This part of the book contains prayers that I have composed during my own devotional times, covering a wide range of spiritual concerns related to living a life of Theopraxy. I have arranged them in a set of thirty daily readings so that you can pray through the whole set in one month.
Let me briefly explain the title of the collection. I call them Kingdom Orisons because they are focused primarily on the Kingdom of heaven and on God as our King. That, of course, is not the only topic to pray about. All topics that affect our lives, from the sublime to the seemingly insignificant, could be worthy of prayer. Our Creator is concerned with every part of our lives, even the number of hairs on our head. These prayers, however, focus on coming to understand the Kingdom and our place in it as citizens and on appreciating our King more fully. For some people, this tends to be a relatively neglected aspect of prayer.
The word orisons is simply a synonym for “prayers.” It is admittedly archaic, but that is by design. Through God’s new covenant with us in Jesus Christ, we understand that we are children of God and even friends of God. Prayer thus becomes an intimate experience. We can and should be in constant conversation with the ruler of the universe! Some people, however, develop a casual or even cavalier attitude toward prayer over time.
I have used the word orisons to catch readers’ attention because of its unfamiliarity. The prayers themselves are also somewhat formal in nature—more so than my typical daily prayers—because I want to foster a sense of wonder and reverence. Although God is indeed intimate with us, He is also wholly other and ineffable. These prayers are intended to remind us of that aspect of His being.
My hope is that these prayers from my heart may refresh your heart, draw you closer to our eternal King and His Kingdom, and intensify your love for Him and your desire to use every moment, every encounter, every opportunity, to know and glorify Him more fully. May God use your life to encourage those around you to take their next step on a spiritual journey that will glorify the Lord and bring joy to His heart.
I do not claim to pray better than anyone else, but you may find these prayers helpful in bringing various aspects of Christian devotion to mind, or as a starting point to enable you to formulate more specific prayers for the people or situations in your own life.
Savior of all grace, produce in me the faith to live in You, desiring nothing else—with You as all my hope, all my aim, all my glory. May You be both my path and my guide, both my model to imitate and the potter who shapes me.
You are my foundation and refuge. You are the prophet who instructs me, the priest who intercedes for me, and the king who rules me. May I rely entirely on You, and may I love and serve You with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength.
May I never be ashamed of You or Your words, but joyfully bear any opposition or sacrifice that comes as a result of faithfully following You; and may I count it a privilege and glory to be so identified with You.
May I avoid bringing sorrow to Your heart by any failure through omission or commission. Let me never retreat or delay when You bid me to advance. Let me be so attentive to Your desires and direction that a mere glance from You will result in my full and complete response.
Keep me from this present evil world and its influences. Protect me from its allures, intimidations, vices, and errors. Infuse my heart with so much love for You that there is no room left for love of anything else, including the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life.
Constantly remind me that I am a citizen of Your Kingdom and only a stranger passing through this world. Let me seek that country and Your reign, continually expressing Your will and Your ways more fully in word and deed and serving as a faithful ambassador, calling others to submit to You as the all-wise and all-good King.
By faith may I more clearly perceive Your voice and Your activity in my life and in the world. Each day may I more clearly understand Your will on earth in order that I might pursue it until that day when it is done here as in heaven. Be glorified in me and through me, I pray.
Heavenly Father, You made my body to serve You and my soul to follow hard after You. With sorrow and contrition of heart, I admit before You my faults and my failures.
My failure to be true even to my own accepted standards;
My self-deception in the face of temptation;
My choosing of the worse when I know the better;
O Lord, forgive!
My silence when You would have me speak and my speech when You would have me keep silent;
My actions when You would have me wait on You and my hesitation when You would have me act;
My complacency toward wrongs that do not affect me and my oversensitivity to those that do;
O Lord, forgive!
My lack of Your compassion in showing mercy for the downtrodden and the lost;
My pride in considering my own comfort and convenience above the needs of others;
My blindness to the suffering of others and my slowness to be taught by my own;
O Lord, forgive!
My failure to apply to myself the standards of conduct I demand of others;
My slowness to see the good in others and to see the evil in myself;
My hardness of heart toward my neighbors’ faults and my readiness to make allowance for my own;
O Lord, forgive!
My unwillingness to recognize that You have called me to a small work and my brother to a great one;
My ingratitude and grumbling when You place a great opportunity before me to display Your grace;
My failure to recognize Your loving hand in all that touches me;
O Lord, forgive!
Holy Lord, forgive me. I find that my entire life continues to be tainted by pride and unbelief. I fail to see You as I should in all Your holiness, power, love, and goodness, or to live in the light of that understanding. As a result, I perceive myself wrongly. I compare myself to other wretched creatures rather than to You and the beauty and perfection that You deserve and demand. As a result, I err in my desires, my goals, my standards, my self-perception, and my daily living.
Please complete the good work You have begun in me. Transform and renew my mind so that I might perceive You in all Your glory and then think rightly of myself and others. Let me rely on and submit to Your righteousness so that I might be conformed to the image of Christ. Rule my mind, my body, my soul, and my spirit entirely, and purge from me the attractions of other things that tempt me to live for anything but You.
Thank You for Your loving work in me, whether through the joy of fellowship with You through prayer, Scripture, and Your body, or through the refining fires of suffering that You send to bless me and prepare me for fuller joy in Your presence. Do not spare me from any trial that would make me more pleasing to You or bring You greater glory. Remove anything from me that dims the brightness of Your grace or hinders me from rejoicing in You.
Lord, I realize that even though by Your grace I have become relatively immune to temptations that used to cause me great difficulty, I am still subject to “spiritual” versions of the same types of temptation. I know that these new versions are not benign, but require constant vigilance on my part if I am to avoid sin in these areas.
Pride: Lord, I realize that spiritual pride is, if anything, more egregious than carnal pride, because it robs You of even more glory. Protect my heart from any temptation to think that anything good comes from me apart from Your work through me. I know that any virtue or righteousness comes from You. I know that any spiritual gift I have is from You. I know that any fruit in ministry comes from You. I know that any way others are blessed by me is from You. Let me not think of myself, but of You and others. Let me not consider myself better than others.
You are the vine. I am simply a branch. I can do nothing apart from You.
Greed: Lord, protect me from spiritual greed. Just as greed for temporal things leads to pursuit of more things than one needs, so spiritual greed can tempt me to pursue more than You have ordained in spiritual matters. I can desire more admiration for ministry, more spiritual gifts than I can steward well, and more influence than I have the wisdom to use for the good of others and for Your glory. Let me concern myself with wisely stewarding the gifts and influence You have given me. Help me to be concerned with the depth of my ministry and to let You be concerned with the breadth of it.
Lust: Lord, protect me from spiritual lust, from desiring what You have chosen that I should not have. Do not let me be tempted by lust for credit or glory. Do not let me lust for power or authority over others in matters of Your Kingdom. Let me love You rather than the benefits You bless me with or the gifts You give.
Envy: Lord, protect me from spiritual envy. Protect me from comparing myself with others. Protect me from dissatisfaction with Your good gifts. Protect me from desiring what others have, whether it is their reputation, their ministry impact, their relationship with You, or any other good thing You have given them. Let me be satisfied with how You have made me and determined to serve You with as much love and devotion as I can, giving You my best rather than wishing for what I don’t have.
Gluttony: Lord, protect me from spiritual gluttony. Protect me from consuming more than I need and of failing to concern myself with enabling others to have what they need. Protect me from spiritual selfishness—the temptation to consume rather than contribute, to be served rather than to serve, to be blessed rather than to be a blessing to others.
Wrath: Lord, protect me from spiritual wrath. Do not let my feelings of frustration or irritation or impatience with others prevent me from dealing with them in love. Remind me of Your forgiveness toward me, Your patience with me, and Your forbearance of my immature motives. Remind me of how many advantages and privileges and opportunities You have given me and of the fact that I still remain so far short of Your intentions for me. Help me to love those who fall short just as I love myself, desiring the best for them.
Sloth: Lord, protect me from spiritual sloth. Help me to be a good steward of the opportunities, spiritual gifts, influence, relationships, resources, wisdom, and all the other blessings You have so generously given me. I know I do not deserve any of them. Help me to diligently employ all of them in Your service, for Your glory, and to advance Your Kingdom. Let me not be concerned for my own comfort, ease, convenience, and pleasure, but rather with how to please You and serve others.
I know that all of these “spiritual” sins are expressions of loving You and others inadequately and wrongly. Teach me to love You with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love others as I love myself.
Father, thank You for the righteousness I have in Christ. This day and every day I ask that You would advance Your work in me of conforming me to Christ’s image. Guide me and enable me to live as He lived, see as He saw, feel as He felt, and serve as He served in His earthly years. Help me remember that I have died to sin so that I might be blind to its distractions and deaf to its voice. Let me live always and only unto You.
Strengthen me in my inner man to live a life of faith, hope, and love—a life of holiness. In love for You and gratitude to You, let me die daily to my selfish desires of laziness and pride. Raise my eyes to gaze upon the eternal realities of Your Kingdom and to do away with lesser things that would distract or deter me in my pursuit of Your will and Your ways. May Your perfect love cast out all fear within me.
I am exceedingly grateful for Your many blessings in my life—family, friends, wealth, and honor. Set a guard on my heart so that I may never idolize these blessings or permit them to usurp Your rightful place in my affections or attention or allegiance. Let me live for You alone. Let me love You with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength and love others as myself. Make me always devoted to You with childlike trust.
May I be a living expression of Your will in all my ways. Let me be a blessing to everyone with whom I come in contact, whether as an encouragement to my brothers and sisters in Christ or as a testimony of Your greatness and glory to those who don’t know You. Fill me moment by moment with Your Spirit and with grace so that I might be a fountain of sweet water from which no bitter water ever spills out, no matter how suddenly I may be jarred.
Lord, as I sail through this life, continue to serve as my Captain, directing me across the trackless depths to my final port. Though I cannot see beyond the horizon, I trust Your navigation. Though rough and stormy seas beset me, I know You have ordained them to increase my dependence on You, and You control each wave and every wind. Grant me the grace to endure to the end, and may You be glorified in the journey, whether through calm waters or turbulence. Your love is the wind, faith is my sail, and hope is my anchor. All I need is in You.
Lord, apart from You I am nothing—less than nothing: dead. I am blind; be my light and my vision. I am ignorant; be my wisdom and my knowledge. I am lost and wandering; be my path and my guide. I am dead; be my life. Let me be dead to sin, evil, and self, but alive to You in every way. Let my life be an expression of Your will and my activities an expression of Your ways.
Make me steadfast and fixed in my focus upon You, no matter how violently storms may surge and blow around me. Let me hear and recognize Your voice no matter how chaotic my situation and surroundings may be. Let me perceive Your works in the situations around me and in the world at large, in big and small ways, so that I may understand Your character and intentions. Let me be instantly directed by Your most subtle glances.
Let me be a joy to Your heart. Let me love and serve and live in such a way that will bring You pleasure and glory. Let me perceive and reflect Your beauty to those around me. Help me spur on Your people to ever greater love and good works. Show me how to redeem the time You give me on the earth. Use me to point others to You and encourage them to know and love You more fully so that You may receive all the honor of which You are worthy.
Lord, You are the Destination as well as the Path on my journey. You are the Guide. You created the context and You ordain the obstacles. You have prepared everything for Your glory and my good. Enable me to trek with purpose and understanding. Help me assist others on the journey and call those who wander to return to the path. Bring me victoriously to the end with distinction as a guide for others.
Lord, be my strength. When I am overcome or overwhelmed by fatigue, or burdens, or sorrows, give me grace to persevere—not in grim resignation, but in gratitude and joy for the ways You can use the situation for my good and Your glory. Give me strength also to resist pleasant and easy things that are not according to Your will for me.
Do not let me be distracted or pulled aside by the pursuit of anything other than what You desire for me.
Guide my thoughts and intentions so that I might not be satisfied with choosing between good and evil, but also between the good and the best. Let me find my fulfillment not in comfort and ease and pleasure, but in pleasing You by being and saying and doing nothing else than Your purpose and intention. Let me live for Your pleasure and reputation rather than my own. Let Your life be evident in and through me.
Forgive me when I stray from Your will and Your ways, when by word or deed or thought I pursue my own desires above Yours. Give me courage to deny myself and die to myself.
Teach my heart to praise and thank You in the process because of my faith in Your love for me, a love greater than my love of self; because of my hope of a better reward than anything this world offers; and because of my love for You, for who You are, and for Your worthiness.
Preserve me from finding any joy or pleasure apart from You. Protect me from any satisfaction or fulfillment that comes from advancing my own reputation or power. Let me follow the One who gave Himself to serve others and who sacrificed Himself for their sake and Yours. Give me the humility and perfect obedience that arise from pure love for You and that result in a life of self-giving love for others.
Thank You that although I was Your enemy, You blessed me. You loved me. You treat me not as a slave, even though I am one, and indeed an unworthy one. You treat me as a friend and as Your child. Grow me and mold me until I am a child You are proud of, conformed to the image of Jesus. Lead me safely in joy to Your eternal Kingdom. May I not be concerned as to whether the road is rough or smooth, but only about seeing Your face ever more clearly until that day when I see You face-to-face.
Creator of all things, You have imbued creation with delightful surprises at every turn. Fragrance is an unexpected demonstration of Your beauty. Your inexpressible fullness is perhaps most clearly perceived in the delicate, riotous aroma of sweet, flowering trees and shrubs that envelop us in the spring. Emily Dickinson expressed this sensation when she said, “Inebriate of air am I.” Your Spirit endows our existence with this experience. When You were on earth as a man, Your life exuded it. May I be so infused by Your love that I exhibit the same ineffable splendor.
Infinite triune God, I cannot comprehend Your greatness. Day by day I ask that You stretch my mind and my imagination so that I may more fully appreciate Your glory and praise Your worthiness.
I cannot imagine You being outside of time, having the ability to see the end from the beginning. I cannot imagine that with You a thousand years are like a day and a day is like a thousand years.
I marvel at the thought that the rise and fall of entire galaxies, empires, individuals, and single-celled organisms are all under Your complete control, awareness, and concern. Such infinite power, knowledge, and presence are incomprehensible to me.
I cannot fathom the vast love You demonstrated in sending Christ to die in order that rebellious man might know You and be transformed and remade in Your image once again, as at creation. Such sacrifice and self-giving are beyond my grasp in either intellect or emotion.
Let such overwhelming realities turn my heart and mind from lesser things. Remind me that my opportunities to respond to Your extravagant gifts are limited in this world, so that I might seize every opportunity to pursue a life that honors You.
Teach me to redeem the time in serving others for their good, that they might praise and worship You. Instruct me how to glorify You to an ever greater degree. Let me live a life that demonstrates Your will and Your ways, in complete dependence upon You.
Lord of all mysteries, l cannot understand the unexpected ways in which music can move and touch us. Melody can move our souls; harmony can lift us up or cause us to mourn. Teach my heart to worship You in ways it can discover only through music. Allow me to magnify and exalt You through heavenly tunes. Show me how to communicate deeply with You in new songs You place within my heart.
You are the conductor. Enable me to play the music You teach me by a life that lives out the music You place within me. May it be a sound that is pleasing to Your ear, and may it draw others to You as the Lord of the choir and the orchestra of the universe.
Lord, give me a unity in my life—a unity of thought, desire, emotion, word, and deed. Let that unified being be entirely focused on serving and pleasing You. Forgive me for the times when discord in myself hinders me from being what You intend me to be. Let the life of Christ be fully expressed in me with such harmony that I am perfectly in tune with Your intentions.
Give me a soul and spirit attuned to Your will. Let my only fear be of disappointing You. Let my only hope be for the redemption of all things in Your eternal presence through eternity. Let my only thought be of doing Your will. Let my only love be for You, and from You for others. Let my only desire be to know You more fully so that I might make You more fully known and so that I might more fully love You.
Let my wisdom be of You, my riches in You, my power from You. May I see the emptiness of the false wisdom, riches, and power offered by the world. May all my happiness be from Your image, presence, service, and favor. You are my wisdom, my treasure, and my strength.
Lord, when You created Adam, You placed him in the garden to tend and care for it. Thank You for preserving a vestige of that high calling in farms. Let the lessons of the farm teach me of Your ways in the world. Let me recognize Your orderliness, Your beauty, and the discipline of an unmixed life. As I observe Your cultivation of fields, vines, and trees, may I gain a passion for consistent growth in serving You by blessing others and glorifying You. Show me the power and fulfillment of purpose in the wonder of draft animals as they submit to their masters. Teach me the dignity of blessing others and serving the common good as I observe the hard work and persistence of the farmer. Let me serve You with these same traits as I am pruned by You to achieve Your purposes and to bear much fruit so that You will be glorified.
Dear Father, my days are worthless and empty unless they are spent in Your presence, expended in Your service, and used for Your glory. Only by Your grace, strength, wisdom, and enabling can I do anything, including taking my next breath. Grant that I may rely fully on You and not waste Your provisions. Direct me and gently guide me to rely on You every moment, in every word, every step, every thought.
Give me a constant desire to know You and make You known, to give You praise, to demonstrate Your love, and to advance Your Kingdom. Let me be about Your business so as to become an instrument of blessing to all with whom I come in contact. Let me be Your hands and feet and voice in whatever corner of creation you lead me, being used in such a way that Your will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
King of kings, I long for Your perfect rule. You have given us imperfect rulers. They are a shadow of what You intend perfect government to be. Let us learn from them and submit to them as we pursue a corporate achievement of Your purposes in being obedient people and collaborating to bless others as You have blessed us. May their shortcomings be a reminder to us of Your greatness as we long for better things, better laws, and better people.
May we labor for purer expressions of Your will and live lives above and beyond the letter of human law to demonstrate the spirit of Your will. Let us, as Your people, demonstrate love among ourselves and to those outside Your family so that the whole world might see the perfection of our King and submit to Your rule. Let us live by Your Kingdom’s laws as You have clearly communicated them in Your commands. Let us serve Your Kingdom’s purposes by living in love and seeking the salvation of those outside Your family. Let us use our resources according to Your priorities. Let us prioritize our time and energy for Your purposes. Let us live our lives with an awareness of Your presence so that we might at all times be attentive to the slightest indication of Your intention. You are our King.
Gracious Father, source of all that is good, let me be fully satisfied in You, never seeking anything else or satisfied with anything less. Give me a constant dissatisfaction with anything other than Yourself. Let me never confuse the blessings You provide with Yourself, or the gift with the Giver, or the lesser desires I have with the greater things that await me. Conform me more each day to Jesus’ life and character, and daily put to death anything that varies from His image.
Let Your will be my delight. Let me live to please only You rather than myself or others. May I rejoice to be counted worthy to suffer for You when others see my faith as foolishness, my meekness as weakness, my zeal as madness, my hope as delusion, and my love for You as insanity. Support me with the hope and strength of heaven as I pursue eternal riches. Let me be known as one who lives always and only for You.
You are the potter; all creation is the clay. You are working it according to the intention of Your will. I am but a small lump. Thank You for bothering with me at all. I ask that You would make something of exquisite beauty from me that would reflect Your greatness and glory. I know that You must remove many impurities from me to ensure that only fine clay remains. I know that pressure must be exerted on me to shape me. I know that I must face fierce flames to make permanent the shaping You intend. Your pleasure is worth it all. Do what You must. Make me a vessel of use to You and a blessing to others.
Lord, Your kindness and grace, which give me life and all spiritual blessings, are the same kindness and grace by which you test, purify, and exercise my faith. Help me receive all Your dealings with me with unmitigated gratitude, whether they be pleasant or unpleasant in the moment. I know that the difficulties You allow are for my good and Your glory as You teach me obedience, perfect me, and allow me to be identified with Christ.
Enlarge my desires and increase my expectancy. Let faith shape my hope so that I might understand Your eternal perspective in shaping me for eternity. Prepare me for eternal service and communion with You. Prepare me not only for the prosperity and adversity I will experience on earth, but even more so for Your eternal purposes in and through me. You are all I need. I love and trust You.
Lord, thank You that You communicate, and that You are relational in every way. Your creativity is evident in the amazing variety of ways in which You speak. Your creation, Your acts, Your people, Your Word (both living and written), and Your Spirit within us—all these provide continuous evidence of Your character, nature, will, and purpose, as well as Your particular intentions for each one of us.
Tune our hearts to the frequency of Your messages. Give us the sensitivity to recognize Your voice, the faith to act on what we hear, and the wisdom to be transformed by it. Conform us to Your image and will. Thank You that Your Word is powerful and effective, not only in creation but in re-creation.
Enable me to transmit the messages I hear from You to others, so that I might be a conduit of Your blessings. Use me to advance Your Kingdom as a messenger and ambassador of Your glorious magnificence.
Lord, let me not shrink back from the second cross, the one I am to bear. Be patient with me as You were with the twelve disciples, recalling as often as necessary that the path to life is through death. Keep me humble, dependent, grateful, and joyful in the process. I want to be as assured as a nursing child with its mother, fully content to be in Your presence.
I belong to You. Shape and remake me as You wish.
You are the Truth. You are the Plumb Line. You are the Standard. You are the Pattern. You are the Ultimate Reality. Draw me to the truth and conform me to it. Let my life be lived in such a way as to demonstrate, advance, and bear witness to Your truth. Give me such a thorough recognition and understanding of the truth that any variance will be detected immediately. If that variance is within me, enable me to correct it by the work of Your Spirit. If it is in others around me, let me humbly and lovingly deal with it as You direct. If it is in the world, show me how I should respond so that I might be Your instrument to further Your will on earth.
Immortal and infinite God, gently teach me to serve You with humble reverence and godly fear. Do not permit me to hide sin in my heart or indulge worldly attitudes or desires. Cleanse me so I might enjoy Your presence. Rule my heart so I might not desire earthly pursuits. Let me be indifferent to earthly possessions, positions, or pursuits. Give me instead a pure and holy desire for Your righteousness and presence.
Produce in me a disposition that recognizes my service to You as perfect freedom. Purge from me all pride, fear, and shame so that I may courageously share Your greatness with everyone and seek an ever more intimate knowledge of Your heart. Fill me with Your wisdom and love. Let me serve others as an expression of my love for You. Infuse me with Your Word and peace that I might be a source of light and encouragement for others.
All power and authority are Yours. You are mighty and strong, even omnipotent. You work all things after the counsel of Your will. I cannot comprehend this, but I praise You for it. I am extremely grateful that Your power is expressed in mercy, grace, justice, kindness, goodness, and love.
When I feel weak and weary, and when I am tempted to lose hope and heart, remind me of Your strength and give me all I need to do Your will. Let my inner person confidently pursue Your path for me without concern for difficulties, knowing that You will carry me through to Your purposes. Let me strengthen others by reminding them of Your mighty power.
Father, make me like my elder brother, Jesus. Shine Your light within me and through me. Show me the way You have prepared for me, the path You intend for me to walk. Guard my heart from the enticements of the enemy and the world. I know my heart’s weakness and deceit if it is not stayed on You.
Let my lips and my life draw others to greater heights of living in faith and love. May the lazy be spurred on to greater diligence by my example. Let those who are distracted by the pleasures or power of this world be refocused on eternal things by observing my resolute attentiveness. Let those who are timid be emboldened by my encouragement.
Make me a mirror of Your grace to show forth the joy of service. Let my joy in You brighten the hearts of the discouraged. Demonstrate through me how one can perform earthly responsibilities with an eternal perspective. Give me Your heart of compassion for those who are ignorant of You or in misery, that they might experience true love.
Teach me to walk as Jesus walked, to see as He saw, to hear as He heard, to think as He thought, and to perceive Your work in the world around me in both small and large ways. Clothe me each day with His humility so that I may count others as more important than myself and live a life of service to “the least of these” as a sacrifice of love to You.
Lord, You are sovereign over all creation. You superintend all things for Your glory. You work everything in such a way as to test our hearts, to help us grow into the likeness of Christ, and to teach us to walk by faith. Help us to be quick to learn the lessons You teach and to grow in our understanding and love of You.
You arrange events both large and small to draw people to Yourself, creating dissatisfaction through pain, grief, suffering, and emptiness or demonstrating Your love, kindness, and greatness. Grant those who do not yet know You the faith to respond positively to Your offer of redemption, and send Your children to make the way clear.
Help me to be grateful for all Your works, whether they are pleasant or unpleasant. Guide me to respond well to all situations, whether or not I understand Your reasons for them. Show me Your desires so that I may ask, seek, and knock with bold perseverance to change what You desire to change, and also so that I may patiently and joyfully endure what You desire to maintain. Help me to learn quickly the lessons You teach.
May the nations submit to You, either willingly and humbly or by the exercise of Your activity. May the spiritual forces of darkness be bent to Your purposes, even if unwittingly. May Your Kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May Your authority be recognized by all very soon. Come quickly, Lord!
Lord, strengthen me to pursue You and know You more fully until You reign supreme in me. Let every thought, word, and deed express Your character from a pure heart full of faith and love. Let me overcome the evil in the world by works that arise from this faith and love. Bind me close to You in heart, mind, soul, and strength.
Show me grace and mercy when I am weak and when I fall. Help me show that same grace to others when they need it. Protect me from the attacks of the enemy by the spiritual armor You provide. Strengthen me for the conflict, and give me endurance for the race You set before me. Let me be victorious by Your power.
My slowness to seize Your provision of these blessings is an expression of my lack of understanding and faith. Increase my faith. Stir holy zeal in me, that I may not hesitate or hold back from Your clear call to advance. Whether I advance or stumble, let me walk humbly, acknowledging my failures in leaving undone what should be done and in doing other than what You intend.
Impress on me deeply that the time is short, the work is great, the responsibility is serious, and eternity is near. May I never forget that You see and hear all things in your sovereignty, so that I may live in a way that pleases You and is aligned with Your will. Continue to work in me until You are constantly the beat of my heart, the center of my thoughts, the ruler of my lips, and the path for my feet.
Lord, thank You for being the great I AM, the same yesterday, today, and forever. You are the only thing in existence that is completely reliable. We depend on nothing and no one else. You are the foundation and the pinnacle of everything, the source and the end.
Let me never for a moment put my trust, faith, or hope anywhere but in You, that I might not be disappointed or waste my life by investing in anything else. Help me point others to Your absolute trustworthiness. I praise You, for You alone are worthy, my Rock.
Lord, do not let me waste Your grace and mercy. Do not let me be a source of shame for You, by either what I do or what I fail to do. Let me serve others in love, for their benefit and Your glory. Let my life bring You joy and be both useful for Your Kingdom and beautiful for Your praise.
Make my life a living demonstration of Your demeanor and attitude in both my words and actions. As I journey on the road You call me to travel, let me be effective in calling others to join me. Let my example be as salt and light to those around me. Let me be an encouragement to love You.
Give me divine light so that I may have wisdom and discernment in all situations. Purify my heart so that I may continually be prepared for life’s remaining duties, whether in suffering or in comfort. Prepare me to serve with distinction not only in this life, but even more so in eternity, that I may bring joy to Your heart forever.
My exalted and holy Lord, You are completely other—entirely separate from Your creation—yet You have made Yourself available to us. You are absolutely incomprehensible and inaccessible, yet You have made Yourself intimately known to us. In Christ, You have bridged the gap and come near. In the Holy Spirit, You have even entered into us, indwelling us and transforming us.
Words cannot express the wonder of this indescribable gift. I cannot grasp it. I am bewildered and amazed. I marvel. Help me to never lose this astonishment. Capture my constant focus so that I might persist in searching out the astounding mystery of knowing You. Let me transcend my natural perception of life and discern Your supernatural design and activity by which You craft all things after Your purpose and reveal Your character and magnificence.
Use me as Your instrument to increase others’ awareness and admiration of Your infinite worthiness. Demonstrate through me a life that is fit for a restored creation, a profound grasp of Your purposes that shapes my daily pursuits. Prepare me for life in the new creation through a deeper walk with You, a more thorough conformity to Your ways, a grander perception of Your purposes, and an increasingly renewed life in Your Kingdom.
Lord, by Your Spirit, live in and through me. Let Your breath be my prayers. Inhabit my praises. Speak in my words. Inspire my thoughts. Let my hands do Your work and let my feet take me in Your paths. May Your desires and passions be my heartbeat. Conform me fully to Your image so that I may be an expression of heaven on earth.
Holy God, Your righteousness is absolute. Thank You that You are so pure that no fault or failure can be tolerated in Your presence. Your perfection is absolute. But loving Father, I cannot but be even more grateful for Your mercy. In Your wisdom and love, You have offered an intimate relationship with You to those who will respond to Your gift in Jesus.
We do not deserve it. We never could. You have chosen to sacrifice Yourself to make it possible, to grant us Your purity and perfection.
Teach me to live in such a way as to make evident the work You have begun in me. Show me how to bring joy to Your heart in my daily thoughts, words, and actions. Finish the process of conforming me to the image of Christ. Use me to call others to that inestimable adventure as well.
Instruct me how to relate to others with Your same character. Let me be both just and merciful. Allow me to love others sacrificially and so model Your essential nature. Demonstrate in and through me how You intend for life to be lived in Your Kingdom. Let the surprising and even shocking example of this love draw many to You as the author of life and love. Strengthen me to persevere in that life and love despite all the opposition of the enemy.
Lord, shape my thoughts and let me see Your activity everywhere. Let me see Your love, not only in the cross and Your church, but also in the world around me, whether in pleasant things or painful and sorrowful ones. Help me recognize Your discipline and training for what they are, an expression of deep love as You equip and prepare Your people for eternity.
Let the sun remind me of the Sun of righteousness whose brightness surpasses it. Let the rain remind me of the showers with which You water my soul. Let streams remind me of the river in the eternal city. May the temporary shadows of beauty in this creation cause my soul to yearn for the eternally solid and indescribably fulfilling new creation you are preparing.
Enable me to continually recognize You more fully so that I may more fully make You known to others. Let me understand You more deeply in order that I may be more fully conformed to Your image. Cause me to discern more constantly Your communications and overtures so that I might respond more attentively.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Your eternal unity and relational nature are a revelation. How can complete selflessness combine with such strong identity? How can complementarity be so complete as to be union? How can identity be so clear yet so multifaceted? You are complete, yet You invite Your children to join in Your being, to include us in Your family of One.
Father, You reign over everything as the Source, the Destination, the Author. Son of God, You express the Father so we can comprehend Him. You are the Agent of creation and salvation. You serve the Father in order to bring everything into submission to Him, so that He can in turn place it all under Your authority. Holy Spirit, You indwell us, teach us, and conform us to the image of Christ. You give words to our yearnings and enmesh us into Your being.
Awesome Trinity, guide us, shape us, and incorporate us together with Yourself. Be pleased to work Your love in and through us as Your body, seamlessly expressing Yourself in and through us to one another as an outworking of Your essential nature, and to those outside Your body as a testimony to Your active union in the world. Let our unity be a powerful demonstration of Your preeminence. Your supremacy is worthy of all praise and honor.
Father, the more fully I know You, the more I see my shortcomings and failures. I see that even my most noble efforts are tainted by selfish motives. The more I recognize Your power, the more I acknowledge my weakness. The more I understand Your wisdom, the more I see my utter weakness and inability.
Therefore, let me not waste another moment living in the flesh, but rather let me live in the Spirit. Fill me to overflowing. Consume me so that I may not only be focused on Your Kingdom, but to do so in the power of the Holy Spirit. Let me not think of myself or even to be motivated by the enjoyment of service, but rather to delight merely in Your worthiness and Your presence.
Be my wisdom, strength, endurance, faith, hope, love, and every other thing I require to live a life that brings joy to Your heart. Apart from You I can do absolutely nothing. In You I have enough, even if all friends, material things, or manmade organizations fail me, or if creation itself is burning up around me. In fact, in the loss of worldly things, I more truly understand Your worthiness and sufficiency.
I do not have even the faintest imagination of what is needed to dwell and serve in the new heaven and new earth. I trust You to fit me for that marvelous privilege, whatever the cost in this world. Use me also to help in preparing as many others as possible for that purpose as well. May all Your people understand Your ways and purposes so that together we might cooperate with Your work in us.
Lord, I cannot truly understand how Your presence is constantly in every place. You abide in all the universe, and Your superintendence is evident from the mysteries of subatomic intricacies to the coordination of billions of galaxies. Despite the universality of Your presence, You are intensely personal in Your concern for and involvement with all creation.
I exalt You for this unfathomable infinitude. Show me how to float with utter abandon in the certitude of Your sovereign control and inestimable goodness. Let me be in total synchrony with Your workings and not resist or doubt You in any way. Let my responses be always of pure love and trust. Allow me to communicate Your greatness to others so that they might worship You more truly.
Father, I eagerly anticipate the day when there will be no more sorrow, pain, or loss; when no weariness overwhelms, no zeal flags, no sin hinders; when no unbelief, fear, or pride in myself or others causes grief to You and creates a barrier between us; when no distractions derail me from the path You have prepared.
Give me the grace now to live high above these temporal challenges.
Let me live a sanctified life with my eyes fixed on You. Let Your love be my consolation, Your glory my joy, Your purposes my pathway, and Your will my resting place. Let every difficulty or setback serve only to increase my hunger to know You more fully and increase my hope, so that I may endure more faithfully.
Lord, You know every detail, seen and unseen, of all creation. Your awareness is constant and complete. You recognize every cause, every effect, every interaction, every relationship. You foresee every response, every possible future. You orchestrate every occurrence and every decision, whether taken in conscious submission to Your will, in opposition to Your will, or in complete unawareness. In Your wisdom You work all things together to accomplish Your purposes.
Instruct me so that I might always be intentional in cooperating with Your desires and not waste my life in seeking my own way. May my thoughts be drawn after Yours. Give me wisdom to perceive Your activity and intentions so that I might steward the pursuits of each day. Allow me to share Your profound discernment and unassailable judgments with others so they might honor You more fully.
God who sees the heart, do not let me rest until my heart is blameless before You—not simply in a legal sense, but as a day-to-day expression of my life. Do not let me settle for being born of the Spirit; help me press on to be filled with Him, attentive to His inclinations, and walking in Him.
Let me not be content with professing belief if I am not demonstrating that belief by an obedient life of faith in good works and service. Let my sincerity be demonstrated through horror at the thought of offending You, concern to know Your will, and willingness to deny myself for Your sake.
May nothing within or outside me cause me to grieve You, be blind to Your glory, offend Your children, turn me from Your instructions, or forget Your promises. Do not allow my earthly activities to damage my spiritual life or let my earthly concerns eclipse my spiritual concerns.
Do not permit anything to overshadow the one thing I need—to be in Your presence. Instead, give me a heart that is attentive to You, sensitive to Your guidance, responsive to Your correction, and quick to respond to Your direction. Teach me the art of abiding in You, so that I might be in the world as Your instrument but not of it.
Purify my heart so that You reign supreme in every thought and motive. Be glorified in me and through me by being my only desire. Allow my pursuit of knowing You to more intimately inspire others to do the same. Let the result be greater glory to You as sinners turn to follow You and saints are drawn to pursue You more intently.
Lord, the enormity of Your strength is limitless, the enormity of Your power beyond reckoning. Your boundless greatness defies description and Your consummate glory transcends comprehension. Your authority is ineffable and Your rule is unequivocal. Omnipotent God, everything that exists and happens is under Your sovereign control, so that You work all things after the counsel of Your will.
I can rest completely in the knowledge that You are capable and trustworthy to bring about righteous perfection with mercy and love. When I don’t see any hope of straightening what has been bent, of restoring what has been twisted, I know You can make all things new.
I do not understand why You choose to limit Yourself by working through weak people, but in Your wisdom You exercise restraint and so demonstrate Your amazing ability to work even through weakness. Develop in me a confidence in Your inscrutable way of showing Your power through frailty. Teach me to be gentle, as You are, patient with those who are struggling. Instruct me in showing meekness and humility to the feeble and compassion to the needy. Thank You for dealing with me in this way, in Your grace and mercy. Help me treat others as You have treated me.
Lord, receive the reward of Your suffering. May unfathomable numbers of people submit willingly and joyfully to Your reign. Let Your rule be acknowledged by all and Your will advanced throughout the earth. Use me as You desire in this cause. Whether by my success or suffering, whether by my health or by my illness and pain, whether in my life or death, be glorified. Show me how to labor to this end, and strengthen me to do so. Allow me to play the part You intend in bringing all things into subjection to Your loving authority and power.
Since I am entirely Yours, let me accept with equal joy whatever circumstances You allow, knowing that You can be as greatly glorified in sacrifice as in victory. Give me wisdom to perceive what is from Your hand and what derives from the attacks of the enemy, so that I might not accept any barrier or burden by which he might seek to hinder me. Purify my soul from discouragement, bitterness, or fear by fixing my desires only on You. Give me contentment with Your good gifts.
Show me both what to do and what not to do so that I may invest all the capacity You give me in what is worthy. Give me fulfillment in Your calling and presence. Thank You for the privilege of serving You, but even more for the privilege of being Your child and working with You in this world. Prepare me to serve You well, not only in this world but also in the next, where Your will is expressed in the fully restored perfection of all creation. Create in me now a shadow or an aspect of that condition, as a testimony and trophy of Your grace.
Eternal God, I cannot fathom the fact that You are outside time, able to see the end from the beginning. You are the great I AM living in the eternal now. Your victory is already won. Your purpose is already accomplished. You have not only “read the end of the book,” but You wrote it.
Teach me to live by faith in the light of eternity. Help me keep my eyes fixed on eternal things and my hope fixed upon them. Tutor me to tune my heart to Your ceaseless praise. Guide me to walk in the reality of Your promises that are not yet visible to my earthly eyes. Grant me the ability to communicate eternal truth to people who are looking merely at temporal realities. Use me as a purveyor of hope and faith to people trapped in the present.
Lord of mercy, make me merciful. Let me, like You, prefer to serve the hopeless and downtrodden. Let me bless the homeless, depressed, mentally ill, sin-controlled, hopeless, grieving, and helpless.
Fill my thoughts with ways to demonstrate Your love, to show forth Your kindness, and to serve rather than being served. May many people be drawn to You and glorify Your Name as a result.
Dear heavenly Father, I am totally indebted to You for Your goodness, kindness, mercy, compassion, and gentleness. I am unworthy of these blessings and always will be. My only virtue is that You have loved me.
I cannot understand that fact, but I will always be grateful for it.
Show me how to imitate You as a doting child imitates a beloved parent. Teach me how to follow Your example in demonstrating Your character. Conform me to the image of Christ. Transform my heart to be fit for eternity with You. Let me bless others as You have blessed me, regardless of the worthiness of the people I love and serve. Because I am limited, show me whom You would have me focus on in showing Your love. Let me not miss any of the good works You have prepared for me to do.
Lord, by Your Spirit I ask that You would continually refine and purify my character. Clothe me with humility. Clarify my path moment by moment. Increase my zeal and devotion for You. Cause me to realize the brevity of my earthly stay and order my steps accordingly. Cure me of the foolishness of delay and indecision. Glorify Yourself through me.
Lord, You are the First Cause. By Your word, You created everything that exists. You are the author of life and salvation. You designed all things. Through sin, we have distorted, broken, and corrupted Your perfect creation. Thank You that You will restore all things in a new creation. We eagerly anticipate that day when Your perfect design will be renewed.
Lord, please continue and complete the good work You have begun in us to prepare us to serve and live and worship in the new creation. We cannot imagine the fulfillment of that vibrant life lived in Your presence when we will finally see You clearly in Your magnificent glory and perceive Your incomprehensible splendor.
We worship You. It is surprising and amazing that You use even the distortions, brokenness, and corruption brought about by sin to prepare, purify, train, equip, and test us. Your wisdom is inscrutable. You bring life out of death, victory out of defeat, strength out of weakness, and glory out of humility.
We trust You. We are clay in Your hands. Mold us. Use us. Thank You!
Lord, forgive me for my woefully inadequate worship. Tune my heart to harmonize with the worship offered by the angels, who see You face-to-face. Forgive my wholly inappropriate sense of entitlement. Let me recognize the amazing and undeserved benefits You have already provided and the unimaginable delights You are preparing for me, so that I might rejoice in gratitude for Your generosity.
Protect my heart from distractions through worldly pursuits or anxieties. Flood my entire being with meditations centered on You and Your Kingdom, in order that my life, worship, and soul might be infused with Your essence. Let my food and drink be Your Word and Your voice. Let my faith be my peace as my spirit is knit more fully into Your presence.
Lord, You are the One who opens and no one can shut. Please open the hearts of Your people to love what You love, to hate what You hate, and to desire what You desire. Open the hearts of those who do not love You to receive Your love. Give them the faith to respond to Your worthiness with their submission, gratitude, and devotion.
Open the hands of Your people to serve as an expression of Your blessing, grace, mercy, and love. As we have been blessed, let us be a blessing to others. Let our generosity and compassion toward one another be a testimony of unity that brings glory to Your Name. Let our concern and care for the hurting and needy be a demonstration of Your grace that causes people to glorify Your Name. Let our sacrifices of service mirror Your own sacrifice and thus draw people to You.
May our homes be open as places of constant worship and trophies of Your grace. Teach us how to live such lives of hospitality that we might bring respite, fellowship, and support to the souls of those who enter. Let their spirits be refreshed and made to desire more of You when they enter and experience the relationships and fellowship made possible by Your life in us.
Open the heavens to release the benefits of the abundant life to Your family on earth. Let us be conduits of Your blessings. As strangers on the earth, let Your Kingdom culture be modeled in Your people as a strange and wonderful curiosity in this broken world. Help us keep our eyes fixed on the open heavens so that we might always be responsive to Your will and ways. Make us sensitive to Your direction and intention.
Glorious Savior, You are my life, hope, joy, peace, treasure, glory, and end. Conform me to Your character, will, and ways so that I might be a tool in Your hands to bless those around me. Send me where You will, guiding my steps and actions to be an instrument of blessing to serve others. Delight in my love.
Let me reflect the heavenly glow so purely that I burn with Your presence, shedding light in the darkness. May I inspire greater dedication in Your children and create a hunger to know You among those who have yet to follow You.
Let me be an example that brings honor to Your Name. Advance the work of remaking me in Your image.
Lord, give me new senses to perceive Kingdom realities. You have given me new life. Let me live that life with full engagement each day. Let me not wait until the new heavens and new earth are revealed to experience the fullness of the abundant life.
Give me ears to hear Your voice guiding my ways and speaking to my heart as I navigate through each day. Give me eyes to see Your activity all around me, the needs You desire to meet, and the gaps You intend for me to fill, so that Your will might be accomplished on earth as it is in heaven. Give me a nose that discerns both the aroma of Your work and the stench of the spirit of the world, so that I might always align with You and carry Your sweet fragrance wherever I go. Give me a tongue that desires to feed on Your every word and eschews the deceptive communications of the enemy. Give me a body that feels the impulse of Your pursuits and recognizes the import of Your touch, as You commune with Your church to influence the rest of creation.
Let all these sources of input help me discern Your will with alacrity. May they continually shape my soul and my spirit after Your image and desire. Grant that I may thereby live more and more by faith rather than by my physical senses. At the same time, use my spiritual senses to strengthen my hope for our final redemption. Let me be yielded wholly to a life consumed by Your love and character rather than by lesser concerns for temporary issues. May the obedience of my heart, soul, mind, and strength be expressed in a life submitted entirely to You.
Grant that my existence may therefore result in glory to You and delight to Your heart.
Lord, may my walk with You be all-consuming, so all-encompassing that all other interests appear only as faint shadows. May my attention be captured and maintained upon Your concerns. Protect me from self-delusion. Do not let me be religious but unchanged. Do not let me be merely an unworthy oaf but a soldier engaged in advancing Your cause.
Give me an ever-renewing heart, ever learning to sense Your passions. Let my dependence on You be unwavering and my love complete. Let my inner strength be ever-growing, even as my body becomes more frail. Let every setback, pain, grief, and disappointment only serve to increase my yearning to experience Your fullness more comprehensively.
Dearest Lord, thank You that Your redemption is past, present, and future. You have redeemed us, You are redeeming us, and You will ultimately and completely redeem us. Thank You that You are redeeming all of creation, restoring and establishing it as an expression of Your glory and greatness.
Thank You that as part of Your redemption You are restoring all aspects of our relationships; with Yourself, with other people, with our own selves, and with the rest of creation.
• You have made us right with You, not counting our sins against us but instead crediting us with the righteousness of Christ, making us Your beloved children.
• You have broken down the dividing walls between us and other people.
• You have given us a new identity in Christ so that we can love others as well as ourselves.
• You have given us a renewed mandate to manage all creation.
I pray that each day we might advance still further in our recognition and practical living out of these marvelous provisions You have made.
• Let us come boldly before You and live ever in Your presence and under Your direction.
• Let us serve one another and sacrifice for one another as You did for us.
• Let us rest in the contented assurance of our place in Your heart.
• Let us constantly bear in mind Your concerned intention for all creation to bear witness to Your power and wisdom and steward it accordingly.
We yearn for the day when all will be fully and finally perfected in Your presence for all eternity. May the hope of that day strengthen us in the interim and guide our efforts in the days You give us on this earth.
Holy Trinity, we ask that just as You relate within Yourself in all unity and mutual submission and love, may you build that same pattern of relationship to us individually and corporately.
• May our families model Your love and testify to Your nurturing in every aspect of life.
• May our communities be an example of your interdependent concern and cooperation.
• May our cities and towns provide a foretaste of the city of God in the new creation, centered in You and lighted by You.
• May our nations display the light of Your glory in all unity as our lives pulse to the beat of Your heart.
• May our global society be a stage for the knowledge of You to spread as we jointly appreciate Your wisdom in interacting with Your creation.
Lord, You shape the affairs of men in many ways. You have ordained that societies everywhere are impacted by shared patterns of behavior. I ask You to stamp Your influence on the affairs of men by infusing Kingdom principles into the various aspects of shared values and designs in the following systems.
Government: Place people You have prepared into positions of leadership. Give them godly wisdom. Grant them a keen awareness of their inadequacy for the responsibilities before them, and then cause them to turn to You for guidance. Make them champions for the downtrodden. Shape their thoughts and feelings and priorities to be in line with Your own.
Commerce: Let business, trading, and the financial sector be expressions of Your design so that giving might be seen as more blessed than receiving. Let financial systems and patterns be honest and used as a blessing for the distribution of practical needs to everyone. Let prosperity prompt people to honor and thank You for Your kindness and provision rather than lead to pride.
Education: May homes and intact families be the primary venue for the massively important task of educating the young. Let them do so with great love and the care and value that recognize the gravity and influence of the task. Let those serving as teachers in schools or other institutions be guided and strengthened by You as they invest in guiding those whom You place under their care. Let all education point people toward You as the great Teacher.
Communications: Shape the interchange of thoughts and ideas in such a way that people begin to question the gaps between Your will and the state of affairs that currently exists. Give people with control over various communications media a sense of responsibility for impacting society, and steer them to focus on issues that will lead people to pursue Your ways. Grant influence to those who know You, and give them insight in how to glorify You and draw people to You.
Religion: Use both those who claim Your Name and those who claim other allegiances to draw people to Yourself. May those who call themselves Your children give no cause for doubting Your glory or character. Let them be an expression of Your grace, love, and goodness wherever they are, both privately and publicly, individually and corporately. May the falsehood, pretension, and perversions of other religious systems be evident to everyone. Prevent the enemy from blinding people trapped in those systems. Allow them to recognize their plight and escape to You. Guide Your people to rescue them.
Thank You for Your constant concern and engagement in the affairs of men. Draw all men to Yourself in order that You might be honored in all the earth.
Dear Father, Your intention is for the benefit of people, that they might flourish as they experience all the goodness of Your creation and design. We pray for every aspect of life for them.
Body: May their bodies be strong and in good health so that they might serve You with vigor and vitality, as You deserve. Let their well-being be a source of praise and gratitude for Your kindness.
Labor: Give them the tasks that You have created them for. Let them find fulfillment, joy, and effectiveness in the jobs You place before them. Show them how to bring honor to You in how they work.
Economics: Provide for their needs with an abundance that will enable them to give generously to others who are in need. Let them experience the joy of giving. May Your financial blessing on their lives be a cause for praise and appreciation of Your goodness.
(E)motions: Let them feel what You feel. Tune their hearts to Your own. Cause them to rejoice in You and to bring joy to Your heart. Allow them to hurt when Your will is abrogated. Give them the illuminating experience of sharing Your disposition toward all things.
Social: Repair any breach in their relationships. May their connections with other people bring life rather than grief. Let their social interactions draw others to You and encourage them to know and love You more deeply.
Spiritual: Grant them lives that are guided and controlled by Your Spirit. May the strength of their spiritual lives be more than sufficient to the degree that they are overcomers in every aspect of life. May their spiritual affluence overflow to others, beckoning them to You. Prepare them for an eternity with You.
I want to know You. Life is empty and meaningless without You. Life is full and fulfilling in Your presence.
Help me comprehend Your nature. I cannot fathom the infinite, so help me wonder at it. Let me marvel at Your perfection. Help me see You as the measure of all things, the standard by which all things are to be judged and find their meaning.
Help me grasp Your purposes. I cannot imagine Your worthiness, so cause me to understand the multitude of ways by which You make it known. Let me trace Your path as You make Your glory known, so that I might more effectively reflect and proclaim it.
Enable me to discern Your will for me in the situations I encounter and in the settings where You place me. Shape my desires so that they conform to Your own. Let me respond in ways that are in concord with Your intentions, always laboring to see Your will done on earth as it is in heaven.
Teach me Your ways so that I consistently mirror Your character and pursue Your ends in appropriate ways. Let me not miss any turn in the path due to taking my eyes off of You. Let me perceive Your working around me even when it is in unexpected ways.
Reveal Your thoughts to me. I want not only to see Your activity but to comprehend Your thinking so that I might appreciate You more deeply. Deepen my own thinking by exposing me to Yours. Let me begin to anticipate Your work as I begin to trace Your mind.
Cause me to plumb the depths of Your passion for Your glory to be perceived, reflected, and proclaimed through creation, and especially through mankind. Let my heart be shaped by Yours. Let my own emotions be framed by Yours so that I might respond as You would.
Enable me to envision Your desires so that I might be captivated by what delights You. Let me not pursue lesser things than Your intentions. I want my desires to be wholly determined by Yours, for as the loving Creator You know what is best.
[This prayer is a summary of the Persecution and Suffering blog post series from 2017, which is one of the files available for free download at obeygc2.com. You can find biblical references for all these requests in that document.]
Lord, I want to respond well to difficulties You allow into my life. Please help me by Your Spirit to delight and glorify You and to grow in my own faithfulness and maturity by doing these things when faced by unpleasant circumstances:
Think about Your perspective on it;
Wait for You and rely on You for relief;
Hope in You and seek You;
Quietly submit to You;
Humbly respond to You and to the human agents;
Not grumble or complain;
Examine my life;
Worship You;
Call out to You;
Not fear;
Mourn;
Commit my life to service even in difficulty;
Avoid distractions from Kingdom purposes;
Seek to please You in the midst of it;
Act righteously, even when it will result in persecution;
Rejoice greatly;
Be glad;
Not resist evil people acting against me;
Love my enemies;
Pray for those who persecute me;
Love You more than anyone, including family members;
Count You as more important than anything in life;
Be willing to sacrifice everything for You;
Deny my own will and desires and serve Your purposes daily;
Not be selfish or conceited;
Humbly consider others as more important than myself and serve their interests;
Not use my position to my advantage but rather to serve others;
Humble myself by being willing to suffer for the benefit of others;
Be encouraged;
Continue proclaiming the good news of Jesus publicly and privately;
Continue teaching others about the Kingdom life publicly and privately;
Promote the Kingdom wherever I go;
Welcome instruction about the Kingdom even when it leads to suffering;
Model service in the midst of suffering for other believers;
Imitate followers of Christ who suffer well for serving You;
Persevere, demonstrate faith, and endure;
Be filled with the Spirit;
View the trials as identification with You and for Your sake;
Continue to speak the truths of the Kingdom that I have believed;
Not lose heart;
Fix my eyes on unseen and eternal realities rather than my present situation;
Not cause others to stumble;
Show great endurance through every kind of unpleasant circumstance and situation;
Live out purity, understanding, patience, and kindness;
Demonstrate a Spirit-filled life of sincere love, truthful speech, and godly power;
Show forth righteous living in spiritual warfare in the face of any response;
Be content with being considered false, being beaten, poor, sorrowful, and dying;
Work hard for the Kingdom;
Be willing to face every kind of difficulty, danger, discomfort, and sorrow;
Be concerned for the welfare of others;
Boast in my weakness;
Delight in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties;
Glory in my sufferings;
Share in Your sufferings;
Consider myself a sheep to be slaughtered and sacrificed;
Be willing to lose my freedom;
Count any and every earthly thing as a loss compared to knowing Christ;
Participate in Your suffering and death willingly;
Intentionally suffer through self-discipline as a sacrifice of service;
Seek to please You;
Consider my service and sacrifice as the least I can do for You;
Die to self with You;
Persevere;
Practice Your commands;
Serve as Your ambassador and represent Your desires and ways to others;
Fervently pray with cries and tears to You for relief;
Reverently submit to You;
Remember Your faithfulness in past suffering;
Stand with others who are suffering and join them in it;
Joyfully accept the confiscation of my property;
Live by faith;
Not shrink back from serving or speaking for You;
Choose to be mistreated with Your people rather than hiding my heavenly citizenship in order to escape;
Value Your treasures more than the treasures of this world;
Embrace any sacrifice You call on me to make;
Love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength;
Keep Your commands;
Welcome and choose every form of opposition and pain and discomfort for Your sake;
Resist and struggle against sin, even to death;
Not make light of discipline;
Not lose heart;
Endure hardship, knowing its benefits;
Respect You and submit to You;
Consider it pure joy;
Let endurance have its full result;
Be patient and persevere;
Bear up under unjust suffering;
Patiently endure unjust suffering;
Not commit sin or deceive to escape hardship;
Not lash out at those causing me pain;
Not threaten;
Entrust myself to You, knowing You will judge righteously;
Not fear threats or be frightened;
Revere You as Lord;
Be prepared to give a witness for my hope, with gentleness and respect;
Arm myself with the purpose to suffer as You did and with Your attitude;
Not be surprised at fiery ordeals and tests because they are expected and normal;
Rejoice at the opportunity to share in Your sufferings;
Be alert and of sober mind;
Resist the devil, firm in my faith;
Be aware that believers around the world are suffering for their faith;
Not be afraid of future suffering; and
Be faithful to the point of death.
As I do respond in this fashion, I ask that You will, in and through the suffering:
Position me to bless others;
Test, refine, and prove me and my faith;
Give me hope;
Show me Your love is unstoppable and You are good and all I need;
Show me You are listening and are near;
Bless me;
Comfort me;
Equip me to comfort others;
Prepare me to inherit the Kingdom of heaven;
Increase my reward in heaven;
Discover my true and real life in You;
Help me know You more intimately;
Help me become more like You and identify with You more fully;
Help me gain more of Your character;
Demonstrate the permanence and power of Your love for me;
Save my life in You;
Cause me to bear more fruit;
Teach me peace;
Teach me to hope in my future eternal comfort and blessing;
Demonstrate Your trust in me and honor of me;
Give me joy;
Announce Your message broadly;
Encourage others in their faith;
Show love to my brothers and sisters in the faith;
Show my worthiness of the Kingdom;
Make room for Your justice;
Show Your power in me;
Demonstrate Your life in me;
Foreshadow my future glorification (as in Your resurrection);
Cause others to be drawn to You;
Result in thanksgiving from others for my sacrificial ministry;
Renew me day by day through Yourself;
Bestow eternal rewards;
Prove my genuineness;
Validate my ministry;
Validate my words;
Make my life known;
Enrich the lives of others;
Show where my true riches are, where my heart is;
Keep me humble;
Give me perseverance, godly character, and hope;
Honor me;
Show that I am Your child and heir of Your glory;
Demonstrate my conquering life in You;
Advance the gospel;
Give confidence to fellow believers;
Demonstrate my faith in You, which is my righteousness;
Show me the power of Your resurrection, and help me share in it;
Provide access to Your life and help me reign with You in eternity;
Give me strength to stand;
Crown me with glory and honor;
Perfect me;
Teach me obedience;
Be especially attentive to my prayers;
Enable me to experience better and lasting possessions;
Provide a pathway to receive Your promises;
Be the way of salvation;
Show that the world is not worthy, but You are;
Provide an opportunity for amazing victories that will glorify You;
Teach me discipline;
Deepen my holiness;
Produce a harvest of righteousness and peace in my life;
Produce endurance, perfect me, and make me complete in You;
Enable You to demonstrate Your compassion and mercy;
Prove the genuineness of my faith;
Bring the result of praise, glory, and honor to You;
Help me find favor with You;
Fulfill my calling;
Bring the enemies of the Kingdom to shame;
Keep me free from sin’s allure;
Cause me to live more fully for Your will and desires;
Increase my future joy;
Increase Your glory in my life and the fullness of the Holy Spirit;
Bring to pass my restoration, strengthening, firmness, and steadfastness;
Enable me to receive the victor’s crown; and
Achieve Your good purposes in my life.
These things can happen only by Your mercy and grace. Thank You for Your mercy and grace!
Lord, give me the divinely empowered ability to maintain my focus on You so fully that I will not miss the slightest cue of Your intention. Let my attentiveness be sensitive and unshakable. Allow me to perceive Your slightest glance or gesture. Permit me to pick out Your slightest whisper even in the midst of hubbub and confusion. Tune my spiritual senses to discern and even anticipate Your activity around me, and give me the wisdom to grasp Your guidance for my responses moment by moment. Thank You for Your constant concern with every detail of life.
Father, I join all creation in yearning for the completion of Your redemption. I ache for the fulfillment of the new creation. I crave the perfection of my new body. I hunger and thirst for the day I will see You fully, face-to-face, in all Your glory. I pine for the renewal of all relationships. I long for the permanent and visceral awareness of Your presence to light the eternal day. My deepest desire is for Your glorious return. Come soon! Maranatha!