Outside of self, O God, please throw me —
Let Christ be all! — You fully know me —
Come with the Spirit to purify
And burn away both me and mine.
Going Be Done
Come, Lord Jesus! And while we remain,
Let peoples and nations hear the news;
To all you sent the church to proclaim,
Let the going be done in my own shoes.
When Least Expected
When least expected, the lion roars,
My strength fails in the straits of suffering;
Rescue me, O righteous God,
My weakness cries from wounds of service.
Let Me Not Be Deceived
Dear God, let me not be deceived,
I want to know the freedom of truth,
I want to do your will—fully,
Let me not fear the knowledge of Christ.
Read John 7.17 and this VOTD.
Give Me a Soul to Teach
Give me today, O Lord, a soul to teach,
A lost and wayward soul to lead to the light,
A helpless soul with eternal need to reach,
A soul to love, with the strength of Jesus’ might.
Praise for Word and Rescue
Father of lights, Eternal Lord,
We praise you, Sovereign God, for Word
And Rescue, heavenly thought and act,
For total truth and gospel fact,
For precious promises, all fulfilled,
For power of your command which stilled
The winds and water, and human heart;
For love—from which no force can part
The faithful; for glad humility
That brought us hope from a living tree.
When I turn away from the mirror of your Word
God, help me to remember what I have seen when I turn away from my reflection in the mirror of your Word to interact with others. Your grace and your love, incarnated so vividly in Jesus, provide a model for me and show me how I should walk and talk. Help me to live for you, and not to trust only in having talked with you. Hear my cries when I grieve. Turn my heart and my feet toward you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Darth Vader and me
Our Father in heaven, let us not be controlled by the fear of loss and be led away from our faithful commitment to Christ.
Let us not destroy years of good and a life of faith by a moment of weakness, doubt or foolishness.
Keep us from believing that a desirable end justifies a wrong decision.
Help us to look for the way of escape when temptation comes and to succeed over the devil’s wiles.
Help us to be sober and vigilant, watching always in vigilance, steadfast in prayer, in the Word, and in fellowship with the saints.
Help us to do good, today, tomorrow, and always, never veering from the right path.
Give us strength to live according to the truth that every choice matters.
This prayer was inspired by Stephen Bradd’s article, “The Making of Darth Vader.”
Never a glass half empty
Father, let us never be people
who only see a glass half empty,
but a nation who lives in your fullness,
a family who dives into piled-up grace,
who delights in gift upon gift,
agents of a single mission who refuse
to keep salvation for self,
who understand that gospel means sharing,
that Good News means speaking,
that the Cross is proclamation,
and that the Spirit brings transformation
and a change of eternal destiny.
Lord God, keep us from squabbles and minor issues,
tear from us the tendency toward clergy preachers,
pride in physical things and buildings,
merit of our own construction,
and build us up in the Word as members of the body,
each one aware of his responsibility,
each one active in his place,
everyone contributing to the greater good
and growth of the saints.
Authority to forgive
Father, we are grateful that you know our deepest need and that Jesus has power and authority on earth to forgive our sins.
We are grateful that he comes to us and calls us to follow him, for we are sick people in need of a doctor.
Lord, we are grateful to devote ourselves to prayer and fasting while we wait for the powerful coming of our Savior from heaven.
We are grateful that the Christ is among us and willing to be touched with our petitions of pain and grief.
Sovereign God, we are grateful that our faith brings healing and that the mercy of Christ restores our senses.
We are grateful for his compassion that drives him to all the towns and cities and ask that you send workers into his harvest.
Based on Matthew 9.