Psalm 118:5, 6 “I call on the Lord in distress; The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. V, 6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
Dear God,
Thank You for the recent blessed Sabbath day of refreshing and recommitment to You my God. Now is the time to prepare all of me, so that You can keep me true, no matter the consequences. I am assured in Your sacred word, that You are always faithful in supporting Your own spiritual children, when they turn to You. My eternal salvation and that of all peoples, is what you desire in every age!
Jesus when in the Garden of Gethsemane, went off a pace to pray, and took Peter, James and John with Him so that they would pray for Him and for themselves. He then went off a little on His own so that He could pour out His heart to You. He was in great distress, as He approached His trial and death on the cross. Tired, Peter, James and John fell asleep; three times Jesus came back to commune with them, but could not. However in His season of prayer, Jesus had received Your Father’s comfort and assurance about what lay ahead, and His mental distress and darkness lifted.
Like myself so often, when sleepy in prayer, the three disciples, had been deprived of the strength and wisdom from the Holy Spirit, they would have received, to withstand what was ahead for them during the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. Despite their best intentions and confidence that they would stay true to Jesus and never abandon Him; they did.
Today I pray that I will stay focused and awake, so that You can prepare me with strong faith and belief, so that I will never deny my Lord. Thank You for hearing my prayer.
Amen
Dear God,
In all generations, what You ask of us has never changed, and neither has Your promise, that You will assist us to come to You, and be able to give our whole hearts to You and walk in Your way. As one author has put it, we are unable to give Jesus our hearts successfully because of our innate sinfulness. To have Jesus in our lives all we need to do is to invite Him to come take our hearts and He will do so. As this happens day by day, we will be purified or sanctified in the way we need. I like that idea, and ask Jesus to come take my heart and care for it, and purify my heart and change it as needed, because of myself I can do nothing that is worthy, for I am totally sinful and no good thing is found in me, save what You have placed there.
Just as You, Father God showed us in Your dealings with the Children of Israel in Deuteronomy 30:6 “And the Lord Your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of Your descendants, to love your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live.” Because I have humbled myself in prayer and asked for the removal of any sin and wrong attitudes that are at present keeping me from fully serving You, I believe my heart will also be circumcised.
Thankfully with Jesus in control of my heart and will, I can consciously bring my transgressions before You, by using this will You have endowed me with, I can decide I do not want to be the doer of sinful thoughts and actions. This does not mean that this is a once only experience, or that I will not fall into Satan laid traps, or my old ways many times, or even become discouraged. But it does mean that the ears of Jesus and His Father are never closed. I am never knocked back by my Saviour. The solution is always the same, as just previously discussed. You are really an awesome God beyond human comprehension.
Praise Your holy name, all I now have to do, is ask for the forgiveness and release from anything that keeps me from giving my whole heart in devotion and obedience to You. Then in gladness of heart and in the power and direction of the Holy Spirit, I will not be able to keep silent from telling others of Your love and what You have done in my life.
Amen