Praying With Paul

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
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All Things in Order

Passage

1 Corinthians 14:26-33

Prayer

Dear Father, God of intelligibility and peace, When we come together and each of us has something to contribute, may everything be done to build up the body. Let us do things one by one, or by pairs or triplets at most, so that all may learn and be encouraged. For you, our God, are not like the pagan gods, a god of confusion and hysteria, but are a god of peace. Let us honor you by doing things decently and in order. Submitting to your commands of peace and order, I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

The Good News

Passage

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Prayer

Dear Father, God of the living, Thank you for the Good News that Jesus Christ, your Son, is risen from the dead. Thank you that by it I am saved and in it I stand, if I hold it fast - unless I believed in vain - which I did not. Thank you for the important message we received - that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, - thank you, Lord! - that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance to the Scriptures, - thank you, Lord! - and that he appeared to many, many eyewitnesses - thank you, Lord! Praise your name! In the name of Jesus I thank you for your resurrection power and ask that I may live so as to always have hope of sharing in it. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Eyewitnesses

Passage

1 Corinthians 15:5-10

Prayer

Dear Father, God of real history, Thank you for the testimony of eyewitnesses who saw Christ alive after his crucifixion: Cephas, the twelve, more than five hundred brethren, and James. Thank you for the testimony of the apostles and for Paul. I am grateful that I am not following cleverly devised myths, but the reality of history! I believe their testimony! And yours! In the name of Jesus I come, thanking you for your resurrection power and asking that I may live so as always to have hope of sharing in it. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Christ in My Heart

Passage

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Prayer

Dear Father, God of the living, Thank you that Christ's revelation of himself within my soul as Lord of my life and as the living Spirit of truth and holiness testifies that he is not dead but alive forevermore. Thank you that he lives in my heart. By your grace, and by my faith in what you did, I am what I am. The resurrection is preached and I believe it. Thank you, Father! Thank you that I don't have to believe that death ends it all either for Jesus or for me! In the name of Jesus I come, thanking you for your resurrection power and asking that I may live so as to always have hope of sharing in it. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Resurrection Hope

Passage

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Prayer

Dear Father, confirmer of truth, Strengthen me against all that Satan and the world can bring against me. Confirm my understanding of what you did in resurrecting Jesus and what you will do in resurrecting me and all your saints. If there is no resurrection, I know that the gospel is false, my faith is in vain, I am still in my sins, those who have fallen asleep have perished, and you have been misrepresented as having raised Jesus from the dead. If we Christians have hope only for this life, then we are to be pitied - for our suffering is for nothing. But we know that you have raised Christ from the dead, as the first fruits of them who have fallen asleep. In the name of Jesus I offer you this thanksgiving and praise for the most wonderful events of history, Christ's resurrection and ours. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Life through Christ

Passage

1 Corinthians 15:21-23

Prayer

Dear Father, worthy God, You have declared that just as death came through the sin of one man, so life comes through one man's resurrection from the dead. As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ first, then at his coming we who belong to him. Thank you, Father, for the assurance you gave by raising him up. Thank you that his resurrection is our resurrection! Thank you for this revelation of the order in which it will come. In the name of Jesus I offer you this thanksgiving and praise for the most wonderful events of history, Christ's resurrection and ours. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Look to the End

Passage

1 Corinthians 15:26

Prayer

Dear Father, destroyer of every enemy, Help me to look to the outcome, to the end of things, when Christ will deliver the kingdom to you after destroying every ruler, every authority, and every power. Enable me to keep my eyes on his victory, for he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. Motivate me to focus on the time when even the last enemy, Death itself, will be destroyed by our Lord. In his name I pray. Amen.

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge, Heartlight Magazine
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
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Everything to Everyone

Passage

1 Corinthians 15:27-28

Prayer

Dear Father, my everything, May I learn from Christ's subjection to you, for when all things are subjected to him, your Son himself will also be subject to you, the God who put all things under the Son, that you may be everything to everyone! Our Father, increase my love for you until you become everything to me! It is almost too awesome to ask - I am afraid of so much change: May I love you like Jesus loves you! In his name. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Perseverence

Passage

1 Corinthians 15:29-34

Prayer

Dear Father, rewarder of all who diligently seek you, Thank you for Jesus, whose life not only taught us how to live, but whose resurrection proved that you have power over death. Thank you for the assurance of resurrection, for without it we would have no reason to persevere. His resurrection is why I believe in my own future resurrection. All my hopes are pinned on him. Were it not for this, I would live as do unbelievers, who say, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." May I live according to Christ's righteousness through the power that raised him from the dead. And may I never forget the promise of resurrection. In the name of Jesus I lift up this prayer. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Lessons from Nature

Passage

1 Corinthians 15:35-46

Prayer

Dear Father, rewarder of all who diligently seek you, Thank you for the lessons in nature that teach truths about your kingdom. Help me to learn from these examples so that I might understand more about you. Just as bare kernels of grain sown in the ground do not germinate and become plants unless they first "die," so too my old nature must die before your new life can germinate in me. And so it is with the resurrection of believers. We are perishable, but you will raise us to be imperishable. We are dishonorable, but you will raise us up in glory. We are weak, but you will raise us in power. We are sustained by nature, but you will raise us to be sustained by your spirit. At last we will have learned to live in total dependence on you! Prepare us for this future time by teaching us to totally depend on you now! We praise you, Almighty Father, for you intend to make us immortal and to share your good things with us forever, because you love us. Thank you, Father, thank you. In the name of Jesus I lift this prayer. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Anticipation of Victory

Passage

1 Corinthians 15:47-50

Prayer

Dear Father, keeper of every promise, Thank you for making the first man, Adam, a living soul. Thank you even more that by your power the last man, Jesus Christ, has become for us a life-giving spirit. May I anticipate with hope the fact that, just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. Give me patience as I reside in a body of flesh and blood, knowing that flesh and blood does not inherit the kingdom of heaven, nor the perishable the imperishable, but the physical has to precede the spiritual. In the name of Jesus I lift my voice to you on high. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

The Mystery Disclosed

Passage

1 Corinthians 15:51-57

Prayer

Dear Father, keeper of every promise, Thank you for disclosing to us the mystery of what is to come! Keep us looking forward to that moment when we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. Thank you that some of us will not even have to die but will rise to meet the Savior in the air. Praise be to you, Almighty Father. By your will the last trumpet will sound. The dead will be raised imperishable. We shall all be changed. You will make our perishable nature imperishable, our mortal nature immortal. Then you will bring to pass what is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" Thanks be to you, gracious Father, for making us more than conquerors now and for guaranteeing us final victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! In the name of Jesus I lift my voice to you on high. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Nothing Will Be Lost

Passage

1 Corinthians 15:58

Prayer

Dear Father, Thank you for the assurance that my work for you will never be lost. The Lord Jesus promised that even a cup of cold water given in his name will not lose its reward. May I be zealous, steadfast, and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord and utterly counting on you. I trust you, Lord, because I believe that my efforts for you are not in vain. May I always give myself fully to your work, knowing that anything else I might accomplish in this life will have no value in eternity. In the name of your son, my Savior and Lord, I pray. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Disciplined Giving

Passage

1 Corinthians 16:1-12

Prayer

Dear Father, Give me the discipline to set something aside from my earnings every week to subsidize your work around the world. May I then administer this money wisely and honorably. Open wide the doors for effective work for your kingdom. May I willingly give to help your worthy servants. Let me give hospitality and support to those who travel. May your love and the grace of the Lord Jesus be with them and us for ever and ever. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

A God of Comfort

Passage

2 Corinthians 1:3-11

Prayer

Dear Father, great and gentle one, Blessed are you, God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. You comfort us in our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort others who are in affliction with the same comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by you. You enable us to know that as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we shall share abundantly in comfort too. Thank you that our suffering is not meaningless, but is for the comfort and salvation of others. Thank you for a hope that cannot be shaken. Jesus has taught to besiege you with constant prayer. Here we are again, coming in his name. Amen.