A Daily Prayer

Father, the day to day living can be so challenging and easily drain us of the pleasures in life if we’re not careful.  We thank you for our friends and family who pull us away from that mindset and add laughter to our lives.  Would you bring genuine laughter to the hearts of our readers today as they go about their daily duties.  May they hear laughter and may they make laughter, verbally, and in their hearts.  In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.

Father, You have called us, Your servants, to exercise our gifts of prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing to the needs of others, leading, and being vessels of Your mercy. Help us not to be fearful or timid in exercising our spiritual gift that flows from Your power within us, since it is not for our own glory but rather for the building up of the body of Christ.  We are inadequate within ourselves, but fully sufficient according to the grace given us through Your Holy Spirit.  We seek affirmation from You, the ministry opportunities You provide us, and other mature believers, to confirm our spiritual giftings.  In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.

Father, as we examine the emotional pain of our lives, when it seems as though You’ve forgotten about us, we often start out with the question of “Why?”  But in hindsight we realize that those struggles taught us practical truths that we could not learn overnight but over time, and that there truly was purpose in our pain and in Your timing.   Help us to model integrity and steadfastness in the midst of the severe struggles and sweeping storms of life.  Your eternal purpose is greater than our temporal pain.  Remind us that it may not just be for our own instruction but for others looking on who may learn from our difficult experiences.  Amen.

Father, I consider the extremely difficult choice Job made not to sin by charging You with wrongdoing.  I consider Joseph who withstood tremendous temptation by resisting the seduction of Potiphar’s wife.  And I consider Daniel who refused to stop the custom of praying to his Father in heaven though he knew it would land him in the lions’ den.  These three, among scores of other godly brothers and sisters throughout the centuries, chose to do the right thing knowing that doing so would cause them great suffering, terrible injustice, or martyrdom.  The ultimate example is Jesus, Your Son, who died in our stead though He was wholly innocent of sin.  Help me not to look for that which is easy, quick, or that which will avoid consequence.  I choose to deal with the consequence of obedience to You; whether or not it works out for my good in the short term.  May my greatest concern be for that which works for my good internally and eternally.  In the name of Jesus I pray.  Amen.

Lord, I confess to You that my heart can easily become like unplowed ground. Destructive attitudes that I justify rather than repent of remain in my heart and cause me to be hardened toward You and others that I love.   I invite the work of Your Holy Spirit to cleanse, renew and refresh me as I yield my heart to the searchlight of Your Word.  As I seek You, Lord, You will come and shower Your righteousness and blessing upon my life as the fruit of Your unfailing love flows out to those around me.  Amen.

Jesus, we’re reminded of Your watchful eye as we go about our daily routine.  As the fishermen needed a catch of fish You met their need, over and above what they could have anticipated.  Help us to listen to Your wise instruction, walk faithfully in Your righteous paths, and trust You to meet everyone of our needs;  physically, spiritually, socially, and financially.  We thank You in advance for interceding to the Father on our behalf and supplying all our needs.  Amen.

To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in You I trust, O my God.  Show me Your ways, O Lord, teach me Your paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long.  O Lord my God, I called to You for help and You healed me.  Though weeping may endure for a night, I’m grateful that rejoicing will come with a new day.  O Lord my God, I will give You thanks forever.  Amen.  
(Prayer adapted from selected verses in Psalm 25 & Psalm 30)

Father, we recognize that our endurance and persistence are attitudes derived from a faith-filled life with You. Our endurance is realized by continuing this race though others may drop out making us feel like we run alone.  Our persistence is marked by our determination to finish the race though struggles weigh us down and doubts cloud our vision of the finish line.  Thank You for marking the race out for us by showing us the great examples of those who cheer us on as we participate in this Christian race.  They finished their race on earth through their enduring faith, though they experienced opposition from sinful men.  We endure hardships and struggles as discipline from You, our loving Father, that we may share in Your holiness.  We look forward to the harvest of righteousness and peace that comes as a result of our persistence in this spiritual marathon.  Strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees as we repent of the sin that entangles us.  We lay aside everything that drags us down or tempts us to give up.  We persist in the name of Jesus Christ for the heavenly finish line, amen.

Almighty God, help us not to look at the immensity of the task before us, but help us to look at the immensity of our all-powerful God.  With humankind many things are impossible but with You, our Father, nothing is impossible.  We want to trust You for supernatural workings in our lives and in the duties before us. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen. 

Father, you have called us to live at peace with all people, in as much as it is possible.  As people of free will we cannot force reconciliation but we can facilitate reconciliation.  Help us to lay aside pride, prejudice, procrastination and preconceived ideas of the outcome so that we take the first step toward reconciliation.  We want to trust You to guide us in this most important endeavor as we attempt to live at peace with all people.  In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.