You, Lord, are my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear. One thing I ask of You, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in Your presence all the days of my life, and to gaze upon Your beauty and to seek You daily as You dwell in me, Your living temple. I have become confident of this: I will see the goodness of You, in the land of the living. I shall wait for You, I will be strong and take heart as I wait upon You. (Psa. 27:1,4,13&14)
Heavenly Father I praise You for how much You love me that You let Jesus come to earth as a human, suffer all we suffer, bear our sins on the cross in humiliating and excruciating pain until he experienced death, then went to hell, got the keys, rose again three days after the crucifixion, and then ascended into heaven with witnesses hearing his last words. I praise You for the day of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit moving on the 120 in the upper room and then being here for all of us. I praise You that we can come to You and petition You in Your throne room, before Your throne in prayer. I praise You that You not only hear us but as a good Father You make decisions on what is best for us and for the kingdom.
Holy Spirit help me to learn to speak what You prompt me to speak. To teach what You prompt me to teach. To act and live the way You prompt me to live. To give me wisdom to divide Your word so that I can learn of God and how I am to live before all people. I praise You that my brothers and sisters are made up of many colors, cultures, countries and believers. I praise You that we can all unite in prayer and seek for Your kingdom here on the earth. I praise You that we can all be witnesses to Your love, salvation, and mercy. Teach us to look beyond our doctrines, our cultures, our differences and find the unity of being a part of the body of Christ. Help me to discern people’s hearts and not judge them for their appearance. Help me to live a life that desires all that Your heart desires so that I have no time for sin or temptation. Help me to pray in a way that will protect the pastors and their ministry teams from temptation, evil and harm. Help me to pray in a way that will bring unity and demonstrate Your power, love, hope and grace to our communities. Help us to be the standard bearers who show how people can get along, live peaceably and demonstrate Christ’s love. Help us to be the shining stars of hope, and to work with the Holy Spirit to be a comfort, a support, and a messenger of Christ. Help to truly die out to our desires and to take up our cross and follow Your lead.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given to me all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of God who has called me to His own glory and excellence, by which He has given to me exceedingly great and precious promises, so that through these things I might become a partaker of the divine nature and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. For this reason help me to make every effort to add virtue to my faith; and to my virtue, knowledge, and to my knowledge, self-control; and to my self-control, patient endurance; and to my patient endurance, godliness; and to my godliness, brotherly kindness; and to my brotherly kindness love. For if all of these reside in me and abound, they will ensure that I will neither be useless nor unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord. Help me to diligently make my calling and election sure so that when I add all of these areas into my life I will not stumble and will be able to enter into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ which will be abundantly provided for me. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 2 Peter 1:3-11 MEV version