Delighting In Obedience

Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
    and obey it with all my heart.
Direct me in the path of your commands,
    for there I find delight.

—Psalm 119:34-35 (NIV)

Heavenly Father,

Open up the eyes of my understanding to all that You would have me know—and then help me hold on to those truths that You have revealed, so I can find my delight in obeying Your instructions with all my heart. 

With Your Spirit as my teacher, open up the richness of Your Word to my spirit and help me to understand everything that I need to know in order to accomplish those things that You have for me to do.

Lead me to that place of absolute obedience—as You bend my will along the path of Your commands—for my own good.

And let me discover those places of great blessing that can only be found as I follow all of Your instructions—as I put my trust in Your great love for me and Your upmost desire that I would find the best You have for me in Christ.

Open up the eyes of my understanding to all that You would have me know—and then help me hold on to those truths that You have revealed, so I can find my delight in obeying Your instructions with all my heart. 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Make Me Weary, Give Me Rest

“For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing.”

—Jeremiah 31:25 (NLT)

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

—Matthew 11:28 (NLT)

Heavenly Father,

Make me weary of the heavy burden that my sin brings upon me and sorrowful for those times when my thoughts, words, and actions have not honored You—that I might turn away from any evil that remains in me, and fully embrace the rest and joy waiting for me in Your merciful and loving presence.

Help me to repent—to turn my back on and walk away from anything that separates me from You—for only in repentance can I fully experience the abundance of mercy, grace, forgiveness and love that You have for me.

Help me to better come to understand both the way You love me and how much You love me—even though the love You have for me transcends human comprehension—that I would respond to Your love with grateful obedience.

And in that obedience, help me always to be coming to Jesus—humbly submitting my will to His—so that I will find the peace and joy that comes when I place all my hope in Him, and in Him find rest for my soul.

Make me weary of the heavy burden that my sin brings upon me and sorrowful for those times when my thoughts, words, and actions have not honored You—that I might turn away from any evil that remains in me, and fully embrace the rest and joy waiting for me in Your merciful and loving presence.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.