Adoration
I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
O fear the Lord, you His saints,
For those who fear Him lack nothing. (Psalm 34:8–9)
I thank You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful,
And my soul knows it full well. (Psalm 139:14)
All Your works will praise you, O Lord,
And Your saints will bless You.
They will speak of the glory of Your kingdom
And talk of Your power,
So that all men may know of Your mighty acts
And the glorious majesty of Your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures through all generations. (Psalm 145:10–13)
Blessed are You, O Lord, God of Israel, our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler of all things. In Your hand is power and might to exalt and to give strength to all. Therefore, my God, I give You thanks and praise Your glorious name. (1 Chronicles 29:10–13)
Pause to express your thoughts of praise and worship.
Confession
God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.
Who has resisted Him without harm? (Job 9:4)
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity
And in whose spirit is no deceit.
When I kept silent, my bones wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
I acknowledged my sin to You
And did not hide my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. (Psalm 32:1–5)
Come, let us return to the Lord.
For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds.
After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live before Him. (Hosea 6:1–2)
Ask the Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness.
I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake,
And I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25)
This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation;
In quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)
Renewal
Lord, renew me by Your Spirit as I offer these prayers to You:
May I not profane Your holy name, but acknowledge You as holy before others. You are the Lord, who sanctifies me. (Leviticus 22:32)
May I be a person of faith, who does not doubt the promises of God, and not a double-minded man, who is unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6, 8)
May I abound in love and faith toward the Lord Jesus and to all the saints. (Philemon 5)
May I be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2:1)
Pause to add your own prayers for personal renewal.
Petition
Father, using Your word as a guide, I offer You my prayers concerning my love for others.
Concerning love, You have said:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (Matthew 22:37–40)
Whatever I want others to do to me, may I also do to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12)
Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy; love does not boast, it is not arrogant, it does not behave rudely; it does not seek its own, it is not provoked, it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth; it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4–8)
May I love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me. (Matthew 5:44)
May I be an imitator of God as a beloved child, and walk in love, just as Christ loved me and gave Himself up for me as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1–2)
May I sanctify Christ as Lord in my heart, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks me to give the reason for the hope that is in me, but with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15)
I should walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of every opportunity. My speech should always be with grace, seasoned with salt, so that I may know how to answer each person. (Colossians 4:5–6)
Is this not the fast You have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the cords of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?
Is it not to share our food with the hungry
And to provide the poor wanderer with shelter;
When we see the naked, to clothe him,
And not to turn away from our own flesh?
Then our light will break forth like the dawn,
And our healing will quickly appear,
And our righteousness will go before us;
The glory of the Lord will be our rear guard.
Then we will call, and the Lord will answer;
We will cry, and He will say, “Here I am.” (Isaiah 58:6–9)
May I not let any corrupt word come out of my mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may impart grace to those who hear. May I not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom I was sealed for the day of redemption. May I put away all bitterness and anger and wrath and shouting and slander, along with all malice. And may I be kind and compassionate to others, forgiving them just as God in Christ also forgave me. (Ephesians 4:29–32)
May I do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility may I esteem others as more important than myself. Let me look not only to my own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3–4)
May I be of one mind with others and be sympathetic: loving them as brothers and sisters, being compassionate and humble. May I not return evil for evil or insult for insult, but blessing instead, because to this I was called, that I may inherit a blessing. (1 Peter 3:8–9)
Pause here to express any additional personal requests, especially concerning relationships with others:Greater love and compassion for others Loved ones Those who do not know Christ Those in need
My activities for this day
Special concerns
Intercession
Lord, I now prepare my heart for intercessory prayer for evangelism.
May I devote myself to prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. I pray that God may open to me a door for the word, so that I may speak the mystery of Christ and proclaim it clearly, as I ought to speak. (Colossians 4:2–4)
I pray that words may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. (Ephesians 6:19)
In the spirit of these passages, I pray for those who do not know Christ:Friends Relatives Neighbors Coworkers Special opportunities
Affirmation
Feed my mind and heart, O Lord, as I affirm these truths from Your word concerning my life in Christ:
You have shown me what is good;
And what does the Lord require of me
But to act justly and to love mercy
And to walk humbly with my God? (Micah 6:8)
Though I walk in the flesh, I do not war according to the flesh. The weapons of my warfare are not fleshly, but divinely powerful to overthrow strongholds, casting down arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3–5)
May I not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but of the world. And the world and its lusts are passing away, but the one who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15–17)
I will not lay up for myself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But I will lay up for myself treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where my treasure is, there my heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19–21; Luke 12:34)
I make it my ambition to please the Lord, whether I am at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:9–10)
Pause to reflect upon these biblical affirmations.
Thanksgiving
For who You are and for what You have done, accept my thanks, O Lord:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for us who through faith are guarded by the power of God for salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3–5)
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is nothing on earth I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:25–26)
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God. (Psalm 42:11)
I call this to mind,
And therefore I have hope:
The Lord’s mercies never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:21–23)
Pause to offer your own expressions of thanksgiving.
Closing Prayer
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be pleasing in Your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
God is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or think, according to His power that is at work within us. To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. (Ephesians 3:20–21)
Boa, K. (1993). Handbook to prayer: praying scripture back to God. Atlanta: Trinity House.
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