Praying With Paul

[nChrist]

________________________________
Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

Pursuing Peace

Passage

Romans 14:17-23

Prayer

Dear Father, giver of brotherly love, How wonderful that your kingdom, your rule in people's lives, is not a matter of food and drink, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. May I, in serving Christ this way, be acceptable to you and approved by others. Let me and all the members of your family pursue what makes for peace and for mutual uplifting. Let none of us, for the sake of personal rights, destroy your work of grace in someone else. Help us to appreciate our rights, but help each of us understand that it is wrong to make others fall by insisting on them. Guide us to see that it is right not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that would make a brother or sister stumble. The faith that I have, let me keep between you and me. Let me find happiness in having no reason to judge myself for what I approve. May I never do anything from the basis of doubt, because not acting from conviction is sin. In the name of Jesus I pray all this, asking that you will give me love for my brothers and sisters. Amen.

[nChrist]

________________________________
Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

Imitating Christ

Passage

Romans 15:1-8

Prayer

Dear Father, God of steadfast love, May the strength you give us be used to bear with the failings of those who are weak, not to please ourselves, but to please our neighbor for his good, to build him up. In this let us imitate Jesus, your Son, who did not please himself, but lived as it was written of him, "The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me." May you, our Father, the God of steadfastness and encouragement, grant us Christians to live in such harmony with one another, in full accord with Jesus Christ, that together we may with one voice glorify you, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus and according to his command. Amen.

[nChrist]

________________________________
Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

Abounding in Hope

Passage

Romans 15:1-13

Prayer

Dear Father, who welcomes all into your family, Help us to welcome one another, as Christ has welcomed us, for your glory. For you taught us that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show your truthfulness - in order to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs, and in order that we who were not Jews might glorify you for your mercy. May you, our Father and God, fill us with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit we may abound in hope. In the name of Jesus and according to his command. Amen.

[nChrist]

________________________________
Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

Generosity toward Israel

Passage

Romans 15:25-29

Prayer

Dear Father, God of Israel, Give us generous hearts toward the Jewish people throughout the world. "They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises, and the patriarchs; and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ." We know that "as regards the gospel, they are enemies of God" for our sake, but "as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers." According to your word we who are not Jews are in debt to them. Since we have come to share in their spiritual blessings, put it into our hearts to share sympathy and our material blessings with them. Help all of us come to share in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. In the name of Jesus we ask, praying with all our hearts that Israel according to the flesh will come to faith in your Son. Amen.

[nChrist]

________________________________
Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

A Channel for Your Word

Passage

Romans 15:14-21

Prayer

Dear Father, I pray that I may be full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct others who want to know about your salvation. Give me a share in the priestly service of your Good News to the world. May I as a believer make (and be!) an acceptable offering, sanctified by your Holy Spirit. Help me to make it my ambition to speak of Jesus Christ everywhere to everyone. Let me love your word so much that I will either go or help others go to places where it has not yet been proclaimed. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

[nChrist]

________________________________
Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

Striving Together

Passage

Romans 15:30-33

Prayer

Dear Father, giver of joy and refreshment, Help us strive together in our prayers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of the Spirit, for every person who is proclaiming your word in difficult circumstances and places. Be with them. Deliver them from their enemies. Let them find full acceptance among your holy people. Let them find joy and refreshment in their company. In the name of Jesus we ask, praying with all our hearts that Israel according to the flesh will come to faith in your Son. Amen.

[nChrist]

________________________________
Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

The Wisdom of the Cross

Passage

1 Corinthians 1:18-21

Prayer

Dear Father, author of all true wisdom, You have said, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart." Where is the wise man? Where is the debater of this age? I thank you, Father, that you made foolish the wisdom of this world. For in the wisdom of your plan, mere "wisdom" has never enabled anyone to know you. People were looking for something great, as they understood greatness. It pleased you, rather, by the "foolishness" of what we preach, to save all of us who put our trust in you and your manifested love. May I never try to impress anyone with my wisdom. Instead let me impress them with my faith in your wisdom. In the name of Jesus and by his wisdom and authority I ask these things. Amen.

[nChrist]

________________________________
Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

The Power of the Cross

Passage

1 Corinthians 1:17

Prayer

Dear Father, author of all true wisdom, Thank you that you do not send your emissaries out as mere recruiters. They are not just to baptize but to preach the Good News about Jesus, that he doesn't just want us to "join his club" but he wants us to be like him, yes, to be him, to be his body, in the world. Thank you for not appealing to us with elegant ideas or eloquent speech, lest the message of the cross be emptied of its power. For while this word of the cross is utter folly to those who are perishing, to us who are being saved by it, it is your power. Grant me the courage and strength to trust you when worldly wisdom sounds convincing. In the name of the one who empowers me to live according to his righteousness, I pray. Amen.

[nChrist]

________________________________
Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

The Attitude of Christ

Passage

1 Corinthians 1:10-13

Prayer

Dear Father, to whom I owe full obedience, Let my attitude be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who made himself nothing and obeyed you, even in the matter of dying. May I humbly and obediently exalt Jesus, even as you have exalted him and given him a name that is above every name, that every knee should bow and every tongue confess - to your glory, our God and our Father. In the name of Jesus Christ, the source of our unity and salvation, I ask these things. Amen.

[nChrist]

________________________________
Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

United in Christ

Passage

1 Corinthians 1:10-13

Prayer

Dear Father, the one and only God of your one holy people, Help me never to be part of any division within the body of Christ. Let me be perfectly united in mind and heart with all who follow you. Help me not be some kind of -ite, -ist, or -anian. Keep me from misplacing my loyalties with this man or that! Christ, of whom I am part, is not divided. He is of one mind. So let me and all his people be together and in agreement. Let us be like-minded, having the same love, one in spirit and purpose. Help us do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility help us count each other better than ourselves. Let us look out for the interests of each other, not just our own. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Source of our unity and salvation, I ask these things. Amen.

[nChrist]

________________________________
Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

No Lack in God

Passage

1 Corinthians 1:4-9

Prayer

Dear Father, my faithful God, Thank you now and forevermore for the grace which you gave in Christ Jesus. In every way you have enriched me in all speech and all knowledge - even as the testimony of Christ has been confirmed before my eyes - so that I am not lacking in any spiritual gift, as I, along with all my brethren, wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are my faithful God. It is you who have called me into fellowship with your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. I have confidence that you will sustain me to the very end and present me guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. I put my trust wholly in you, my holy God, for you are wholly trustworthy. In the name of Jesus, who was faithful to you and is always faithful to me. Amen.

[nChrist]

________________________________
Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

Blessings of the Faithful

Passage

Romans 16:1-27

Prayer

Dear Father, my strength, I bless you for the multitudes of believing people who have gone before me, for those named in the Bible whose examples of love and loyalty to you I would like to imitate. Help me to be a helper, to work hard and to be approved like they were. Never let me be among those who create dissensions and difficulties, in opposition to the doctrine of your word. Help me be wise about what is good and guileless about what is evil, that through you Satan can be crushed under my feet. Let the grace of the Lord Jesus be with me. O God, be my strength! To you, the only wise God, be glory forevermore. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

[nChrist]

________________________________
Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

No Room for Boasting

Passage

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Prayer

Dear Father, you of whom we boast, Why have you chosen the weak, the foolish, the despised? You have done this so that no human being can boast. And we do not! We cast our lives at your feet. You alone are worthy! You are the source of our lives in Christ Jesus, whom you made to be everything to us. He is our wisdom and our righteousness. He is our sanctification and our redemption. Therefore, as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord" - and we do! In the name of Jesus, by his wisdom and authority, I ask these things. Amen.

[nChrist]

________________________________
Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

The Authority of the Cross

Passage

1 Corinthians 1:22-25

Prayer

Dear Father, confounder of worldly wisdom, What you have caused us to preach is "Christ crucified," a stumbling block to tradition-followers, like the Jews, and folly to philosophy-lovers, like the Greeks. But to us who are called, he is your power and your wisdom. For we believe that your foolishness is wiser than our wisdom, and your weakness is stronger than our strength. I am thankful that you have taken most of us from the lower echelons of society. Not many of us are wise according to worldly standards, not many are powerful, not many are of noble birth. You chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, what is weak to shame the strong, what is low and despised, even things that don't yet exist, to bring to nothing the things that are. May my weakness and foolishness be transformed into usefulness through your strength and wisdom. In the name of Jesus and by his wisdom and authority I pray. Amen.

[nChrist]

________________________________
Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
________________________________

God's Simple Message

Passage

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Prayer

Dear Father, God of all true wisdom, power, and glory, When I set about to share your Good News about Jesus with other people, keep me from using lofty concepts or high-sounding words. Let me speak of nothing except Christ and him crucified. Help me to understand that it is okay for me to show my own weakness, fear, and trembling. Let my words demonstrate your Spirit and power, so that the faith which germinates will rest not in my wisdom but in yours. In the name of Jesus, by his authority, and according to his will I lift up this petition to you. Amen.