Let Us Pray

"The evil you yourselves have done will be your punishment, your errors will be your judge: be certain then, and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing to give up the Lord your God, and no longer to be moved by fear of me, says the Lord, the Lord of armies." (Jeremiah 2:19)

There is a general theme running through the whole of my blogs on this site, and I tried to pull it together in the welcome paragraphs. But, as I have continued through Moments With The Savior, I have put together a composite of Ken Gire's prayers, which I feel really pulls it all together.

Now, I'm posting it so that you can use it in your day-to-day conversation with the Lord as you seek to surrender more fully to His purposes in your life.

Dear Lord Jesus,

I confess there are times when I have loved the darkness more than the light. Even as your child. And even now, there are times I walk along gray borders, flirting with the enticing shadows cast by the world. There have been times I have made this world not a brighter place but a darker one. By my thoughts. By my words. By my deeds. For all these shameful times I have been an unworthy subject, forgive me, I pray, O most worthy King.

It's inconceivable that anyone who's tasted of your goodness would drink from any other well. Yet I have. Forgive me all the ways I have prostituted my life. For how I have attracted attention to myself. For how I have compromised my character. For how I have cheapened my life and the lives of others.

Keep me ever aware that you are Lord. And ever aware that I am a sinful person. And in that knowledge keep me ever on my knees before you.

My debt is great, O Lord.

So much of my life has
been just that -- my life. My needs. My desires. My plans. My hopes. My dreams. My career. My car. My ministry. My time-off. I confess that my will has been the driving influence in so many of my thoughts, my actions, my conversations. Even when I pray, "my" has been on my lips so much more than "Thy." So often I come for you to bless my plans . . . instead of for me to bow to yours.

Please, Lord, take the selfishly possessive pronoun out of my life. And make it yours. Your life. Your plans. Your dreams. Your will be done on this earth.

Call me, Lord, out from a shallow faith near the shore, which requires no risks and offers no rewards. Call me to a deeper commitment to you. Help me to obey simply and solely "because you say so."

Renew in me, O Savior, a zeal like the Samaritan woman had -- a zeal to tell her friends, her acquaintances, and even strangers about you. Not a zeal to worship in this church or that. Not a zeal for theology. Not a zeal for causes. But a zeal for you, and only you.

A-men