A Christmas Prayer That Transforms
Saturday, December 08, 2018
This week features prayers from Paul’s letters. First read through each prayer, notice what Paul prays for people and what you can pray for yourself and for others. Pick someone to pray this prayer for each day. Let Paul’s prayer be a guide and start as you pray for each person (including yourself). Each prayer is taken from a conversational paraphrase of the Bible called “The Voice”.
Day 1: Pray 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 -- "I am continuously thanking my God for you when I think about the grace God has offered you in Jesus the Anointed. In this grace, God is enriching every aspect of your lives by gifting you with the right words to say and everything you need to know. In this way, your life story confirms the life story of the Anointed One, so you are not ill-equipped or slighted on any necessary gifts as you patiently anticipate the day when our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, is revealed. Until that final day, He will preserve you; and on that day, He will consider you faultless. Count on this: God is faithful and in His faithfulness called you out into an intimate relationship with His Son, our Lord Jesus the Anointed."
Day 2: Pray Ephesians 1:17-19 -- "God of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, Father of Glory: I call out to You on behalf of Your people. Give them minds ready to receive wisdom and revelation so they will truly know You. Open the eyes of their hearts, and let the light of Your truth flood in. Shine Your light on the hope You are calling them to embrace. Reveal to them the glorious riches You are preparing as their inheritance. Let them see the full extent of Your power that is at work in those of us who believe, and may it be done according to Your might and power."
Day 3: Pray Ephesians 3:16-19 -- "Father, out of Your honorable and glorious riches, strengthen Your people. Fill their souls with the power of Your Spirit so that through faith the Anointed One will reside in their hearts. May love be the rich soil where their lives take root. May it be the bedrock where their lives are founded so that together with all of Your people they will have the power to understand that the love of the Anointed is infinitely long, wide, high, and deep, surpassing everything anyone previously experienced. God, may Your fullness flood through their entire beings."
Day 4: Pray Philippians 1:9-11 -- "Father, may their love grow more and more in wisdom and insight— so they will be able to examine and determine the best from everything else. And on the day of the Anointed One, the day of His judgment, let them stand pure and blameless, filled with the fruit of righteousness that ripens through Jesus the Anointed."
Day 5: Pray Colossians 1:9-14 -- "Father, may they clearly know Your will and achieve the height and depth of spiritual wisdom and understanding. May their lives be a credit to You, Lord; and what’s more, may they continue to delight You by doing every good work and growing in the true knowledge that comes from being close to You. Strengthen them with Your infinite power, according to Your glorious might, so that they will have everything they need to hold on and endure hardship patiently and joyfully. Thank You, Father, as You have made us eligible to receive our portion of the inheritance given to all those set apart by the light. You have rescued us from dark powers and brought us safely into the kingdom of Your Son, whom You love 14 and in whom we are redeemed and forgiven of our sins [through His blood]."
Day 6: Pray 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 -- "All this is why we are constantly praying for you, so God will make you worthy of the great calling you have received from Him and will give you the power to accomplish every good intention and work of faith. Then the great name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified through your lives, and you will be glorified in Him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, our Liberating King."
You can GO DEEPER this week by reading the following book - A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller.
Don't forget you can listen to this week's message or read the full PDF of the message & GPS.
AS PRAY THIS WEEK FOR CREATE FOR COMMUNITY: For patience with parking challenges during construction. For safety and efficiency of our construction crews. For those who have given generously for these improvements.
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