Daily Prayer

Father, fill us with wisdom and understanding:

God, there is life in the wisdom, judgment, discernment, and discretion that you give to us. It’s available to us if we will just surrender to you and stop going it on our own and leaning on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). Life is good when we trust in you and you alone. You’re not our last resort, God, your our one choice and you are more than enough. Thank you, Father. We love you.

Jesus, thank you for trials because they make us more like you!

God, transform our reaction to trials. We read this scripture and, in the midst of some trial right now, it’s easy for us to think, “Pure joy? How could trials be considered joy?!” Holy Spirit, we want this word to sink deep into our spirits and to bring about a heart change. Change our attitudes, and change our world view. Help us to see that every trial helps us to grow in our faith and to become more like you. When we encounter a trial, be it an illness, a death of a loved one, financial problems, whatever it is, help us to remember how you reacted to persecution and attack. These are opportunities for us to understand your life on earth better, Jesus. You can use the rushing currents of the world’s problems and afflictions to carve away the rough edges of sin in our lives and to mold us into the people that you want us to be. In our hardship, we cry out to you and ask that you continue to fill us and permeate us, pushing out the rotten garbage that has collected in our hearts and minds over the years. Without the trials, we might not cry out to you as often, and without crying out and opening ourselves to you, we wouldn’t be filled with you. And without being filled with you, how can other people see you in us, Jesus? Thank you for being good through it all, and thank you for loving us enough to use trials to draw us closer to you. You are good, God! Thank you! We love you.

Father, we stand in agreement with our sister Gemma’s prayer:

Holy Spirit, help us to be on guard against division…

God, we pray this morning for unity in the body. Give us discernment to recognize strife and division in our midst and the wisdom in how to put an end to it. Continue to build humility in each and every one of us with a total reliance on you and not our own understanding, Jesus. When we are all leading Christ-centered lives, we can live in better harmony. We recognize that we won’t always agree on every point. Your word says that we now see through a mirror dimly (1 Corinthians 13:13). Stamp out pride that would have us force an issue that, in the eternal scheme of things, isn’t important. Instead, help us to walk in love. God, we want to continue to be the light and salt of the world, but the driving force behind the brilliance of your light and the richness of your salt is your love (1 John 4:8). Help us to always keep that first and to treat each other lovingly even in the face of disagreement.

Lord, we don’t want to live in mediocrity, but in obedience. We trust in you to show us when we should hold our ground and to give us the words to speak when conflict arises. We give those situations to you, Lord, and ask that through it all people would see you in us. Thank you, Jesus. We love you.

Lord, we lift up Akinjola’s prayer request from Nigeria:

We also lift up Wisani’s prayer request from South Africa:

Lord, help the stark reality of your word to sink deep into our hearts and minds:

God, at first glance, if we’re caught up in the things of this world, our reaction to this verse may be, “Well, that’s a little harsh! We’re without hope?!” But that’s only if our hope is in the things of earth. As Christians, our hope is in Heaven and in the name of Jesus. Holy Spirit, reveal to us right now where our hearts are. First Chronicles 29 describes the unfettered giving of the people of Israel to the building of the temple. We want to give to you in that same way. We are only able to give anything to you because you have put it into our hands. Our very lives were bought with a price on the cross by Jesus. Until then, sin caused us to be orphans (foreigners and strangers), but that’s no longer the case! Help us to see the truth of our very existence and to then give everything we have willingly and joyfully – not just financial giving, but giving all of our being to you. We commit our hearts to you, God. You are our only source of joy and fulfillment. Every good and perfect gift comes from you (James 1:17), and so you deserve the glory and the dedication of our hearts and minds. We love you, Lord! We live for you, God.

We we come before you as David did:

God, we’re always hustling and bustling about in life and many of us rarely slow down long enough to just come and sit before you. What more precious gift do we have to give you after our hearts than our time and attention? You deserve it, God, more than anything else in our lives! We just sit and soak in you now…

You are God above all gods and certainly above anything else that would threaten to consume our thoughts and emotions. You are God above all work, all relationships, all illnesses, all money issues – it’s all under your control. Every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:8-11), and we do that right now, God. Jesus, you are Lord of all! You are beautiful and might. You are powerful and gracious. We bless your precious name, Jesus. Nothing can compare to you. Nothing can fill us as you fill us, Holy Spirit. We drink you up right now. Consume us, Lord. We sit and soak in you right now, God… We love you.

We lift up Peggy’s prayer request:

We also lift up Muttu’s prayer request from Hyderabad: