Father God, I pray that in all our seeking, we would most earnestly seek Your will in choosing our spouses. Protect us from being taken forcefully by anyone against our will and Yours. May the men and women who inhabit, surround, and govern our lives be people who are renowned for doing good and not evil.
May they lead by Your Spirit and not by their flesh. May their hearts continually and consistently meditate on Your Word and Your Way, rather than on the violence that they can perpetrate, for violence’s sake, on lives both hidden and in full view.
We ask for Your forgiveness for grieving Your heart not only with visible words and deeds, but also with evil thoughts against one another and You. Make us so completely aware of Your perfect holiness that we would understand that there can only be two outcomes for sin in our lives when we stand before You, either retribution or restoration. Both are in keeping with Your perfect eternal character because ‘there is no shadow of turning’ with You.
Holy Spirit, open wide our spiritual eyes to see that there is no magic formula for finding favor with our God. It comes simply from walking closely and faithfully with You and is demonstrated by living out ‘a long obedience in the same direction.’ Help us and our children to remain obedient to You even when everything and everyone around us points us to the contrary.
Give us fresh spiritual revelation that comes with Your favor because we need it now more than ever to live wisely in the midst of a foolish generation that thinks it knows better than its Creator. May it point us to the truth that there is nothing new under the sun. Help us to see that without the Holy Spirit in our lives the only evolution humans are capable of is one that leads towards a consistent progression of evil and iniquity.
Lord Jesus, we thank You for being our ark of safety from death, despair, and destruction all around us. We thank You for the covenant of Your covering that has been provided not only for us, but also for our future generations. We thank You that when the waters of destruction slowly rise all around us, we don’t have to strive or clamor for space on higher ground. Your death and resurrection have made space for us in You and You are preparing a place for us with our Father in heaven, even as we speak.
Father, Son, and Spirit, we thank You that when You call us to obedience, it is Your grace that helps us to start the process, You help us finish the good work that You started in us and are faithful to complete it. You set the stage for us to succeed so that You get the ultimate glory. May it be said of us and our future generations who have the heritage of fearing Your name that we ‘did everything exactly as God commanded.’
