A Prayer

     Good Morning All.  I want to post up prayer I feel Jesus guided me to pray recently.  As I was reading in Psalms about a month ago, I felt Jesus guide me to write a prayer using what I read.  I have included the bible verses that line up with what I included in the prayer.  God's Word, is very important because as you are aware, when Jesus was tempted in Matthew 4 Jesus always responded "It is written," or "The scriptures say," depending on the bible translation you are reading.  Since Jesus refers to scripture why shouldn't we?  If you pray this prayer daily or every now and again feel free to include "as it is written in _____" filling in the blank for the verses included as you pray.  In case you are wondering, NLT is short for New Living Translation.  Have a blessed day.


Dear Father I pray in the Name of Jesus,

     Thank You for sending Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for my sins.  Father I thank You that we are saved by Your grace (Ephesians 2:8 King James).  Thank You for the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23 NLT).  I thank You Lord, that because of Christ, I am dead to sin and my relation to it is broken, but I am alive to God through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:11 NLT).  Thank You that You alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing (Psalm 16:5 NLT) and that my cup overflows (Psalm 23 NLT).  I thank You Lord that You guard all that is mine (Psalm 16:5 NLT).  I thank You Father that You are always with me and that I cannot be shaken because You are right beside me (Psalm 16:8 NLT). Thank You Lord that You are my rock and my redeemer (Psalm 19:14).

    
 Lord, please help me to cloth myself with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience (Colossians 3:12 NLT).  Please help me to make allowances for others’ faults (Colossians 3:13 NLT).  Lord please help me to continue to have Your peace, the peace of Christ rule in my heart (Colossians 3:15 NLT).  Jesus please help me to grow in my relationship with You and be the witness You want me to be and understand Your voice faster than I currently do.  Lord please help me never to be deceived about You (Luke 21:8, Deut. 11:16 King James).

    
 I thank You Lord that You are able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we ask or think, and to You be all the glory forever and ever (Ephesians 3:20-21 King James).

Your will be done.  In Jesus’s Name I pray,

Amen

What to Pray For

     I want to lead a Christian life and do God's will. Recently when I pray, I ask God for four things for myself: 1) to help me grow in my relationship with Him, 2) to help me be the witness He wants me to be, 3) to fill me with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 4) to continue to have the peace of Christ to rule in my heart.
     Romans 4:13, 5:11, 5:18, Luke 21:12, and Psalm 24:5 in the New Living Bible translation talk about a relationship with God. We can do this through Jesus Christ our Lord, God, and Savior. He died on the cross so our sins can be forgiven. Our God is an awesome God, why wouldn't you want to get to know Him more and more?
     In Mark 16:5 Jesus states, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature" (King James Version). The best way is living the example. A couple of people I used to work with assumed I was a Christian. Even though I was, am, and always will be, I really didn't talk about Jesus much at work then, so I asked them how they knew I was a Christian and they told me that the was because it was the way I acted. That was a feeling in it of itself. I want to lead a Christian life so that I am spreading the Good News about Jesus Christ in my actions as well as my words.
     Being full of the joy of the Holy Spirit is a feeling that is indescribable. I really don't know how to describe the feeling exactly because it such an awesome, wonderful feeling. It is truly the greatest feeling I have ever felt. Sometimes when I study the bible and I feel When Jesus opens my mind and shows me things in His Word I get full of the joy of the Holy Spirit and get all excited just want to bounce around the room and sing praises. Granted, that doesn't happen every time I study the bible, but it does happen every now and again. Other times when I am listening to Christian music or Gospel music the same feeling comes over me. This happens more often for me. One song that makes me feel close to Jesus is by Phillips, Craig and Dean. The song is called "Pour My Love on You." If you have some time listen to it on YouTube.com. I can get full of the joy of the Holy Spirit just in the car driving or sitting doing nothing. Sometimes I just start talking and Jesus gives me words of praise or words that cause me to preach to myself. A friend of mine and I get together just to share our experiences with our Lord every now and then. One night we went and ate dinner and he told me sometimes when he prays he feels so close to God that he starts shaking just from the awesome feeling that enters him. He also described it as a feeling like no other and as one that could hardly be contained.
     I bumped into Colossians 3:15 which reads "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts" (New International Version [NIV]). In the New Living Translation Colossians 3:15 reads, "And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts." I read this some time ago and I prayed and asked God to help me let the peace of Christ rule in my heart. It did take some time but one day it hit me that I had in fact received it. I used to fly off the handle and get mad over the stupidest things, and one day I was sick and many things went wrong and I got some phone calls to see if I was okay and then it hit me. Even though I was under the weather and had multiple things go wrong that day, none of it bothered or phased me. I knew it was the grace of God. If I didn't have Christ's peace ruling in my heart I would have acted/reacted much differently. If you want to know the details of this day check out my other blog, Perfect Fix in the near future. I thank God that I have the peace of Christ ruling in my heart now and when I pray I ask our Father in heaven to help me to continue to have the peace of Christ rule in my heart.
     Now all glory to our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to Christ Jesus forever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21 [New Century Version])

Verse of the Week

Everything is possible for those who believe...Mark 9:23

This verse, I don't think needs an explanation.  Take it for what it is.

Doing Everything with a Good Attitude

Verse of the Week

And whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus and in [dependence upon] His Person, giving praise to God the Father through Him... Colossians 3:17

This is one of those self explanatory verses.  Also this is one of those verses that may be a verse of the week more then once.  Everything that we do, do it in the name of Jesus.  That means that whatever we do lets do it to the best of our ability and depend on Jesus to fill in what we can't do.  In addition, we also need to give praise to the Father through Jesus.  When I do that I usually thank Jesus for giving me the strength, time, patients, etc. to do whatever it is that I am doing.  I challenge you this week to live this verse.  

Pursue Righteousness

Verse of the Week

The Lord detests the way of the wicked, but He loves those who pursue righteousness... Proverbs 15:9

Through this verse God reveals that He loves those who pursue righteousness, but detests (hates) the way of the wicked.  We need to try to pursue righteousness.  Act as though Jesus is standing right next to you no matter what it is that you are doing.  Just because you can't see Jesus doesn't mean that He cant see you and what you are doing.

Jesus is the Ressurection

Verse of the Week

I am the Resurrection and the Life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?... John 11:25-26

Jesus is asking each and every one of us this question.  Not only must your answer be yes to that question, but you must confess that with your mouth also.  My answer is yes to Jesus' question.  What's yours?

The Straight Gate

Verse of the Week

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in threat: Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth to life, and few there be that find it... Matthew 7:13-14

Jesus is telling us here that we need to find the narrow path.  There are many roads that we can take, but there is one way to life (the narrow way) and that is through Jesus Christ.  We must believe, confess, and make Jesus our Lord and Savior, make Him the Lord of our lives, and repent of our sins.  All other roads lead to destruction.

Our Lord's Compassion

Verse of the Week

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him... Psalm 103:13

Since we have been discussing forgiveness, this verse about compassion fits our topics.  The Lord is our Father in heaven and he is merciful and will have compassion on you.

Nothing to Fear

Verse of the Week

The Lord is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear?... Psalm 27:1

Considering the Jesus is my light and my salvation, in truth there is nothing to fear.  Jesus is our provider, our protector.  I know that I am going to heaven because Jesus died on the cross and rose on the third day;  He is my salvation so what do I need to fear?  Since the Lord is our light, let Him guide you in every part of your life.