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Father, by Your great grace, grant me an all-consuming love for Christ, a love that transforms not just my feelings but my life.    Everyone wants love, but few ever find it.  We talk about it.  We sing songs about it.  We write poetry about it.  We give seminars on it.  But much of what we call love is more like emotional candy.   Jesus speaks of love.  He says that love for God is the greatest commandment.  When He says this, He is not talking about the passions of a brief fling or the indulgence of earthly pleasure.  Indeed, the…

Lord, you test my heart by putting me under authority.  I wrestle with obedience.  But you are gracious.  Grant me a heart willing to yield to You above all and to those you have put over me.   Sometimes American movies can be predictable. A typical plotline goes something like this. A powerful authority perpetuates some injustice — let’s say racial discrimination. A common person gets caught up in the injustice and wants to change it. This person then stands proudly defiant against a corrupt system or a powerful leader, experiences many struggles, but in the end prevails. Events vindicate…

Father, I am weak and sinful apart from you.  I fall and fall again, and I don’t want that kind of life.  Grant my heart a right passion for you and grant me your view of my sin that I may repent when it is time to repent and pursue you in purity.   Sin has a revelatory power to it, for perhaps nothing shows the nature of our hearts more than our reaction to our own sin.  I have seen men have affairs against their wives and then defend their actions.  I have seen children lie to their parents…

Lord, you see me as I truly am. Open the eyes of my heart and allow me to see myself as I truly am.   Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” People who follow Jesus see from the heart their own spiritual poverty. The bulk of humanity, however, wants to hold onto a vestige of goodness within themselves. Others within the church sometimes pay lip service to their spiritual bankruptcy. They acknowledge it intellectually as a doctrine, but they do not see it from the heart.  Until this truth hits our heart, we…

Father, My own heart is too often distracted from You and wants to find its pleasure in Earth.  Forgive me, as I know You do, and grant me a heart that will find its greatest satisfaction and joy in You alone.        There was once a king who sent a message to his servants graciously inviting them to dine with him in his inner chamber.  Some servants thought, “I cannot go until I have finished this urgent matter of the king’s business,” for they feared to face their king with their work undone.  Others said, “Surely the king would…