Lord, you have invited — no, commanded — us to always pray with every kind of prayer, acknowledging our dependence on you.
So we come to you this day in submission to the Spirit of God and seeking His wisdom and His intercession on our behalf. And we pray not only for ourselves, but we pray also for those around us in your precious church. It is a privilege not only to be bound together with other believers in relationship, but it is our joy to lift them up and pray with the same longings for them that we have for ourselves.
As we pray, we recognize your sufficiency and power; whatever strength we have is not our own, but it comes only by you and through you. So our prayer is first a prayer for you to strengthen us. And we need that strength because we are in a battle. Are we ever in a battle. We feel the pull of temptation in our flesh every day (every minute?). We are bombarded by Satanic attacks — not the attacks of “demons behind every circumstance,” but the attack of a world system that assaults our hearts and desires and attacks our theology and core beliefs, constantly calling into question our sanity for believing and living the way we do. If we will stand for you, it will not because of our innate ability to discern Satan’s various methods, but because of the influence of your Spirit and your Word strengthening and equipping us with discernment and courage this very day.
So, Lord, work in us this day so that we stand by appropriating and using all your powerful provisions for us.
Help us to believe the truth. As we drink from the Word of God today, make our minds to apprehend the truth and our souls to embrace and love and defend that truth. And make that truth to work in our minds to such a degree that we also live truthfully. Make there to be a direct correlation between what we say we believe and what we do this day.
Thank you Lord, for the declaration of our righteousness through Christ. We understand that we are not righteous. Each day as we assimilate your truth, we grow in understanding of our spiritual emptiness and the vacuum of righteousness that inhabits our souls. Yet you see us as righteous because of the imputation of Christ’s perfect righteousness to us who believe! Thank you for that provision of right standing with you. Make us then to also demonstrate that righteousness today. May we love doing good more than doing evil. Make us to be haters of sin and lovers of righteousness.
And let that righteousness that has been imputed to us be a message we carry to others. Give us boldness — the same kind of boldness that Paul needed and you provided — to speak the unchanging message of sin, righteousness, and redemption. Make us unashamed of the gospel and clear in its articulation.
And where would we be without faith? We know that faith is the basis of our salvation — with our hearts we believe — but we also know that each day is a battle to keep believing. Like the father of the demon-possessed boy, we also can say, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” Each day we feel the assault of Satan’s arrows tempting us to question your goodness and grace, and your goodness and grace to us. So build in us an ability to live by faith and not by sight. Make us to glimpse and delight in your sovereign kindness. We often glibly say that everything is in your control and that all you do “is for our good and your glory.” Believing that, especially when we are hurting and struggling, is difficult. Give us faith.
As we think of faith, we also think of our salvation — not merely the salvation that saves us from you and your wrath, but the salvation that is transforming us even this day into the likeness of Christ! (Help us to have faith that what is happening in our lives today really is transformational and good.) And even beyond our daily transformation, there is also the hope of glory where we will see you because every vestige of our sin and flesh has been removed! Oh, praise you God for that provision — may it be the focus and attention of our thoughts this day.
And as you protect us by truth and righteousness and the gospel and faith and your salvation, would you also equip us to wield well the Word of God? As attacks come against us and Satan devises his schemes to delude us, give us confidence and wisdom to use Scripture to keep from being conformed to the world and to train us for righteousness. This Word is not only good for our souls in that it teaches and rebukes and corrects and trains us to live with you, but it is also our greatest weapon against error and deceit. So as we read it and meditate on it, make us to see its usefulness to make us stand firm for you this day.
Thank you Lord, that what you have commanded us to do, you have equipped us to do. So thank you for the calling to stand firm for you. And strengthen us now to stand firm for you.
Because of Christ’s work for us and in his name, we pray. Amen.
Words of Grace 