Heavenly Father, I praise You for today and all that it has unfolded already, and I anticipate seeing Your hand involved in the rest of it. I give praise to You for being a God who continues to teach and discipline us so that we can walk in the light and be Your children. Help me today to take command of my day, control my tongue, and take captive all thoughts while You shake the evil out of our day.
Help me today to walk in love as Christ loves me and set the example of how to be a living sacrifice for God each day. Help me to not only keep from sexual immorality, impurity, or greed, but to protect those who lead in the church from this also. Keep me removed or to walk away from foolish talk, coarse joking, so that I can continue to offer You praise uninhibited. Help me to be discerning enough not to be deceived by empty words, which will eventually lead to God’s wrath coming to the children of disobedience. Help me to walk as a child of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is pleasing to You. I understand that as a child of light, I will help expose the evil and hidden secrets of those who try to thwart God’s plan and purpose. Help me to walk wisely while these days become more evil, and continue to learn, follow, and obey the will of God each day so I can be filled with Your Spirit, which is my comfort, teacher, and connection to Christ. [Ephesians 5:1-18, paraphrased by me from MEV]
I pray and ask that I may be filled with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that I may walk worthy of the You, fully pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of You; strengthened with all might, according to Your glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified me to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in the light. You have delivered me from the power of darkness and conveyed me into the kingdom of the Son of Your love, in whom I have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. You are the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by You all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through You for You. And You are before all things, and in You all things exist. And You are the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things You may have the preeminence. In Your blessed Son Jesus’ name, Amen. (Colossians 1:9-18)