Heavenly Father I praise You for all things in my life, whether it be the successes or the low times. I praise you for my children and grandchildren You have allowed to be a part of my and my wife’s heritage. I praise You for my wife. I praise you for the years I was able to work with youth and the years I was a song leader or singing with others. I praise you for teaching me life through hard work cutting and splitting wood for my family and for widows of our church. Letting me lift hay bales for two dollars and hour and working all day. I praise You for the countless practices I had in sports or band for they taught me how to hone my skills. I thank You for giving my wife grace while I worked and did college so that I could teach.
Holy Spirit as I continue to work through Romans praying what You inspired Paul to right help me to not only glean wisdom but draw near to these words and make them an applicable part of my life. Paul wrote, “Bless those who persecute you; bless do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind with one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.” [Romans 12:14-16 MEV]
Holy Spirit is very hard in my nature to bless someone or a group of someone’s who persecute me when I want so desperately to retaliate back. Help me to learn that I do not war against them but against the things that attempt to separate us from God. So, with Jesus as my example help me to bless these people when this occurs in my life and help me not to curse them. Holy Spirit help me never to be envious of people rejoicing but to join in with their rejoicing for it is health to all of us to rejoice when we can for this world is so full of pain. I have learned to weep with those who weep and I pray that You will give me the right words, or actions in these times to bring whatever comfort or help that I can assist with, or to lead them to You. Help me to be a uniting person when I am in a group, especially with brothers and sisters, this way I can join together in unity to pray, grow in faith and learn wisdom. Help me to not focus on high standards, glorious happenings or unachievable dreams but to be more focused on the humility of the people around me and to appreciate their stories. Finally, Holy Spirit continue to work on me that my opinion is not always important, that I need to listen to others and only speak when asked or when prompted by You. Help me to realize my wisdom is limited and I should appreciate other people’s wisdom and opinions too. Let me be so focused on Your promptings that I see the wisdom You bring to my mind and spirit.
Help me Lord, to appreciate, apply and own the inspired words from You to Paul in the book of Romans, especially chapter 12. Help me to remind You in my prayers of the words You inspired so they can become part of my nature and replace the sinful nature that once filled my mind, body and spirit. Help me to remember this all a part of renewing my mind to serve You better. In Jesus’ name, Amen.