Tag Archives: pray

June 11, 2014 · 7:31 AM

A Servant’s Prayer

Father,

There’s nothing more that I want than to be your servant. I want to do all the things that you have planned for me to do. I want to fulfill the plan you have for my life. The harder I try to do the things you ask me to do, the more I seem to fail. I find that alone, I’m incapable of doing all that you ask. I need your help. I need your hand on my life to guide me, direct me and to open the doors that stand shut in my way. I’ve knocked on them until my hands hurt and no one opens them. I need you supernaturally intervene.

Open my eyes to see what you need me to see. If there are other avenues, other doors or other ways to get where you’re leading me, show them to me. I know you have a greater plan for me, but I just can’t see how to get from here to there. Progress seems to have stopped. I was running full speed towards the goal when all of a sudden everything slowed to the point that I’m at a stand still. I only see closed doors, but you see the path. Open my eyes to see where you want me to go from here.

Open my ears to hear your voice above all the noise in my life. I know that you speak in a still, small voice. Train my ears to listen for it so I can hear it through all the distractions. I know you are always speaking, but I’m not always listening. Help me to turn down the things in my life that block out your voice. Teach me to listen for your instruction as I go throughout my day. Speak to me through the Bible, through others and with your voice. I don’t want to miss what you have to say so give me ears that hear you.

Open my mouth so that I will speak the words you want me to speak. Help me to speak life and not death, to build up and not tear down, to lift others up instead of putting them down. The power of life and death are in the tongue. I want to use mine to speak life. Keep bitter water from coming out of the fountain of my mouth. Give me words of wisdom to speak, words of knowledge that are confirmation for others and words of life to those who are dying. I pray that the words I say and the meditation of my heart are acceptable in your sight.

I know that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So I ask that you would make changes in my heart. Take out the hard, stoney parts that are cynical. Remove the parts where I’ve stored up bitterness against others for things they’ve done to me. Replace them with a heart that loves others the way you love them. Put a heart in me that runs hard after you. In order to be the servant you need me to be, I need a heart that sees servant hood the way you do. I need a heart that is sensitive to the things that you’re sensitive to, that breaks for the things that break your heart, and that has compassion for the lost and broken the way your do.

I thank you for hearing my prayer and I ask that you would answer it in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

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June 4, 2014 · 7:44 AM

A Prayer For Your Family

Lord,

I lift up your name. I praise you because you’re worthy. You are the omnipotent and I recognize that. Where I am weak, you are strong. When I can’t, you are able. When I am limited, you are unlimited. You own the cattle on a thousand hills as the Psalmist out it. You own everything we see. You created this universe and are beyond the vastness of it. You can create something out of nothing with just your voice. Your words are powerful. More powerful than anything any one of us could ever imagine.

Today, I ask you to speak into my family. I pray that you would speak protection over them. As each of us go different ways, you are the only one who has the ability to watch over us and to protect us. Guard our paths. Expose the enemy when he’s lying in wait to steal, kill and destroy those I love. Rebuke him and keep him away so that he cannot lay a finger on anyone in my household. You are the One who gives abundant life and I ask that you speak that life into my family.

Next I pray that you would order each of our steps. Your Word says that the steps of a righteous man are ordered by you, so I ask that you would shine your light on the paths that each of us are to take. If anyone of us stumbles, reach out your hand to catch us, pull us back up and set our feet back on your path. Keep us from wandering off the paths that you have chosen for us. We want to do your will and go where you tell us. Make your way clear to each member of my family so there’s no question where you want them to walk.

For the members of my family in relationships, I ask that you would strengthen them. Draw them closer together through their relationship with you. Help each one to be selfless in their responsibilities in that relationship. For those who are yet to be in a relationship, I ask that you would bring someone who is godly into their life to challenge them in their relationship with you in order to help them grow. Put that person you have for them in their path so they will see them and your hand in the situation. Remove all fear and doubt from their mind in order to help them trust your plan for them.

Above all, I ask that you would place on each of us a hunger for more of you. Give us an appetite, a craving for your Word. Cause us to never be satisfied with anything less than you. Help us to put away spiritual junk food and to focus on putting only healthy things in our minds and hearts. When we do, I know we will be a reflection of you in all we say and do. We want to be good examples of who you are to those we meet. We want to be able to speak life into others, to build them up and encourage them. Let our lives lead others straight to you. Help us to represent you faithfully as we become more like you every day.

I ask all these things in Jesus’ name.

Amen

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May 28, 2014 · 5:33 AM

A Prayer To Help With Decisions

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Lord,

I confess that I don’t seek you near enough when it comes to making decisions on a daily basis. I somehow think that you are not concerned with the trivial things in my life and that you only care about the big things. I make small decisions every day in my own wisdom rather than seeking yours. I forget that big problems are created from a series of small decisions. I need your help to remember to seek you for even the little things in my life. You are a God who is concerned with even the minute details of my life.

It’s hard for me to accept that the creator of the universe wants to be involved in the details of my life. Who am I that you should be concerned with my life? Who am I that you should even care? My mind goes to Matthew 10:29-30 when you said, “Not a single sparrow falls to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are numbered.” If you know me in such detail that you know the number of hairs on my head, then surely you care about the little things in my life.

Help me to make the right choice in each decision I make today. Give me wisdom beyond my years to make good choices. Give me your wisdom so that I’ll make decisions that honor you. I want my life to be pleasing in your sight. I want the things that I say and do to matter for your Kingdom. I realize that so much of what I do doesn’t seem like it matters for eternity, but each choice I make is a reflection of you that others see. Each thing I choose to say or do can push someone else closer to you or further away. I want to be someone who pushes others toward you.

Let that start in my home with my family. Help me to be a person who says and does things draws my family closer to you. I want to be the leader in my home that you’ve called me to be. Then let my influence extend to my friends. Help me to be someone whose relationship with you challenges them to want to do more for you. Push me to live my life and to make decisions in such a way that any stranger who sees me recognizes your hand on my life. Let them see your wisdom in me. Let them see your love in me. Through my actions, help them to see how much concern you have for them as well.

Yes, I need help with some big decisions right now, but I also need help with the little ones. Show me which path to take. I don’t want to make a mistake, but I also don’t want to be paralyzed to the point of inaction by that fear. I trust that even if I make the wrong choice or decision that you will catch me and put me back on the path you have for me. Give me faith to step out and act, even when it doesn’t make sense to me. Give me courage to move when everyone but you says to stand still. Let your Word be a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Order my steps and reveal those steps to me as you see fit.

Thank you for all you have done and all you’re going to do in my life.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

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May 21, 2014 · 7:25 AM

Prayer Of Trust

Lord,

You’re holy and I’m unworthy of your daily presence in my life. Who am I that you should choose to call me your own, much less your child? I don’t know that I’ll ever understand why you choose to continually pour out blessings on me. I can’t comprehend the love you have for me. I can feel it and I can see it, but I know I don’t deserve it. In your grace, you have chosen not to give my what I deserve of have earned, but what you desire to give your children. You have given me peace, comfort, security and salvation. You have blessed me beyond words and I say, “Thank you!”

Thank you for not giving up on me when I most deserved it. Thank you for not turning your back on me when I have turned my back on you. You have remained true to II Timothy 2:13 that says even when we are unfaithful, you remain faithful. You cannot deny who you are. You are the steady constant in my life. You are my rock, my fortress, my hiding place and my deliverer. I trust you and run to you when things come at me faster than I can handle. I hide behind your shield when it feels like everyone is against me.

In those moments, you have never failed me. You have never left me out alone to face my battles. You have always stood with me, right beside me in the hardest of times. When others have left, you stayed. When others said that I got what I deserved, you put me back on me feet and showed me the path you wanted me on. You have always been my guide even though I haven’t always listened. You have pointed me to greener pastures, but I’ve procrastinated because I’ve been complacent with where I am. Continue to show patience towards me as you guide and direct me.

Give me the courage to leave those familiar fields to go where you would lead me. Give me peace as I walk away from the things I’ve known. Forgive me for finding my security in them instead of in you. Help me to trust you more and my surroundings less. Show me the greater plan you have for my life and nudge me when I stray from it. I ask for wisdom to recognize the time and seasons of change and for strength to bear the load you’ve given me. Thank you again for all you’ve done in my life and all you’re going to do. Thank you that I haven’t gone beyond the point of being used by you. I love you.

In Jesus name,

Amen

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May 9, 2014 · 7:45 AM

The Mom Who Wouldn’t Quit

It’s Free Friday! Today is the day you let go of the things in your life that keep you down or hold you back from all God has for you. To celebrate, I’m giving away an autographed copy of “What Happens When Women Say Yes To God” by Lysa TerKeurst. Keep reading to find out how to enter.

I’ve always heard that if your mom is praying for you, you might as well stop running because God is going to answer her prayer. There us a lot of power and passion in a mother’s prayer. I believe it’s because God puts something special in them. They have the power to love their children unconditionally. When a dad is ready to give up, a mom keeps believing against all hope and prays even more fervently. There is power in a mom’s prayer.

There is a mom in Matthew 15:22-28 who approached Jesus for her child. We don’t know her name, but we know about her persistence. She had a daughter who was being tormented by a demon. It was unbearable for her to watch her daughter be miserable and to be powerless against it. When she heard that Jesus was coming through her area, she made it her mission to get His attention and to get Him to heal her daughter no matter what. She knew that Jesus had the power to make her daughter whole.

With a loud voice, she began to make a scene trying to get Jesus’ attention. The Amplified Bible says it was a loud, troublesomely urgent cry. “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David,” she cried out. Jesus could hear her, but He ignored her. He kept walking and gave her no reply to her shouts. She then began to pester the disciples. She begged them to get Him to touch her daughter. If she couldn’t get The Lord’s attention, she would find those who could and get them to plead with Him on her behalf.

When the disciples got tired of being bothered by her, they said to Jesus, “Now she’s bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She’s driving us crazy.” Jesus refused again. He said He had His hands full helping the lost sheep of Israel. When the woman saw that Jesus wouldn’t grant her request even though the disciples asked Him to, she marched right up to Him, dropped to her knees and begged, “Master, help me.” You can hear the desperation in her voice as she wanted nothing more than help for her daughter.

Jesus then said one of the most harsh things He ever said. He looked at her and said, “It’s not right to take bread out of children’s mouths and throw it to the dogs.” Jesus had not only ignored her and refused to answer her, now He was insulting her. Instead of walking away or throwing an insult back, she quickly replied, “You’re right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master’s table.” Verse 28 says, “Jesus gave in. ‘Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get.’ Right then her daughter became well.”

If you feel like God has ignored your prayer, keep praying and get others involved. If God is refusing your request, go straight into the a Throne Room and make your request known. If God is still refusing, don’t quit praying. If you feel insulted because you have prayed so long and so hard, don’t stop. Your answer could be just around the corner. God will test our faith to make sure it’s what we really want. He will answer when our faith is something else. Mom, you have a gift for never giving up when it comes to your children. Keep going to The Lord in prayer until He gives in and grants your request. There’s something about a praying mom that touches the heart of God.

If you would like to win an autographed copy of “What Happens When Women Say Yes To God” by Lysa TerKeurst, all you have to do is go to my Facebook page here and “like” it. I will randomly pick one person tomorrow (May 10, 2014) who has liked my page. If you have already liked my page and enjoy reading these daily devotionals, you are already entered. Please invite your friends to like my page so they can receive encouragement from God’s Word too

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May 1, 2014 · 7:43 AM

Living On “E”

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This morning I almost had to do the walk of shame. You know the one when your car runs out of gas and you have to walk to the gas station. As you can see from the photo, I was below the “E”. I was running late last night getting home from work. There was no time to stop because we had to be at church minutes after I got home. So I passed several gas stations knowing I needed gas because the other priorities were more important. You might be thinking that getting gas in the tank is the highest priority, and you’re right.

If it is the highest priority then why do we wait so long to fill up? The same thing happens to us spiritually. We run on empty until we are almost out and then we go fill up. I know when I fill up my car, there isn’t much to worry about. I can concentrate on the parts of driving that matter. When I’m on empty, I’m completely distracted looking at that indicator and wondering just how much further below the “E” it can go before I run out. I start looking for places to fill up. I start looking at every exit hoping to see a sign. I even start to panic a little.

The same thing happens in our spiritual life. When we are full, we don’t have a care in the world. We concentrate on living our lives the way a God wants, there aren’t many distractions and we put on cruise control with no worries. Sooner or later, we need a refill though. We miss a few Sundays at church, we get too busy to read our Bible and sleep through our prayer time. Things in our life start coming apart. We start looking for God to help us. We need Him to fill us up. People around us need our help, but we are too distracted on empty to notice.

It’s tough living like that, but so many times that how we live. We spend our lives running on empty. We rarely take the time to get full. We might get a quarter of a tank here and a quarter there, but we never get full. It boils down to priorities. You might be thinking that getting has in your spiritual tank is the highest priority, and you’re right. It is, but we don’t treat it as such. We let other things in our lives take over until we run out. When we reach that point where we can’t go on, we get stuck.

My father in law has a different approach to gas. He never let’s his tank get below half. If he gets to half, he says he’s on empty. We can all adopt this approach spiritually. Recognize when you’re no longer full and make it your priority to read God’s Word. Cut out something in your day so you can pray without distractions. Push back those plans so you can attend church. If you don’t make it a priority, everything else will take it’s place and you’ll end up distracted on “E”. We’ve already agreed that filling up is the highest priority. Look at your tank today. What do you need to do to fill up?

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April 30, 2014 · 7:48 AM

Prayer For Wisdom

Heavenly Father,

I want to start this prayer by saying, “Thank you.” There is so much in my life to be thankful for. You have blessed me in so many ways that I often over look some of them and treat them as ordinary. The truth is, nothing that comes from you is ordinary. Nothing you give me is common and I don’t want to treat it as such. When I sit down and think of all the ways you bless me daily, it gets overwhelming. I don’t deserve your goodness, but I’m thankful for it. I can’t repay you for the blessings. I can only offer a heart full of gratitude.

I confess that I don’t always appreciate the gifts you give. In fact, sometimes I even complain about people and things you bring into my life. I lose perspective on why you bring them into my life. I forget that you want me to make an impact on them by treating them with your love. I look at them as problems, distractions or annoyances. I don’t want to think about people or things in my life like that. I want to love them the way you love me. I want to treat them like you treat me, but I need your help to do that. Open my eyes to see beyond the distractions so I can see their needs. Give me wisdom in how I react and treat them.

You said in James 1:5 that if I lacked wisdom, I could ask you for it. Today, I’m asking for wisdom. I need divine wisdom for the situations I’m facing, for how to handle the relationships you’ve given me and with making decisions about my future. I can’t see very far into my future, but you already have it scripted out. My future is already history to you. I just want to make sure that I make the best decisions so I can have the future you have planned for me. I don’t want to make decisions based on knowledge. I want to make them from a position of wisdom and understanding.

I know that you have plans for me. I know that you want what is best for me. I understand the mindset of a father who wants the very best for his child. I know the love that pours out of me towards my own flesh and blood. If I feel this way about my own child, how much more do you feel for me? I can’t even grasp the depth of your love and desires for my life. I can’t comprehend the magnitude of what you want for me. Just like my child doesn’t understand the full concept of my love for him, I don’t understand the full concept of your love for me. I want to, but I don’t have the capacity.

Help me to live my life out of gratitude for all you’ve done. Show me the paths you want me to walk down in order to receive the future you’ve written out. Give me the courage to make the hard decisions that I have to make in order to be where you need me to be. Let your peace reign in me when the hard times come. Help me to make right decisions based on your wisdom instead of my emotions. Lead me along the paths of righteousness. Open my eyes to see people you’ve placed on my path to help along the way. Open my hands to give away what you ask me to give away. Open my mouth to speak wisdom into other’s lives and open my ears to hear your voice above all else.

I ask these things in Jesus’ name,

Amen.

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April 23, 2014 · 7:49 AM

Prayer For Difficult Times

Father,

Some days I feel like David. It seems like the world is chasing me and I’m in an endless cycle of running for my life. I try to hide out in caves of seclusion, but the darkness can be unbearable and lonely. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown and fear of dropping the ball keep me from doing everything I should. I feel like I’m juggling everything and barely keeping it together. I worry that if I drop something, everything will all come crashing down. It’s overwhelming at times and my mind rarely gets to rest. I need your help.

Like David, I reach out to you in my despair. I call on your name to be my refuge when others are attacking me. I know that you are my rock when everything else seems to slip beneath my feet. You are the one who holds me in your hands when I miss the mark. I thank you for being my shield that protects me from the fiery darts that the enemy throws. You give me strength to stand when that’s all that I can do. You have never failed me nor have you ever left me alone. I’m asking that you continue to stand by my side.

When I feel you standing with me, I get encouraged. I know that nothing can come against me that will defeat me. I know that even though I can’t see the path to my victory, it’s already won. Just because I can’t see how you will move or act on my behalf, it doesn’t change the fact that you will. You have always come to my rescue in my time of need. You have been the one constant in my life that I always knew would be there no matter what. Your hand has guided me through tough times in the past and you will continue to guide me no matter what I face.

I pray that you would help me to keep my thoughts on you as I face these struggles. Help me to keep my eyes fixed on your promises rather than my circumstances. Your truth is greater than what my reality tells me. Your Word is the light to my path that shows me where to go when I can’t see what my next step should be. Above all else, I will hold on to you through difficult times. You are the anchor that keeps me from going out to sea when the storms of life try to put me on the bottom of the ocean floor.

Thank you for hearing my prayer. You are a faithful God who is concerned about my life, my needs and the things that I face each and every day. Because I know you hear me, I know that you will answer me. I love you for all that you’ve done, all that you’re doing and all that you’re going to do. I know that you love me despite all I’ve done or am going to do. Your love and concern for me has nothing to do with my actions. You simply love me and care for me because you created me and I am your child. Help me to be at peace just in knowing that. Calm my fears, help me to catch my breath and to walk in your strength.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

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April 9, 2014 · 7:53 AM

Calling Me Out Of Darkness

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Lord,

I want to say, “Thank you,” because you’ve given me another day to walk this earth. It’s not something I take lightly or for granted. Because of what you set in motion so long ago, the sun came up this morning. Sometimes it reminds me that I have so much to do. Sometimes it reminds me of the problems I have to face. Sometimes it’s an unwelcome light because the night was too short. Each time it rises though, it reminds me that you are in control of everything that goes on in my life and in this world.

I know that because you live in me, there is nothing I will face today or any day that is stronger than me. There is nothing that is able to defeat me because you are greater than anything that will ever come against me. Sometimes I lose sight of that and start to feel defeated. Sometimes I think that the whole world is crashing down and it will take me down with it. In those times, I ask that you would remind me of your promise to never leave me nor forsake me. Remind me of who I am in you. Remind me that I am more than a conqueror through you.

When I think of the story of my life, I think of all the ups and downs, the good times and the bad times. Through it all, you have constantly been by my side. At times I couldn’t see your hand at work. All I could see were the problems that had me closed in on every side. Looking back, I can see your hand on me even in the darkest of nights. I can see that you were developing me and pushing me to grow closer to you. Like a seed under ground struggling to break through the dark, dirty soil trying to get to the light, you were using the dark times to strengthen me and to push me toward your light.

I have always grown the most when I couldn’t see the light. It was hope that helped me push through the hard places. At times it seemed like I would never come out of the darkness, but you were there with me, encouraging me, pushing me and calling me into your marvelous light. You weren’t content to leave me as a seed sown in soil laying dormant. Your plan for my life is to use the dark places to grow my roots in you. To make me stronger once I reach the light. To have me firmly planted so that when the winds of life blow and the rain beats down on me, I’ll look back, remember what you’ve done in my past and my roots will hold strong.

I don’t know what the future of my story looks like, but with each sunrise, you give me one more day to live it out. You give me one more chance to trust you, to open up and share your beauty. Keep writing my story as you always have. Keep giving me opportunities to grow and to trust in you more. Let the water of your word feed me and strengthen my roots. Let your face shine on me and draw me closer to you. Let the story of my life show that you are a faithful God who never abandons His children and calls them out of darkness into light. I love you with everything in me.

Thank you for all you have done and are going to do in this story.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

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April 2, 2014 · 6:56 AM

A Prayer For God’s Love

Dear Heavenly Father,

When I stop and consider who you are, I’m humbled that you would desire to use me. Everywhere I look in creation, I see your fingerprints. I see your handiwork in the stars at night and your compassion in the love of a child. I can’t help but try to imagine how big you must be since everything exists in you. I also can’t help but wonder how you care so deeply for me when you have so many other things you’ve created that you can be proud of. I’m in awe that you bless me daily with your presence.

I confess that I’m imperfect and am unworthy of your love. I do things that grieve you and make you disappointed in me. I fall short of who you want me to be so often. I don’t understand how you can still love me or desire to use me. My life is full of broken pieces that somehow you use to create a beautiful mosaic. Your desire is that when I sin and when I’m broken that I come to you and offer the pieces for you to use. My sin may be great, but your grace is even greater. I’m thankful for the forgiveness you offer when I don’t deserve it.

Thank you for the work you did on the cross. The blood that flowed from your body still offers forgiveness and healing today. The stripes you took on your back from the whip still offer healing. The crown of thorns that they placed on your head still pierces my heart and convicts me. Thank you for not calling 10,000 angels to come and rescue you. Thank you that you chose the Father’s will instead of your own. I’m forever grateful that your love for me was stronger than the pain you endured. It was stronger than the desire to come down from the cross, destroy the world and to start over. I don’t ever want to think of the love you have for me as ordinary.

I pray that you would help me to not only receive your love daily, but also help me to show it to others. Teach me to extend grace to those who need it most. I don’t want to be like the man in the Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor. I recognize that you have forgiven me for a lot. Help me to forgive those who have wronged me. Help me to express your kind of love to them. I want to overflow with your love until that’s all that comes out of me. Let me be the expression of your love here on Earth. Let your love flow through me so I can point others to you. It doesn’t matter what I do in my life, if I don’t show your love, it’s all in vain.

Walk with me today. Open my eyes to see those in need of your love. Open my ears to hear what others are really saying that they need. Open my mouth to speak the words you want me to speak. Open my hands to give what you want me to give. Open my path to lead me where you want me to go. Give me the strength to go where you’ve called me and give me the courage to do what you ask me to do. Let my life make a difference in someone else’s today. Let others see you in me today so they can see how you can take an imperfect, broken vessel and use them anyway. I love you, Lord.

I ask these things in Jesus’ name,

Amen.

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