Another Advocate

 

 

“If you love me, obey my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.  He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.”

 

—John 14:15-17a (NLT)

 

 

 

Lord Jesus,

 

May I never fail to demonstrate my love for You, through my willing obedience to Your commandments, as I look to the Holy Spirit within me to guide me into all Truth.

 

Let my love for You be so much more than just words that I push carelessly across my lips without thinking. Rather let my words reflect my love for You—a love which permeates everything that I think, say, and do.

 

Help me to look to the Advocate the Father has given—the Holy Spirit—to be my Comforter when I am hurting; my Encourager when I am discouraged; my Counselor when I need guidance; my Helper when the work gets hard; my Strengthener when I need to take a stand; my Friend when I need to know I am never alone; and my Teacher when I need to hear and know the Truth.

 

Keep me sensitive to the promptings of Your Spirit—who lives within me, and never leaves me—so that I might not miss any good thing that You have for me along my journey to know You more intimately.

 

May I never fail to demonstrate my love for You, through my willing obedience to Your commandments, as I look to the Holy Spirit within me to guide me into all Truth.

 

In Your most Precious and Holy Name, Lord Jesus. Amen.

 

Your Refuge, Your Shelter

 

 

If you make the LORD your refuge,

    if you make the Most High your shelter,

no evil will conquer you;

    no plague will come near your home.

For he will order his angels

    to protect you wherever you go.

 

—Psalm 91:9-11 (NLT)

 

 

O LORD my Refuge, my Shelter,

 

Be my only refuge, my shelter from every evil thing. Help me not to wander from the sheltering safety of Your Presence, and order Your angels to protect me, wherever You direct me to go.

 

Help me fix my eyes on You. Don’t let me look to anyone or anything else to be my refuge, my place of protection, from the forces of darkness that seek to destroy me.

 

Be my shelter against all the storms of life—that quiet place of peace and rest, amidst the chaos and turmoil of this world.

 

Help me make Your heart my home, and let my heart beat after Yours alone—so that no plague can ever come near me.

 

Be my only refuge, my shelter from every evil thing. Help me not to wander from the sheltering safety of Your Presence, and order Your angels to protect me, wherever You direct me to go.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

 

High Sounding Nonsense!

 

 

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.

 

—Colossians 2:8 (NLT)

 

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Let me experience all the freedom that comes when I fully understand, and live my life in complete agreement with, The Truth—The Truth that is revealed in Your Word, The Truth I find in Jesus Christ!

 

In my search to know Truth, let me not be satisfied to accept those philosophies that are merely built on human thinking, or understanding—but always look to Your Word to reveal The Truth to me.

 

Don’t let me be misled by man’s deceitful words—which, even though they may sound right, are only counterfeits of The Truth, twisted by the enemy to entrap my heart in lies, in order to lead me to destruction.

 

Keep me from blindly assuming that the traditions of man are Truth—those practiced ideas that have been widely accepted as Truth but are not confirmed by Your Word—since I know that the spiritual powers of this world are battling to keep me from the freedom that I find in Christ alone.

 

Let me experience all the freedom that comes when I fully understand, and live my life in complete agreement with, The Truth—The Truth that is revealed in Your Word, The Truth I find in Jesus Christ!

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Fully Committed!

 

 

The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

 

—2 Chronicles 16:9a (NLT)

 

 

 

O LORD my God,

 

Let it be that You would find in me a heart that is fully committed to You—so that You would strengthen me in every way, for the work to which You have called me.

 

Don’t allow me to settle for having a heart that is only mostly surrendered to You—a heart that is willing to stop at, “At least I’m better than I used to be!” or “Nobody’s perfect, everybody sins.”

 

Purify my heart!  Show me my heart and any darkness I have hidden there!  Help me to root out those things that I am withholding from You—according to the sanctifying power of Your Holy Spirit within me.

 

Grant me a heart that is willing and obedient—willing to seek out the truth of Your Word, and faithful to obediently apply that Truth to my life, so that I would be found faithful in Your eyes.

 

Give me a listening heart—a heart that listens to hear and respond to every prompting of Your Spirit, a heart that is eager to do all that You ask of me.

 

Give me a loving heart—a heart that loves You first, and best, and always, and loves others in the same way that You have so graciously and wondrously loved me—as a proof of my love for You.

 

Let it be that You would find in me a heart that is fully committed to You—so that You would strengthen me in every way, for the work to which You have called me.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

 

Love One Another

 

 

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God.  Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

 

—1 John 4:7-8 (NLT)

 

 

 

Gracious and Loving God,

 

You are love!  May I receive all Your love for me and return that love by loving You above all others. May the proof of my love for You be evident in the way I love others, just as You have first loved me.

 

Show me how apart from You I cannot truly love—that I first must come to know You, through Your Word and by Your Spirit, and in doing so, learn to know, accept, and personally experience Your great love for me.

 

Remind me that I am Your child, made in Your very own image! And that as such, I was created to be a vehicle of Your love—to share with others that same love which I have experienced in my own life, through my personal relationship with You.

 

Continue to fill me to overflowing with Your perfect love—so that the same compassionate and merciful love, with which You have so graciously loved me, would overflow from me to others.

 

You are love!  May I receive all Your love for me and return that love by loving You above all others. May the proof of my love for You be evident in the way I love others, just as You have first loved me.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Knowledge, Understanding, and Wisdom

 

Cry out for insight,
    and ask for understanding.
Search for them as you would for silver;
    seek them like hidden treasures.
Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD,
    and you will gain knowledge of God.
For the LORD grants wisdom!
    From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. —Proverbs 2:3-6 (NLT)

 

 

God of All Wisdom,

 

Thank You for showing me the pathway to wisdom, and for guiding me down that path.

 

Strengthen me along this journey, as I cry out to You for insight and pray to You for understanding.

 

Create in me a hunger to search out those hidden treasures that are found within the pages of Your Word—treasures which reveal Your truth, Your will and Your ways.

 

And as I gain knowledge of all You are, help me to fully experience what it means to fear You—to respond to the glory of who You are with humble and awestruck reverence.

 

For only You can grant wisdom, and all knowledge and understanding comes from Your mouth alone.

 

Thank You for showing me the pathway to wisdom, and for guiding me down that path.

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

 

God is With You!

 

“Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” —Joshua 1:8-9 (NLT)

 

O LORD, My God,

 

Thank You for giving us Your Word—this amazing Book of Instruction—which tells us everything we need to know to navigate the challenges of life here on earth and fulfill our calling with strength and courage!

 

Help me to study Your Word continually and meditate on its truth day and night—so that I will not only be careful to fully understand Your instruction but also be able to apply its Truth to my life, in willing obedience.

 

For if I obey Your instruction, You have promised I will prosper and succeed in all that I do—and because of Your blessing upon my life, others will come to understand their own need for a relationship with You.

 

Keep me far from fear and discouragement—comforted by knowing that, though Your way for me may not always seem easy, it will always be right. And help me to remain strong and courageous, confident in the Truth that You are always with me wherever I go.

 

Thank You for giving us Your Word—this amazing Book of Instruction—which tells us everything we need to know to navigate the challenges of life here on earth and fulfill our calling, with strength and courage!

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.