Do Not Love 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—so that, through my faith, I would please You with the things that 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 the true treasure of knowing and experiencing all that You are—to me, for me, and in me.

 

Help me to turn away from a self-focused pursuit of the physical pleasures of this world and a desire for everything I see.  Instead may I look for more opportunities to experience You working in me, through me, and all around me.

 

Help me to turn away from prideful attitudes 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 turn away from finding my identity in the possessions I have accumulated—knowing every good thing I have been given has come through Your hands and is not mine at all, but only temporarily entrusted to me to meet my needs—as well as the needs of others—while I am here on earth.

 

Remind me that this world, and all that is in it, is quickly fading away—and that my hope for joy, peace, and everlasting life can only be found in You.

 

Help me to set my love on You alone—so that, through my faith, I would please You with the things that I think, say and do.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Wait Expectantly!

 

 

In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice;

    in the morning I lay my requests before you

    and wait expectantly.

 

—Psalm 5:3 (NIV)

 

 

Loving LORD,                        

 

Every morning, let me call out to You with confidence, humbly placing my requests before You. Then let me wait expectantly, in Your Presence, believing You hear me and will answer the cry of my heart.

 

Help me come eagerly and boldly before You each morning—with a deep and abiding reverence for You—knowing my reward will be that I will always find You lovingly waiting to meet with me.

 

Help me to approach Your throne with a heart full of gratitude for this great privilege I have been granted of being welcomed into Your Presence—and for the interest that You have in every detail of what I have to say to You about everything I have on my heart.

 

And when I have shared my heart, help me to remember to be still and wait, quietly and expectantly in Your presence, for You to speak to me about Your best plans for me—knowing that You will withhold no good thing from me and trusting that You always want what is best for me.

 

Every morning, let me call out to You with confidence, humbly placing my requests before You. Then let me wait expectantly, in Your Presence, believing You hear me and will answer the cry of my heart.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

All Your Worries and Cares!

 

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

 

—1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)

 

 

 

 

Loving and Compassionate Heavenly Father,

 

Help me remember that when I give all my worries and cares to You, I am giving You a welcomed gift of my faith in Your abounding love for me.

 

May I never forget what Jesus endured on the cross so I can better understand the depth of Your love and care for me and trust You more fully with my life.

 

Show me that when I anxiously try to carry my own worries and concerns—rather than giving them over to You—I am rejecting Your love, walking away from Your care, and discounting what Christ did for me.

 

Let me never allow my circumstances to have control over me. Help me never believe the lie that what I am facing cannot be overcome by You. 

 

Help me always look to You in faith, patiently waiting for the good plans that You have made for me to unfold before me—as You work all things together for my good.

 

Help me remember that when I give all my worries and cares to You, I am giving You a welcomed gift of my faith in Your abounding love for me.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

 

Glorious Splendor, Wondrous Works

 

 

 

I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty,

And on Your wondrous works.

 

—Psalm 145:5 (NKJV)

 

 

 

Almighty and Glorious God,

 

Let me meditate on the majestic and glorious splendor of who You are and on the wondrous works of Your hand—works that are on full display before me in every moment of my life.

 

Help me to constantly consider the magnificence of Your sovereign power and stand in awe of You, who—by Your great power and by the Word of Your  mouth—created all there is from nothing.

 

Help me to be overwhelmed by the perfect brilliancy of Your character and—since You have made me in Your own image—walk in the hope that I might reflect enough of that brilliance of character that others would be drawn to You by the Christ they see in me.

 

Help me to recognize the wondrous works of Your hand in the beauty that surrounds me and overtakes me—as well as in the minutest details of my personal life—as You reveal to me Your intimate interest in every facet of my existence, by Your faithful and unfailing love.

 

Let me meditate on the majestic and glorious splendor of who You are and on the wondrous works of Your hand—works that are on full display before me in every moment of my life.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

In Humility Value Others

 

 

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

 

—Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

 

 

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Save me from my own self-centeredness and any impure, attention-seeking motive in me—so that I might walk in true humility, thinking of others before myself.

 

Help me not to be selfish—always looking at everything to see what’s in it for me, rather than how it might be an opportunity for me to be a part of what You are doing to benefit others.

 

Help me not to try vainly to impress others, but simply just do all I can to please You—as by faith I follow Your will, plan and purpose for me in each and every moment You give me.

 

Keep me humble before You and before others—and help me to value them above myself, so that I am never found to be arrogant, irritable or unapproachable.

 

Help me not to look out for my own interests alone—but make my first effort to look out for the interests of others, with the love of Christ.

 

Save me from my own self-centeredness and any impure, attention-seeking motive in me—so that I might walk in true humility, thinking of others before myself. 

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Everything You Say

 

 

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

 

—Ephesians 4:29 (NLT)

 

 

Father God,

 

May every word I say be lovingly truthful and purely motivated by Your Spirit within me—so that the only words I speak will be those which edify, encourage, and give grace to anyone who might hear them.

 

Help me never speak words that are slanderous, foul, corrupt, polluting, hurtful, or abusive—words that poison the minds and infect the hearts of those that hear them, with the evil that they carry.

 

Instead, help me only speak words that are wholesome, helpful, truthful, and that encourage the spiritual growth of others—always spoken in love and at the right time—which are appropriate for the occasion and for the need of the moment.

 

Help me also remember that there may be those to whom I am not directly speaking, who may overhear my words—so let me always be intentional about representing my Lord and Savior well, with every word I say.

 

May every word I say be lovingly truthful and purely motivated by Your Spirit within me—so that the only words I speak will be those which edify, encourage, and give grace to anyone who might hear them.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Jesus, Lord of My Life

 

 

 

“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?”

 

—Luke 6:46 (NLT)

 

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Help me to fully realize that making Jesus Christ the Lord of my life involves so much more than merely calling out to Him, “Lord, Lord!”

 

Help me to understand and accept the truth that, in order for Jesus to be my Lord, I must freely surrender the “liberty of my free will” to “His will for me”—and then, and only then, find true freedom from the things that hold me captive.

 

Help me remember that my obedience to His commands and instructions is the best measurement of His Lordship over my life—and that the example of how He lived His life is the only standard of comparison by which I should examine my own life.

 

Keep me from the hypocrisy of claiming Christ as my Lord, while choosing to go my own way—allowing my own fleshly desires to control me, rather than living surrendered to the Spirit of Christ that lives in me.

 

Help me to fully realize that making Jesus Christ the Lord of my life involves so much more than merely calling out to Him, “Lord, Lord!”

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.