Heavenly Father, I know that the angels said to the Shepherds, peace on earth and good will towards men. I am sorry, but peace is the one thing I no longer see. I see hate, I see division, I see sin, I see foolishness, I see evil and I see death, but not peace. Heavenly Father I ask that You help change my heart and my eyes so that I see peace.
Holy Spirit, Peter wrote, “To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.” [1 Peter 1:1&2] I feel like an exile. I live in a country that is getting more and more distant from You.
Holy Spirit renew in me a new resolve to find my joy and to see Your peace. Help me to pray harder for those who have no peace at all. Help me to pray fervently for those who have no hope, who only know hate and pride. Teach me to forgive and to have a forgiving heart so that I am not easily offended by anyone. Teach me to keep my focus on being the living sacrifice I need to be so that I can be used by You.
Help me to find my worship again and to find my joy. Lead me to find peace and to cherish it with all that I can. Teach me to keep the hope that lies within me burning and pushing me to serve you with all that I am.
Let me do everything without complaining or arguing, so that I may become blameless and pure, a child of God without fault in this crooked and depraved generation, in which I must shine like the stars in the universe. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this [the resurrection from the dead v.11], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers [and sisters], I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Finally, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report if there is any virtue. and if there is anything praiseworthy—let me meditate on these things. In Jesus’ name, amen. [Philippians 2:14&15; Philippians 3:10&11; Philippians 3:12,13&14; Philippians 4:8]