Heavenly Father, I praise You for Your word that You have given us to glean wisdom and knowledge so that our understanding will apply it to our lives. I praise You for Your desire to have a relationship with us, and that prayer is one of our ways to demonstrate our faith and trust in You. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil today.
Holy Spirit God spoke to Solomon and said: “If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer of this place.” [2 Chronicles 7:14&15] You inspired Paul to write: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms. [Ephesians 6:10, 18, 12] Help me and those who have decided to pray along with me, understand the depth to which we are called to pray and why. For only by our faith, wisdom, understanding and trust in You as we come before Your throne through the Holy Spirit are we to truly have not only a relationship with You but be able to see Your heart interact with ours as we learn to live humbly but with bold faith that only You can change our world, but that we must be obedient also. This is why I call to You daily with all of my heart exposed before You and with the unity of fellow believers’ trust that You will not only hear, but respond to us as we claim Your promises, put faith in Your word, and lean fully on Your power to change our world. Here we stand, claiming how big our God really is.
Praise be to You, God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed me in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For You chose me before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in Your sight. In love, You predestined me to be adopted as Your son through Jesus, in accordance with His pleasure and
will—to the praise of His glorious grace, which he has freely given me in the One He loves. In You, I have redemption through the blood of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of Your grace that You lavished on me with all wisdom and understanding. And You are making known to me the mystery of Your will according to Your good pleasure, which You purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In You I was also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of God who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, so that I, who has the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory. And I was also included in Christ when I heard the word of truth, the gospel of my salvation. Having believed, I am marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing my inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. Amen. [Ephesians 1:3-14]