Heavenly Father, I give You glory and honor. I offer up to you praise, and I am grateful that You created me with free will, with purpose, with talents uniquely fitted to me for this time and place where I live. I praise You for the years of trials and tribulations to make me the man I am. I praise You for teaching me humility, honor, righteousness, wisdom, understanding, and I am beginning to learn discernment. To all this, I am thankful, along with my salvation, which You offered to me.
Holy Spirit, You inspired Paul to write: Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children. Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us as a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God. If you were raised with Christ, desire those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on earth. For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then you also shall appear with Him in glory. [Ephesians 5:1&2; Colossians 3:1-4; MEV] Holy Spirit, help me this year to learn to pray much bigger than I have. Help me to pray as Christ did and does. Let me pray for the unsaved, pray for miracles to occur, for wonder to come back into my life and the life of my church. Help me to pray and see mountains moved, giants slayed, evil repelled, and the lost to see light and hope. Help me to pray with honesty, boldness, and intensity. Let me become like Caleb with boldness and assurance of what is possible when I let You lead. Let me be like Daniel and Nehemiah to pray to the point that a nation and my local community are turned to You. Let me pray as Peter and Paul and see people made whole, church leaders confounded, people baptized in both the water and spirit. Let me grow strong in my faith so that I can witness and live a life worthy of imitating Christ, so that people can be turned to You.
Let my prayers, my words, my actions, my very thoughts reflect, immerse, and focus on Christ as I live. Let me be a light in the darkness to guide people to You, to help the brethren and sisters draw strength and hope so that we can
unite in prayer and shake our world around us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.