God, Please Hear My Prayer

Posted by on April 25, 2004 under Bulletin Articles

“Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
(Matthew 6:9-13)

“God, open my eyes to Your holiness, purity, and goodness. Help me not make You as I wish You to be in order to serve my own interest, but help me see You as You are. Help me realize that it is in seeing You as You are that enables me to see myself as I am. Help me understand that it is only in seeing You as You are that I become aware of how desperately I need You. Help me never doubt that You seek my eternal best interest.

“My world is such a confusing place! It so easily deceives me! It makes me think that the destructive is good for me, that the unimportant is the important, that the temporary is forever, that physical pleasure is my ultimate good, and that security is found in possessions rather than in You. The more physical things I have, the emptier I become. The only enduring peace I experience is the peace that comes when I am full of You. It is Your kingdom, not my wants, that gives my life meaning. It is your will, not my physical desires, that give my life purpose. Help me find my meaning in You!

“Give my mind the eyes to see that every truly good thing that exists in my life is a gift from Your hands. I have so much that it is easy to be selfish. Because so much is available to me daily, it is simple to depend on “my abilities” rather than Your love. As You said to Abraham, may I hear You say to me that I am blessed to be a blessing. May I not search for my meaning in wealth, but in You.

“May in my experiencing Your grace, mercy, forgiveness, and compassion I ceaselessly be challenged to fill my life and actions with grace, mercy, forgiveness, and compassion in all my interactions with others. May I know You made me to reflect You. May I know the only one who reflected You perfectly was Jesus. May I increasingly yield myself to mirroring You in my life. May I understand that if I fail to reflect You to others, I fail in the basic purpose You give my existence.

“I have no hope when I confront Satan in my life and my world unless You are with me. Keep Your promise to never desert me. Give me the courage to trust this promise. Because of this promise, may I never stop using Your strength to confront evil in my life and my world. In the hope of my forgiveness, may I live in and share Your joy!

“Through my perfect mediator and intercessor I come to Your throne of grace in boldness, awe, and reverence!”