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Lord Jesus, You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. The way in which You moved in the past is the same way that You are moving today. By the power of the Holy Spirit, You want to keep moving in our lives. Help us to surrender to You so that You can keep working not only in us, with us, and through us, but also in, with, and through the lives of our children’s children’s children.
Holy Spirit, we know that death and grief are a part of life, so how we deal with mourning matters. Show us how to celebrate life, especially resurrection life, without disrespecting the dead. Teach us to mourn in the right way and not as those who are uninformed and without hope. May we be willing, when necessary, to stay long enough in the uncomfortable place of lament to realize that You alone are our comfort and joy.
Father God, keep us from wrong thinking because it gives the enemy a foothold in our life. Deliver us from living in any way that goes against Your will because it is ultimately evil. Stop us when we try to rationalize our sin and project our sinful nature on the intentions of others. May we be quicker to acknowledge the good that people do for us rather than worry about the evil they might never do to us.
Lord Jesus, give us the grace to love people again after we have already spent a lifetime loving them. Our best intentions often come across as dubious. Remind us that it is an honor to overlook an offense even when we are misunderstood and blatantly lied to. Keep us from all fear, doubt, bitterness, anger, and unforgiveness towards anyone because we are all ultimately under Your hand.
Keep us from misunderstanding Your mercy, Lord. Remind us that Your gift of free will to us does not negate Your sovereignty. We know that You use all things for the good of those who love You and who You call according to Your purpose. May we never misinterpret that to believe that You need our sinfulness to accomplish Your will.
Holy Spirit, give us the endurance to live ‘a long obedience in the same direction’ towards The Truth in Your word. Keep us from repudiating and reversing any part of it. You use all of it to expose, sift, analyze, judge, and prune the very essence of who we are. The transformation is painful, but You are with us every step of the way in the refining and the reviving.
Father, Son, and Spirit, our life here on earth is a mere mist in light of eternity. So keep us from wasting our breath and our life on what You consider inconsequential. Help us to live instead by Your royal law of loving our neighbor as ourselves. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as in heaven. -Amen!
