for loving me with an unfailing love and for the unrelenting way that You call me to Yourself—because You want me to be in right relationship with You.

 

Thank You for showing me that You want me—not for Your own selfish reasons, but rather so that I can walk in the abundant life that is available to all who will accept Jesus as their Savior, and who choose to make Him Lord of their lives.

 

So, help me to simply trust and obey Your Word and every prompting of Your Spirit within me—so that I can turn my back on the sin that leads me to death, and walk, with Christ, down every path that leads to life in Him.

 

Thank you that even in my wanderings away from You, You never wanted me to die.  You wanted me to turn back to You and live!

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.