The following prayer to the Lord is an excerpt from my book Say Yes to the Prompting of the Holy Spirit. I hope it will bless you.
When I think of You and Your vastness, it just takes my breath away. And often the spirit within me is stirred up to a point where it causes rivers of tears to flow from eyes—rivers of living water, tears of joy, tears of thankfulness, and tears that recognize that I am not worthy of Your grace (your unmerited favor) with which You have blessed me.
Who could imagine that the creator of all that is would give insignificant me the ability to even know Him? I am but a grain of sand on an eternal beach that stretches out into eternity. I am so blessed to know that I was uniquely and meticulously handcrafted by the Master Potter after I was spoken into existence by His Word (who worked in tandem with the Father). And not only did He put me here among His other creations, but He formulated a plan of salvation for me and all mankind.
For reasons beyond my comprehension, You exist in three persons and yet You are one. You (the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit) all complement one another and embrace divine attributes like the fruit of the (Holy) Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Your thoughts and ways are so different and nobler than man’s that they are as different and as far apart as the heavens are higher than earth. And Your Word is tried, tested, and true. And if need be, You will go that extra mile to protect the integrity of Your Word. Yet with all this difference between us, You made me and fashioned me so that I have the ability to know You. What an honor and what a privilege!
You have blessed mankind (shown favor, protection, mercy, insight, and prosperity) from the beginning. You have been extremely patient even though mankind has been rebellious, disobedient, and disrespectful to You. You have been faithful, loving, longsuffering, and very forgiving. You even made it possible for man to experience You in the flesh in the person of Jesus (also called Immanuel, God who walks among us) because man had difficulty communicating with You in Your spirit form. You gave them every opportunity to get to know Your nature through Your “only begotten” Son Jesus and they still rebelled, disrespected You, and did not turn away from their evil ways.
But staying faithful with Your steadfast love for us, You breathed Your Word into inspired men who wrote it down. And eventually, their writings were compiled into the Bible. In Your infinite wisdom, You made it possible for men and women to still know You even though they didn’t live in Jesus’ lifetime and didn’t experience Him firsthand. And I am in that group. Through our belief (faith, trust in, reliance on, and leaning on You), observing Your word (hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying it), and requiring You to be a (vital) necessity in our lives, we have come to be Your sons and daughters by Your amazing grace (Your unmerited favor), which You chose to bestow upon us before the foundations of the world.
Your ability to know the end result at the beginning enables You to select those whom You will save from eternal damnation. You see who tries to emulate Christ (the Word and who tries to please You by doing Your will in purpose, thought, and action.
You see (know and recognize) by embracing all three tenses (past, present, and future) all who sin and remain in that sinful state versus those who are convicted by the Holy Spirit and immediately repent after they have sinned. You see who are the (uncompromisingly) righteous and will not sway back and forth and be lukewarm versus the ones who vacillate back and forth, are double-minded, and are like waves tossed to and fro by the wind. You readily see who are the tares (ministers of light and righteousness installed in the churches by Satan) who deceive the saints who are not able to discern their motives, because You have not opened their spiritual eyes and have allowed them to believe lies by Your strong delusion. And You can identify the people who falsely say they love You, because if they can’t love their brothers (in Christ) whom they can see, how can they love You whom they can’t see?
You know all these things because You are the two-edged sword and have the ability to know us down to where the marrow meets the bone. And You have said in Your Word that You will tell your reapers to gather and bind up in bundles these tares (the deceivers and unsaved) to be burned.
On the other hand, I have seen how You embrace those who sincerely love You. These are the ones who observe Your word (hear, receive, love, and obey it) and have a reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord, which is to walk in Your ways, to love You, to serve You with all their mind, heart, and soul and to follow Your commandments and statutes. These true believers have a deep desire to know and do Your will. And if they start to fall away, they are convicted to immediately want to restore their intimate relationship with You by repenting.
Unlike unsaved people of the world and some pompous believers who are in a state of self-denial, true believers are not afraid to stand naked and humbly before You (as in front of a mirror) and confess their sins and shortcomings and ask for Your forgiveness and mercy. And because of what Jesus has done for us, they can, with confident assurance, approach Your throne of grace with their requests and ask You to help them fix their broken plumbing so they can be restored again to a state of spiritual and godly wellness.
I know that I am only a sinner saved by grace (Your unmerited favor). When I search my heart, I recognize those things I’ve done in my lifetime that were ungodly. I confess these things to You. I cannot change what has been done, but I can change what I do now and what I do in the future. I am capable with Your help of repenting, and I will do so. I will exercise my free will and chose life, not death’ Life is in You.
Sin is of the devil and results in death. I choose to respect, honor, revere, and worship Your supreme love offering, who is Your only begotten son Jesus Christ. I want to inherit all the promises You gave to my forefathers and live in Your eternal kingdom. So, I will keep Your word in my heart so I will not sin against You. I will trust in You and not put my confidence in man. I will first submit myself unto You, and then I shall rebuke the devil and he shall flee from me. For I know that I cannot fight the devil on my own. He is too strong an adversary.
So, thank you for opening my spiritual eyes. Thank you for blessing me (showing me Your favor) by enabling me to better understand and comprehend Your Word. Thank you for putting saints in my life that have inspired me, motivated me, encouraged me, supported me, and edified me at the right time when it was needed the most. Thank you for my immediate family and my extended family who consist of all spiritually grounded vessels with whom I interface. And thank You for always giving me hope by faithfully showering me with Your tender mercies and by giving me new and fresh revelations daily.
I’m looking forward to Judgment Day and the rapture with great expectation. Thank You in advance for being my all in all and source for everything. You are my reason for living, and without You I am nothing.
CONCLUSION
Prayer is a powerful thing and is necessary for us to stay connected with the Father. It is very important to give God all the praise and glory that He deserves before we offer up our petitions. However, when we do, we should be specific with our requests and present them in the name of Jesus. Look with great expectation for what God is going to do in your life, and do not doubt. If you doubt, do not expect anything from God. Pray believing, as if what you are praying for has already happened. In this way, you will be in synch with God. And do not pray with a hardened heart. Forgive all those who have trespassed against you.
Have you examined your prayer life? Just remember, your prayers need not be long. It is more important that you are sincere and are willing to set some time aside to converse with God. He knows your heart and what your needs are before you even speak them.
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