This I pray...

Father in Heaven,

Forgive us for our apathy and casual committment to all that is right and good. Revive our hearts, Lord, and take us to a deeper place of intimacy with You. Forgive us for the countless ways we have compromised and hardened our hearts toward Your voice in our hearts and the calling on our lives. You love your Church, for she is Your Bride. And yet we've somehow tried to differentiate between our relationship with You and our committment to Your Church. Yes, the Church is flawed, because we are flawed. But You love us and You cherish Your Church. Revive our hearts, Lord, and give us a First Love passion once again.

Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to do Your will. Forgive us for the over-busy, completely distracted lives we live. You deserve a Bride, fully engaged, fully committed to You, because You are fully committed to us. Oh, God, revive us once again. Anything good in us comes from You. Draw us into a deeper relationship with You and fill our hearts with Your glory. For nothing on earth compares with You, and nobody loves us like You do.

These are critical days and we cannot afford to be spread so thin that we make no Kingdom impact. Bring focus to our lives. Lift the grace to do anything but that which You've anointed us to accomplish.

Set us free from ourselves, our hang-ups, and our fears. Release us from the opinions of man that we may live lives totally devoted to You. Give us faith for living, giving, loving, and serving. May we determine to walk in such faith that a groundswell response follows us wherever we go.

Thank you for loving us with such great passion and deep affection. You deserve all that we are and more. Time on earth is short oh God, may we live with Eternity in mind.

As Psalm 26:3 says, we will keep Your Love ever before us and we will walk continually in Your truth. We will speak, move, give and live with Your love in mind. And we will walk forward unafraid, full of faith because Your truth sets us free and sets us up to live powerful lives.

Come, Lord Jesus, revive Your Church again!

We need You every hour!

Amen.

Comments

[Andrea]

Wow! There's really nothing left to say except a big fat AMEN, Sista'! No better way to start a Monday than to dedicate the week with a prayer like that. Praise God! Thanks, Susie!

[Susie Larson]

Bless you, Andrea!Great to hear from you.Have a power-FULL day!

[Tami Boesiger]

"Release us from the opinions of man that we may live lives totally devoted to You."

AMEN and AMEN!! It is an easy prison to fall into.

[Vonda Skelton]

Thank you for your sweet, sweet prayer, Susie. You put into words what I so desperately need--to be free of myself, my hang-ups, and my fears. Thank you for articulating it so beautifully.

[Sue Baumgardner]

Susie, You've done it again! From God's heart through your pen to the hearts of His children. I praise our glorious Father for the work He accomplishes through your obedient heart. Bless you!

[Susie Larson]

Sue,Your constant encouragement blesses me beyond words.Bless you, sister!