First, Father, we know that You and Jesus are as one and that our election, our predestination was known by You. You would not be omniscient if You did not know that we would respond to Your love for us, personally. You knew we would accept Your invitation, Your grace and Your mercy.
Are we a conduit of God’s gifts?
Father, we know that your desire is that we are fruitful. You have taught us that one of the reasons to accumulate assets is to share them with those in need. Help us know that assets, granted to us by You, make us a custodian, one who administers benefits to others.
Should we expect to suffer as a result of our witness?
Father, You have called us saints and yet our hearts convict us. Here You tell us to sanctify our hearts, an active process of cleansing and renewal by You, that in good conscience we might provide others with a good defense of our love for You in meekness and fear, avoiding arrogance or the suggestion of appearing judgmental.
How do you achieve “goodness”?
Father, we know that our goodness, absent the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, is more than just inadequate. When our fleshly instincts take over, we know we are running away from Your presence. Your word tells us that You delight in your saints, a designation none of us feel able to accept, yet it remains Your expectation.
Omnipresent… God’s thoughts towards me exceed number?
Father, When we look at all You have created, we are overwhelmed with Your omniscience and omnipotence. You are indeed all knowing and all powerful. Here You tell us of Your omnipresence in our lives. Your thoughts towards us exceed number. You are a constant reality. We are truly never alone.
Problems abound; God is your solution, forever.
Father, we can see that this simple promise is the key to our salvation. If we draw near to You, You will draw near to us, The opposite probably is true as well. If we distance ourselves from You, You will distance Yourself from us. We know from many scriptures that our sins grieve You. It seems our neglect of You, as we live our lives, does the same.
I humbly declare I am not proud; never have been.
Father, we know that to be like Jesus is our goal and we also know that our lower nature, our flesh, often causes us to act more like a goof ball than a saint. Give us the humility we pray to allow You to overcome that which is present in all of us. You promised to do so if we but ask.
Your thoughts toward us exceed number…and ours towards You?
Father, Your omnipresence in our lives and world is beyond our
comprehension. We know you have none of the boundaries of the flesh and
that You created each of us. Now You teach us that You search us, You know
when we arise and lay down, You know the words on our tongues and the
thoughts of our hearts. You encompass us, Your thoughts toward us are
greater than the sand, a quantity we can not count.
God’s word can never be stamped void. It invades your space
Father, we thank You for Paul’s ministry. He taught us how to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ, who he refers to as saints. We do pray for each other, perhaps not as fervently or constantly as we should, but we know that the prayers of a righteous man availeth much. You hear the prayers of those that love You so we never speak in vain when we bring our needs and hopes to You.
Is our guilt transparent mostly to ourselves?
Father, here we learn from David that works of righteousness matter. What we say and do is noticed by You. But, You have taught us elsewhere that Your grace, in calling us to Your side, and that Your mercy and our faith in Jesus, makes our works become a reflection of our faith. We know that without works our faith seems powerless and that works alone hardly distinguish us from being like any other good citizen.
Help us today to be free of self-imposed guilt. We know that You have lifted our guilt from us and that if we