Oct 4 Fill me!

“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will 

through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives

so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way:

bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light.   

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Father, I continually ask You to fill me with the knowledge of Your will: not my own or anyone else’s.  Do not let me be distracted by the glitter of what the world would show me I could do or have.  Or be swayed by trying to please others to earn their approval.

Do not let me be led astray by my own sense of pride or selfishness.  But give me a true understanding of how You have created me, with specific gifts, talents, personality and temperament, and how You would use those to accomplish Your will through my life.

Lord, would You do this through all the wisdom and understanding the Spirit gives: not the wisdom of the world, or the logic of the mind, or the sense of the flesh.  For these are the influences that so often affect my mind and decisions.

I seek the wisdom that Your Spirit gives through Your Word in scripture, and in prayer and meditation as I open my ears and heart and spirit to You alone.  Close my ears to all other sources that would seek to lead me away from You and Your purposes.

Father, give me Your strength, that comes from Your power.   Strengthen me physically when I need it.  I do not desire to do great physical feats, but Father, sometimes my energy wanes long before the end of the day or the task.  And as I age, I can feel weakness creeping into my body.  Fortify my organs and my immune system to function according to how You created them to function.

Lord, I also need Your support mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually.  Empower me in all these areas with Your strength working in and through me.

Father, I ask for these gifts so that I may live the life You died to give me; pleasing You, doing good works that will bring glory to Your name.  And that I would accomplish these in Your power and in Your timing.  This will help me know You better and deepen our relationship.

I offer up sincere thanks and praises with total joy, as a beloved and blessed child of Yours.  Amen

Colossians 1:1-17

 

 

Aug 6 I sing! for thanks, for hope, for help

Father, “To You I call, O Lord my Rock; do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if You remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit.”   They have no hope. And see no chance for rescue.

Lord, my life seems easy enough. I have what I need to get from day to day. I have food to eat and clothes to wear. I have more freedoms than most people in the world. And a safe place to live with family and friends who care about me. But when I think about some of the people I love, there is pain. There are those I don’t believe know You, and it grieves my heart.

So here is where “I lift up my hands toward Your Most Holy Place. Hear my cry for mercy as I call to You for help.” Father when I think of mistakes I’ve made with people who I love, I am filled with remorse. I cannot go back and “undo” what I have done. And I wonder and worry if anything I did or said, set them on a path away from You.

O Father, forgive me. If there is a way I can make it right, show me. Take away this guilt I live with, and replace it with something from You that will heal and help them. Show me how to say, what to say, when to say; or what to do to unravel any knots I may have been part of in their lives.

Soften their hearts to Your truth, and to Yourself and to the call of the Holy Spirit.   Turn them away from the darkness they live in, some, without even realizing it. Bring them into the light of Your love. Father, this is the deepest desire of my heart: that those who You have entrusted to me as family and friends, will all know You as Savior, and be together in heaven with You and with me.

It is something only You can do. Only You call. And only You save. And I will sing: “Praise to the Lord! For He has heard my cry for mercy! The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks in song”. Amen

Psalm 28:1-9

July 10 Time for Reconcilliation

Father, You allowed the people of Judah and Israel to be taken captive, out of and away from the land You promised them: a land flowing with milk and honey. This was to be their resting place. This land, chosen from all the earth, would be where they could live in peace and worship You as they had promised to do. They would live out the covenant You had made with them and enjoy Your blessings all the days of their lives.

This land would produce crops enough to support the people. It would yield grass enough to support all the livestock so they would be healthy enough to reproduce with abundant milk to nurse the young. The flowering plants would provide ample pollen so the bees could make lots of honey. Thus: a land flowing with milk and honey!

But the people were unfaithful to You. They fell away from what they had promised to do, and worshipped idols like the pagan cultures around them. They gave offerings of all kinds to stone and wood figures. And even sacrificed their precious, living children as burnt offerings.

Yet even in Your judgment of their unfaithfulness and idolatry, there was a limit. For You had promised that “if Your people, who were called by Your name, would humble themselves, and seek Your face, and turn from their wicked ways, that You would forgive their sin and heal their land.” And at the end of their set time, they did indeed seek You.   And You brought them back.

O Father, thank You for this picture of reconciliation. It mirrors what You offer me. There are consequences when I sin. But You have promised that when I humble myself and turn from my sin, and seek Your forgiveness, that You will forgive my sin.

Lord, there are so many ways I fall short of Your standard. I miss the mark. There are things I do that I shouldn’t, and things I should do that I don’t. I have spoken wrong words, done wrong things, thought wrong thoughts, and had wrong attitudes.

Lord, as You bring these to my mind, I agree with You that they are sin. I confess my sin and do not try and justify or legitimize it. I turn from it and ask for Your forgiveness.

Thank You that You forgive. Thank You that Your blood pays the price my sin deserves. And that You purify me from my unrighteousness.  Thank You that You are a God of second chances…and third…and fourth… And that You have the power to free me from my sin.

And beyond that, when other believers also agree with You about what is sin in their lives, You hear their payers. Father, our culture is sin sick too. Open our eyes to the unfaithfulness and sin in our lives. When we call to You, and humble ourselves and turn away from that sin, You are able to heal our land. We need You Father, heal our land! Amen

1 Chronicles 9:1; 2 Chronicles 7:14; 1 John 1:9