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Priorities ~ II
PRIORITIES ~ II
Are you easily distracted by activities or opportunities that do not support your personal or family mission statement?
How many times have I said, “Yes” when asked to do something, when that "still small Voice" was shouting, “NO! Don’t do it!” How many hours have I spent fulfilling commitments (good things) that I never should have made or fighting causes I was passionate about, yet these were not my God-appointed assignments?
This is why I’ve recorded many prayers addressing “priorities”. If you need help in this area too, join me – we’ll pray together…
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Father God,
all too often the distractionsand busyness of life
move the focus of my attention and affections far from You,
Your Word, Your Plans, and Your Purposes.
Help me to sift through the details of each day
that I might be more faithful
in living a life of love and service before You.
As worthless opportunities draw me away,
help me to resist them,
that I might not be caught in their snares,
wasting precious fleeting moments that could be spent
in a more fruitful manner.
O God, my spirit is so willing,but my flesh is weak.
Please help me.
I set my heart to seek Youwith all that is within me.
Please speak loudly and clearly.
Even in Your silence, may I ever be sensitiveto Your calling.
O how I long to honor You
with every moment that You grant mewhile here on Earth
and throughout all Eternity.
~~~~~~~
Father God,
so much of what I labor forwill turn to bitter ash
- ultimately and completely consumed -
in Your final and holy Flames.
I want to make a difference in the world.
I want my life to count for something.
I surrender every detail of my daily and eternal destinies,
placing myself upon the Altar of Your holy Will.
Firmly establish Your holy aspirations for me
deep within my innermost being,so ordering my life
that I am not distracted by things that are temporal.
May Your perfect and holy Will be accomplished
in my heart,as it is in Heaven.
~~~~~~~
You created the Heavens, the Earth,
and everything within them.
From the tiniest molecule to the utmost star,
each has its own purposein revealing Your glory.
I, too, want to reveal Your glory.
So help me to be obedient to You
in every area of this life You’ve given me,
for You see what I cannot see
and know what I cannot possibly know.
You orchestrate my highest possibilities
in accordance with Your calling upon my life
when I surrender and walk in obedience to Your sovereign Will.
Grant me the courage to follow through with each task,
especially when I face opposition.
May my efforts and person seem invisible
as You are revealed and exalted throughout the Earth.
May every thought that I think,
every dream that I dream,
and everything that I do
be an expression of my extreme adoration
as I lavish my life and my love upon You.
~~~~~~~
Father Lord,
I long to be Your servant.
Please grant me vast and excellent treasures of
reverent Wisdom, Knowledge, and Understanding
that I may fully execute every Plan
You delight to order before me.
Fully consume every part of me
that hinders the working out of Your Will for my life.
How I long to live only for Your excellent Glory!
~~~~~~~
Father God,
my nourishment comes from doing Your Will.
As I look around me
I see vast fields ripening -now ready for harvest.
I want no wages,
but that You be honored and well pleased by all my labors -
for all power, purpose, ability, and resultsare supplied by You.
I desire that immeasurable multitudes
be brought to eternal lifeas a result of my energies
that You might be thrilled
as You delight in their praises and love.
Send me out to plow, sow, fertilize, and harvest -
whatever You desire me to do
and wherever You desire me to go -I am willing.
You will enable me.
For Your Glory alone, I breathe…
(Inspired by John 4:34-38)
~~~~~~~
Father God,
Your Presence occupies all space and time.
You witness every tear that falls –
indeed,
the tears of all humanity
flow as rivers down Your Face
as Your Heart breaks and yearns for Your creation.
May my life be spent completely
in bringing You joy
by serving and loving
those who are lonely or living in despair.
I long for them to know how much You love and desire them
and for them to love and desire You in return.
How I desperately want
to spend my life in a manner that will give You reasonto smile.
(train whistle began blowing –
and blowing – and blowing…)
~~~~~~~
Father,
we want everything that happens to us
to result in the spread of The Gospel.
We pray that we never do anything to cause shame,
but that we always remain bold in our witness,
and that our lives will always honor You -
whether we liveor whether we die.
Sometimes we long to move from this life
and into Your glorious Presence,
yet so much work remains to be done here on Earth.
Help us to faithfully complete the missionfor which You created us
that You may be glorified in all our labors.
(Inspired by Philippians 1:12-26)
~~~~~~~
Father God,
we ask that a strong vision of the destiny
for which You created usflood every aspect of our being.
May it rise up deep within our hearts
that we may overflow with activities that will bring
Your Kingdom Plans to fulfillment.
May we live our livesas an act of selfless worship
that is wholly pleasing to You.
With all our love
we pray…
~~~~~~~
Lord God,
in this
and every day,
please grant me a tenacious resolve
to resist every lure of the devil
or personal distraction
that would hinder or keep me from executing Your Agenda.
For the honor of Your glorious Name
may I daily live and breathe
and die.
With all my love,
I pray…
~~~~~~~
Father God,
as I come before You in each new day,
I ask that You strengthen my hands and my heart
to accomplish all that You desire to do both within me
and through me.
Strengthen me according to Your Word
that I may be able to stand strong,
fight the good fight,
and finish the race
You have set before me.
Strengthen me in every way
deep within every part of me
that my motives, thoughts, and conduct
may honor You.
Move me to glory in my every weakness,
for there Your Strength is perfected within me.
Strengthen me so that I will be able
to strengthen others.
You are the God of my every breath,
to Whom I fully surrender my earthly and eternal destiny
and to Whom I offer my extravagant adoration
and highest praise.
~~~~~~~
Father in Heaven,
You assign each person’s labors
for the purpose of Your Kingdom’s expansion.
Fill me with an all-consuming passion
to complete the mission for which I was created.
As I work, may others see You and You alone.
May I not get in the way -
blocking their vision or personal experience with You.
May I decrease as You increase.
May they hear Your Voice above my own
and know that You are faithful and true.
May I be filled with joy over the success of others.
And Lord God,thank You
for every opportunity to serve and glorify You.
~~~~~~~
O God,
You are The Word,
ever-present before the beginning
of measured time.
Our life is in You and is sustained by You.
We come as Your servants; please shine through us
so that those we encounter who are walking in darkness
might believe.
Multiply the seed we sow
that vast multitudes may believe and become
Your children.
We want the world to know
the Love of the Father,
the Forgiveness of the Savior,
and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
(Inspired by John 1:1-16)
~~~~~~~
Father,
I cannot begin to contemplate
the splendor of Your awesome Imagination
and Your Passion for Your creation.
But inasmuch as I am capable,
within the restrictive boundaries of my humanness,
please grant me understanding of Your Thoughts and Ways
that I may better serve and honor You.
Teach me what You desire for me to know about You,
and anoint me to communicate Your Truth to others.
Do not permit me to disseminate my human perception,
but rather help me lead others to recognize and respond to
the authentic glory of Your awe-inspiring Majesty.
May the world desire to know You intimately
and not be hindered by my limited and personal perspectives.
Let me live in Your Loveand for Your Love.
For Your Honor alone I live and breathe and pray.
(Inspired by Isaiah 55:8-9)
~~~~~~~
O Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world -
I am not worthy to be Your slave.
Thank You for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
and of Fire.
I long to be Your disciple -
to follow closely wherever You lead.
I desperately desire to touch the hearts
of vast multitudes
in Your Name and for Your glory
that they might know and follow You also –
andthat they might introduce even greater multitudesto You -
that these too, might love and follow You.
May Your Kingdom explode with expansion here on Earth,
that You may be highly exaltedin the hearts of all humanity
as You are exalted in the highest of Your Eternal Heavens.
(Inspired by John 1:17-51)
~~~~~~~
Faithful Father,
all that I call my owntruly belongs to You.
You even possess the souls of those who seek
to take what You have given me.
Keep me ever mindfulthat material blessings
are merely tools to be usedto honor You
in the expansion of Your Kingdom.
~~~~~~~
Father,
I place myself upon the Altarof Your sovereign Will.
Please pour out Your oil of anointing over me,
and set me ablaze with Your Holy Fire…
flames of Gloryconsuming all that I am
that I may walk in humilityin service before You.
My life is filled with blemishes
- an imperfect sacrifice -
but it’s all that I have to offer,
for all that I haveand all I am,
indeed, belong to You.
~~~~~~
Love of my life,
I ask that nothing short
of Your personal and perfect Will
be accomplished in meand through me
throughout the course of thisand every day,
no matter what the personal cost.
(Do I really mean this?)
{Yet this is the substance of surrender.}
~~~~~~~
Father God,
I am moved by Your Love –
bound in the spirit to go wherever You send me,
not knowing the things that will happen to me
as I walk through the moments of each day.
Yet none of these things move me,
nor do I count my life dear to myself
so that I may finish the race You have set before me
with great joy,
and the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus Christ
to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
May I continue to walk resolutely,
innocent of the blood of all men.
Help me to never shun any opportunity
to completely declare before all men
the complete counsel of God.
(Inspired by Acts 20:22-27)
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Father God,
please continually press us to guard and guide
every thought that we think
without distraction
- both day and night –
that we may be vigilant to hear Your Voice
and be fully obedient to accomplish Your sovereign Will.
Help us to respond to You as Lord
- in every moment –
not exercising religious externals,
but rather honoring You
from the very depths of our innermost beings.
May our greatest desire
be to love and serve You
with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and energies.
O God,
You are our passion!
~~~~~~~
Father Lord,
please reign over every decision that I make.
May I feel Your Presence and the quickening
of Your Holy Spirit
as I walk through the course of each day,
for every choice bears many consequences.
Help me to control the spending of the resources
You give me.
May each transaction not be selfishly squandered
that I may lavishly bless those who are
less fortunate than me,
or that I may more faithfully contribute to Your activities –
ministries within my church
or around the world.
I want desperately to be a wise steward.
As I confront the issue of how to spend the moments
of each day,
may I be quick to remember that my time here is very brief,
and once spent,
a minute can never be recaptured and relived.
May I be faithful to invest in my experience with You
and the people around me
so that my life is not wasted on that which is insignificant.
No material obsession can satisfy my greatest human need,
nor can it be carried with me when I die.
May I see every aspect of my life as a ministry opportunity,
and so guide my decisions
according to Your design and desire for my life.
May my choices honor and bless You,
my Father, my Savior, my Friend...
~~~~~~~
Almighty God,
You hold all Power and Authority.
Everything originates from You,
belongs to You,
and returns to You.
With faith,
fully trusting You with every detail of my life
and the lives of those around me,
I make myself available.
~~~~~~~
Father God,
in this day I ask nothing of You
but that I be moved to serve You
with the best of my love.
Please guide me to walk in selfless service before You.
I quiet my heart to hear Your Voice…
~~~~~~~
Holy Father,
I thank You for every detail that You orchestrate
in the calling forth of this day.
I seek Your Wisdom, Strength, and Favor
in completing each task You place before me.
As I bow my heart in reverent adoration and appreciation,
I delight in Your Presence in this journey.
May the fruit of all labors for Your Kingdom
be greatly multiplied
for Your honor and glory
that the world might know that You Alone are God.
Connie
My Home, a House of Prayer for All Nations