Praying With Paul

[nChrist]

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Praying With Paul
by Eldon Degge
Free By RSS News From Heartlight
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Abraham's Faith

Passage

Romans 4:17-21

Prayer

Dear Father, promise keeper, Thank you that Abraham's faith was held up for us to see. He became the father of us all because you said to him, "I will make you the father of many nations." You are the God in whom he believed, hope against hope, that he would become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "Your descendants shall be as numerous as the stars, and like grains of sand on the beach." You are the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist, so Abraham did not weaken in faith when he considered the age and deadness of his own body and the barrenness of Sarah's womb. O that I could be like him! No distrust made him waver concerning your promise. He grew strong in faith and gave you glory, fully convinced that you were able to do what you had promised. I want to be like him! In the name of Jesus I offer myself and my faith to you. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

The Seed of Righteousness

Passage

Romans 4:13-16

Prayer

Dear Father, father of the faithful, Thank you for the marvelous promise made to Abraham and his seed, that they should inherit the world. Thank you that it depends on faith, so that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only those who are adherents of the law but to everyone who shares the faith of Abraham, who is father of us all. Praise be to you, beneficent God, that I can be a descendant of Abraham, not by being born in his lineage but by being born from above by his kind of faith, the life-giving seed that makes me one of his children. Thank you that this is possible through Christ. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

The Sign of Righteousness

Passage

Romans 4:6-12

Prayer

Dear Father, Thank you that the words your servant David spoke apply to us: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him" (Psalm 32:1-2). Thank you that you blessed Abraham before he was circumcised, (while he was a Gentile!) so he could be the father of all who believe. Thank you that he is the father not only of those who are circumcised but of those who follow his example of faith. Praise to you, God, for giving to Abraham circumcision as a sign of the righteousness he had through faith before he was circumcised. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Credited as Righteousness

Passage

Romans 4:1-5

Prayer

Dear Father, friend of Abraham, Thank you for the wonderful relationship you established with Abraham. Through him you have blessed the world. Through that relationship you have blessed me. Thank you, Lord, that through it you will bring even more blessings, now and for ever. Thank you that Abraham's relationship to you was not something he earned; it came because "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." To one who works, wages are not a gift but payment due. We thank you that our relationship is not that of a hired hand. We do not work for wages. We work for you out of a faith and a love that you fired in our hearts. We trust you as the one who justifies the ungodly and who credits our faith as righteousness. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Acquitted

Passage

Romans 5:12-17

Prayer

Dear Father, creator of good and righter of wrongs, You created a good and wonderful environment for mankind. But for our first mother and father it was not enough. Sin came into the world through them, and death through sin, and so death spread to all, because all sinned. Your free gift was not like the trespass. It was greater! If many died through one man's trespass, how much more will your grace abound! How much more will that free gift abound for the masses of mankind in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ! Thank you that in him we receive all the more abundantly from your grace! How grateful we are for receiving the free gift of righteousness to reign in our lives! Thank you, Father in heaven. In the name of Jesus, our Savior and Justifier, I offer this thanks and praise for your wonderful grace. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

God's Children, Israel

Passage

Romans 9:1-18

Prayer

Dear Father, Keep me and all who are related to me from any hint of hatred toward Israel, your ancient people.Let us love them and pray for their good always, longing so much for their salvation that we, like Paul, should have sorrow and unceasing anguish because of their alienation from you. Father, you gave such honor and wonderful gifts to them: You called them by your name; they are Israelites. To them belong the sonship, the glory, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, came the Messiah, your Son Jesus Christ, who is over all things, God blessed forever. Amen. Their rejection of Christ does not mean your word has failed. Your word never fails. It is people who fail. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Empowered by Love

Passage

Romans 8:38-39

Prayer

Dear Father, faithful God, Fill my heart with the deep conviction that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love which you have for me in Christ Jesus. Amen. Let it be so for me! Fill me with the joy and peace of so believing! I praise your holy name and the name of Jesus through the Spirit for your precious empowering promises! Thank you, Father, thank you.In the name of Jesus and by his authority I come, asking for the confirmation of the faith I have expressed here. Fill me with it and let me walk according to your purposes. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

More than Conquerors

Passage

Romans 8:34-37

Prayer

Dear Father, our ultimate security and joy, Since Christ Jesus, who died, is at your right hand interceding for us, who shall separate us from your love? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, not even the sword, for it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." Shall any of these terrible things change your love one bit? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through you, the awesome God who loved us with an awesome love. May I never forget your love or ignore your sacrifice. May I never use trouble as an excuse for not doing good, for you have the power and authority to use trouble to produce good, and so I submit myself to your transforming power. In the name of your holy Son, I pray. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

For Our Good

Passage

Romans 8:28-34

Prayer

Dear Father, who is totally "for-us," How wonderfully reassuring to know that in everything you work for good with those who love you, who are called according to your purpose. Thank you that whom you foreknew you also predestined to be conformed to the image of your Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren. Thank you that whom you predestined you also called; those whom you called you also justified; and those whom you justified you also glorified. What can I say to all this? If you are for me, who can be against me? If you did not spare your own Son but gave him up for us all, will you not also give us all things with him? Who shall bring any charge against your chosen people? Since you alone do the justifying, who is to condemn? In the name of Jesus and by his authority I come, asking for the confirmation of the faith I have expressed here. Fill me with it and let me walk according to your purposes. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Waiting for Redemption

Passage

Romans 8:26-27

Prayer

Dear Father, who knows my secrets, Help me to wait patiently for my redemption. Thank you for giving me your Holy Spirit to make up for the inadequacies of my body and spirit. I know not how to pray as I should, so I praise you for your Spirit, who takes my inexpressible groanings and lifts them to the Lord Jesus, thus sharing in his intercession for me. I thank you that the Holy Spirit searches out the remotest cranny of my heart, knows me in a way that I cannot even know myself, and expresses to you what I wish that I could say but cannot. How wonderful! How loving! Thank you, Lord, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hallelujah. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you again! In the name of Jesus and with the support of your Spirit I come to you, with gratitude for doing these things. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

The Coming Glory

Passage

Romans 8:15

Prayer

Dear Father, creator and re-creator of the world, Whatever I may have to suffer is nothing compared to the glory you will reveal in your people, and therefore in me. Your creation waits in eager longing for that better day in which we, your children, shall be revealed in glory. Your glory will be shared with us, and ours with it! Inwardly, Father, I groan while bearing the frustrations of life and the weakness and pains in my body. I long for the time when the adoption process is complete, when my body will be resurrected and redeemed from all this. This is the hope of my salvation. Thank you, dear Lord, for that hope. In the name of Jesus and with the support of your Spirit I come to you, anticipating your glory. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Christ Living in Me

Passage

Romans 8:9-15

Prayer

Dear Father, who indwells me, Show me that I do not really live in the flesh, since your Spirit really dwells in me, else I would not belong to you. So with Christ living in me, my spirit is alive because of righteousness, even though my body is dead (doomed for decay!) because of sin. May the same Spirit which dwelled in Jesus continue to dwell in me and give life to my mortal body. Enable me by the Spirit to put to death the deeds of the sinful body, and thus find life. Help me cast off the spirit of slavery, and be a true son of yours. Thank you that I can call you "Abba, Father," as a fearless testimony of my sonship. Thank you, God, for condescending to be my Father and for making me an heir of your glory. It is in the name of Jesus and by his authority that I have such boldness to come to you, asking these things according to his will. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Walking in the Spirit

Passage

Romans 8:1-8

Prayer

Dear Father, Thank you that there is no condemnation for me now that I am in Christ Jesus. Through the principle of the Spirit of life in him I have been set free from the principle of sin and death. You, my God, did what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. You sent your own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. Through him you condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in your people, of which I am one. Help me walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Set my mind on your Spirit, so I might live by your Spirit and find life and peace. It is in the name of Jesus, who gives his Spirit, that I pray these things. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

A Sufficient Answer

Passage

Romans 7:21-8:1

Prayer

Dear Father, I delight in your law even though evil keeps planting suggestions of rebellion in my mind. Help me to truly want to do what is right in your sight, Father. Thanks be to you, my God, through Jesus Christ my Lord! You have provided a sufficient answer to the conflict within me - the life and sacrifice of Jesus and his resurrection. Thank you, Father, that there is now no condemnation for me because I am in Christ! In the name of Jesus I thank you and praise you for the mercy shown to me and all your chosen ones. Hallelujah. Amen.

[nChrist]

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

Inner Conflict

Passage

Romans 7:1-20

Prayer

Dear Father, I have died to the world (and to the idea that I can be justified by keeping a set of rules) through the body of Christ that I might belong to Christ. He was raised from the dead that I might belong to him and bear fruit in his name. Help me to bear fruit for you in the way I live. Let me serve you in the new life of the Spirit. Give me strength to resist suggestions to do evil. For even though I want to do good, opportunities to do evil lie close at hand. Don't let my inner rebellion convince me to do the opposite of what you command. In the name of Jesus resolve the conflicts of my life and give me a clear course to walk as I follow him. Amen.