Weary of the Heavy Burden, Let Me Find Your 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 do not honor You—that I might flee from the evil that keeps me bound and fully experience the rest that I can only find in Your Holy 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 more fully understand Your ways and the extent of Your love for me—even though I could never fully grasp them completely—that I would respond to Your great love in grateful and willing obedience to all Your commands and instructions.

And in that obedience, help me always to be continually coming to Jesus—humbly submitting my will to His—so that I will find the peace and joy that comes only when I place all my hope in Him, and there 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 do not honor You—that I might flee from the evil that keeps me bound and fully experience the rest that I can only find in Your Holy Presence.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

To Know the Scriptures, To Know the Power

Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.”

—Matthew 22:29 (NLT)

Heavenly Father,

Give me that deep desire to know and understand the Scriptures—so I would no longer live my life in ignorance, but would walk fully in the power of Your Word.

Show me how my lack of knowledge of what Your Word says—and my lack of understanding as to how it relates to me personally in the particular circumstances of my life—leads me down paths of sin and error; how it leads me away from You.

Grant me an insatiable hunger and thirst to understand everything You have for me in Your Word, so my path might be made straight—as I submit myself to Your amazing plans and purposes for me.

Help my faith in Your power to be enlarged as You open the treasures of Your Word to me by Your Holy Spirit—as You pull back the dark veil of my ignorance and show me the glorious Truth of Your Word.

And grant that I might personally experience more of Your power at work in me, through me, and all around me—as through Your Word I seek to deepen my relationship with You and come to know You more personally and intimately.

Give me that deep desire to know and understand the Scriptures—so I would no longer live my life in ignorance, but would walk fully in the power of Your Word.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Love, Walk, Obey, Hold Firmly, and Serve Him

“Love the LORD your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.”

—Joshua 22:5b (NLT)

O LORD, My God,

Let everything I think, say and do be evidence of my unwavering love for You—so that there would never be a doubt about who owns my heart!

Grant me the wisdom to walk in all Your ways—to be faithful to follow, even when the path is hard and steep and narrow—for all Your ways are perfect.

Grant me the willingness to obey all of Your commands—for in obedience to You, I find the path to life and well-being, to healing and wholeness for my soul.

Grant me the strength to hold firmly to You—knowing You will uphold me in every way, even when I stumble, providing me with Your joy, peace, protection and provision along my journey here, and that You will never let me go, but only guide me safely home with You.

Grant me the privilege to be a part of what You are doing in the lives of those I meet—by creating the desire within my spirit to release all of my heart and soul in service for You—as You work in me and through me to accomplish Your purposes not only in my life, but in the lives of those all around me.

Let everything I think, say and do be evidence of my unwavering love for You—so that there would never be a doubt about who owns my heart!

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

The Choice to Become a Slave

Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.

—Romans 6:16 (NLT)

Heavenly Father,

Help me to remember that I become the slave of whatever I choose to obey—and help me always choose to fix my heart on obedience to Christ and His calling upon my life.

Help me to be careful, in every choice I make today, to choose that which honors You—so that in my choosing I don’t enslave myself once again to sin.

Let my choice always be obedience to You in all things—as I look to the Truth of Your Word to be my guide to life and as I choose to make myself a slave to righteous living through the power of Christ at work in me.

And in my obedience, take me down that path of right-standing with You, toward  holiness—so that I can stand in that place of intimate and personal relationship with You, where I find the abundant life You have hidden there for me in Christ.

Help me to remember that I become the slave of whatever I choose to obey—and help me always choose to fix my heart on obedience to Christ and His calling upon my life.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.