THANKFUL

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Good morning, Jesus.

Lord, thank You for calling me into a relationship with You. When I worship You in Spirit and in truth according to John 4:24, my heart and soul honors You with everything within me. You are the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. When I worship You in truth, I surrender to follow wherever You lead and do whatever You ask. For my part of our relationship, I acknowledge Your sovereignty. Your ways are way above my wayward ways, and Your thoughts far exceed anything I can think of. If I’m to worship You in truth, I will do so on Your terms, Jesus, not mine.

We pray again that Your peace will reign in our hearts that we may live a peaceful and quiet lives with one another. Only You can change our hearts to give us a love for others. Only You can truly deliver us from any and all prejudices. Help us see others through Your eyes. No matter is someone annoys us to the point of pulling our hair out, may we never forget that You desire to work and change that person’s heart, just as You changed our heart. All people need a relationship with You Jesus.

Living and loving life on Your terms, Jesus. Amen.

Monday June 15, 2020

Good morning, Jesus.

Lord, You said the Father seeks those who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth, but it seems like many Christ-followers are ho-hum about worship. You also said if we didn’t praise You, the rocks would cry out in worship to you. You also reveal to us how all Heaven worships You, how the angels are “Saying with a loud voice Holy, Holy, Holy, worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12). May I not be spiritually dull. I refuse to repeat meaningless cliché prayers that I haven’t poured my heart and soul into, but I will worship You from a grateful heart, proclaiming the truths that You are the way, the truth and the life, the only Son of God who takes away the sins of the world.

We worship and praise another truth of Your character: You are the God of peace. We pray Your peace upon our land. Bring an end to this evil that people are stirring up to cause more division and strife among us. We pray people will seek You to change their hearts. Let righteousness arise in our land, and may we repent of our sins and wicked ways, so You can heal our land and unite us in purpose again. We pray to live Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Praising You as I go through my day, Jesus. Amen.

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Good morning, Jesus.

Lord, I need Your Spirit’s power if I’m to obey Your directives to, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger (James 1:19). This is such a struggle, even for those who follow You. Forgive me, Lord, for quickly speaking my mind before knowing the truths of the issue. Seems like what we read and hear today has a hidden agenda in their narrative, whether it be a left or right issue. There’s a reason why You, Jesus, spoke volumes about the destructiveness of the tongue. Let my daily prayer and life be Psalm 139:23–24, “Search me, O God , and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” May my words bring healing and not cause division or offenses to my brother or sister.

Forgive our sins, Lord. May we as a nation and individuals live 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Speaking words that heal and bring reconciliation through You, Jesus, amen.

Tuesday, June 09, 2020

Good morning, Jesus.

Lord, You trust us with a great attribute that has the power to direct our lives. Knowing how untrustworthy we would be at times, You still created us in Your image, with the moral freedom to either choose or reject You. Your open arms welcome those who choose to accept Your grace through Jesus sacrifice on the cross, along with all the benefits of living in Your will. But You knew not everyone would choose You, so You willingly step aside and allow those who choose to reject You to go their own way and reap the benefits of doing their own will. As all Your followers encounter, we approach crossroads in our faith. On one road, Jesus stands saying, “Don’t be discouraged. We’re still walking together toward our heavenly home.” On the other road is our worst critic, the devil, tempting us to doubt Jesus is who He is and His Word won’t work for you. Help us override our emotions and choose to obey Your Word, acknowledging You know what is best for us.

Our prayer today is found in Ezekiel 36:26-27 “Give us a new heart and put a new spirit in us; Lord, You will remove from us our hearts of stone and give us a heart of flesh. And You will put Your Spirit in us and move us to follow Your decrees and be careful to keep Your laws.” The only way we will end hatred, division and racism is for You to change our hearts, oh, Lord.

Trusting You to change our hearts, Jesus. Amen.

Friday, June 05, 2020

Good morning, Jesus.

Lord, we humbly ask Your forgiveness. How did we get this way? As a society, we’ve thrown Your “Love your neighbor” mandate out the window. And look where it has got us. Without Your love living in us, we lack the empathy to see the hurt and pain that haunt the oppressed and downtrodden. Without Your grace, despair and hopelessness reigns in their lives. Destroy in us any prejudices that blind us from seeing one another as a wounded spirit that You loved enough to shed Your sinless blood for their redemption, just as You did for me. Forgive me for looking at others any other way. Give us the courage to reach out to others, especially those much different than we are. Help us live the message of 1 John 4:7,8. “Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God, because God is love.”

Loving others as You love, Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Good morning, Jesus.

Lord Jesus, when I finally saw who You really are, I couldn’t help but come to You in repentance. You more than kept Your part of Your promise to make me a new person. You made my broken life whole. I found freedom from destructive addictions and harmful habits. You replaced my hopelessness with purpose and meaning. But now, Lord, I need Your help for a big problem: all the people asking me how they too can come to You to find a new life. You’re so cool, Jesus.

Lord, only You can bring peace to our troubled nation. As a people, our hearts have turned away from You. We may honor You with our lips but our hearts are stone cold. Renew our hearts as we repent and turn from our wicked ways and order our lives in following Your precepts and live by Your biblical values. Show us how to reject bigotry and racism and embrace the love You offer. Help us be kind and charitable to one another. Teach us to forgive as You forgive, love as You love, live our lives that honor You.

Thank You for these new problems, Jesus. Amen.

Monday June 1, 2020

Good morning, Jesus.

Lord, I exhausted myself trying to please You with my “noble deeds.” Haven’t you noticed what a good boy I am? How could You refuse to save me? After all, unlike most Christ-followers, I was the poster boy who avoided all the taboos that religion condemns. Then I dusted off the Bible on the coffee table and started to read. When I read Romans 5:6–8, You revealed how prideful I’d been. You sacrificed Your own Son Jesus to take away my sins even though You saw how my religious pride made me obnoxious and my spiritual judgmentalism brought out the worst version of me. For too long I worked to earn grace, but that’s not Your plan, Lord God. Now I better understand the depths of Your amazing grace. Remind me daily, Lord, of Your amazing grace.

Our hearts are broken over the tragic loss of George Floyd’s life. Let true justice be served and may people remain calm and refuse to fall into rioting and looting. Let Your Church arise to meet the spiritual and physical needs of the people

Forgive our sins, heal our nation. Impress into our spirits that “at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly . . . But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6–8).

Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Friday, May 29, 2020

Good morning, Jesus.

Lord Jesus, You are in the people business. Your specialty is putting broken people back together better than they can imagine (2 Corinthians 5:17). I’m one for sure. When You make us new You also completely erased our sins from our account. Yet, after all You’ve done for me, why does my struggle with self-centeredness remain? Lord, I’m a stubborn critter, wanting to hold on to broken places in my life that You are saying, “Give them to Me.” As a work in progress until I’m with You forever in Heaven, help me surrender every area of my life to Your Holy Spirit so that I might live as You intended and influence other broken people to seek You.

Only You, Lord God, can bring healing and calm to the racial and political unrest in Minneapolis. Your heart is broken too over the tragic death of George Floyd. Watching the video make our blood boil over the apparent injustice. Bless and comfort the family and friends of this man. May cooler heads prevail and bring an end to the rioting and damage to innocents. Let true justice be done in this case and use this tragedy to bring people to You. RIP George Floyd.

Forgive our sins, heal our nation. In this broken world, You are our hope, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Good morning, Jesus.

Lord, these topsy-turvy times leave people anxious. What’s next? Will it get worse? Your followers’ faith is tested to trust You are in control, even though circumstances appear to say otherwise. Pandemic events disrupt our once stable lives in unexpected ways. Forgive us for complaining about these inconveniences. Instead, help us not despise these difficulties. Open our spiritual eyes to see these difficulties as a platform for You to reveal Your lovingkindness to a fearful world. We pray in these troubled times people will seek You, and find Your grace is what they have been longing for all their lives. May these uncertain times cause another “Great Awakening” of Your power and grace to change men’s hearts toward You.

Bless and protect our first responders, police, firefighters and emergency personnel. Protect their families from COVID-19. Bring an end to this pandemic and eradicate this virus from the earth. Give insight to the doctors, scientists, and researchers and reveal that which is hidden, so Your cure is found.

Forgive our sins. Heal our nation. Show us how to love one another.

What? Me worry? No, I trust Jesus. Amen.

Tuesday May 26, 2020

Good morning, Jesus.

Lord, “who do I have in Heaven but You? What else could I desire on Earth. . .” (Psalm 73:25). I am determined that no matter what I face in this new day, or what may await me tomorrow, and regardless of what difficulties plagued me last week, or what pleasantries currently fill my days, my hope rests in You alone, Lord. I will base my faith on this simple truth: despite good or bad circumstances, Lord God, You are good, and I believe You will do what You say You will do. For only You, Lord, could “. . .put a new song in my heart, a song of praise to You, my God” (Psalm 40:1).

During this COVID-19 pandemic, people worldwide are seeking You, Lord. Or to put it another way, people of every culture, nation, race, ethnicity, whether free or oppressed, are looking for hope in this health crisis. Once again, we ask You, Lord, as only You can, bring good from what the enemy, the devil, meant for harm. Protect the nurses, doctors, researchers, and frontline workers and their families from infection of this virus, and eradicate this virus from the earth.

Forgive our sins, heal our nations, spark a spiritual renewal in each of us. Lord, begin another “Great Awakening” in our nation to draw people to You.

Trusting You, Jesus. Amen.