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Pray
Heavenly Father, I come to You now to renew my place in
You. I acknowledge that You are the Creator of all things and the Provider of all I
need. You are the Great I AM. The First and the Last, the King of kings and
Lord of lords. You alone are life. No one comes before You, and today, I will
pursue life in You as my greatest passion.
Father, thank You for ransoming me with the life of Your
Son. Jesus, thank You for being my substitute and paying for all of my sins. I
believe in Your resurrection, and it is through my faith in You that I can now
approach my Heavenly Father with freedom and confidence. I claim the power of
Your resurrection in my life and I now bring every aspect of my life, including
my family [name your spouse and/or children] and my work under Your authority
and Your Kingdom.
In You, Jesus, I have received a new life and have been
raised to walk in the newness of that life. I ask that Your Holy Spirit search
me, know me and reveal to me any aspect of my life that is not pleasing to You.
Show me the things in my life that prevent me from knowing Your will, and give
me the strength to repent. Holy Spirit, I also ask you to awaken my heart to
everything You want to do through me and the steps You want me to take for You.
Jesus, I believe You have new things to declare for my life and I ask in Your
name that You make them known to me.
Jesus, I
also ask You to reveal to me in every way possible those in my current
relationships for whom I should intercede in prayer and reach out to in Your
name. I pray today for opportunities to be Your light in their life so they
will grow in the knowledge of You.
Father,
I pray for all of the leaders at Stonecreek Church who join with me for this
time of prayer. Search us, break us and unify us as men and women of the one
true living God so new things can be accomplished for Your Kingdom in our
homes, our community and around the world.
Holy
Spirit, fill Your church with the strength and endurance to bring spiritual
revolution in these times. Stir our hearts to pray as never before and to have
discernment and a boldness to share the life we have in Jesus.
Now,
Father, I pray for 10/10/10 and every new thing You will bring about in me, my
community and our church. You are able to do immeasurably more than all I
can ever ask or imagine. To You be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, forever and ever!
Amen.
Reflect | Repentance Produces Fruitfulness
...give me the strength to repent.
"Christianity
is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of
infinite
importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important." - C.S.
Lewis
Jesus
did not consider His Father's will to be moderately important. Because we are infinitely important
to God, Jesus considered
His Father's will to be of infinite importance. "I have loved You with an everlasting love, and drawn you
with loving-kindness" (Jeremiah 31:3). "Greater love has no man than this,
than a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). Jesus willingly endured our sin through death on the cross, was buried and defeated death when he rose from the grave. He did all this because imparting His life to us was infinitely important.
How
then, can we live as though our relationship to Jesus is only moderately important? Like cold water splashed across our
faces, Revelation 3:16 warns followers of Jesus, "So, because you are
lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth." This is our wake-up-call. We should never become complacent and allow sin to linger in
our lives. Matthew
3:8 challenges us to, "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." Lamentations
3:40 beckons, "Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the
LORD."
Our lives as followers of Jesus should include the fruitful practice of regular
repentance. Where our confession agrees with God about our sin, our repentance
takes the next step by turning away from cherishing our sin, and turning toward
a growing communion with God. His eyes of mercy and arms of grace receive us,
covering us with forgiveness and perfect love. James 4:8 encourages, "Come near
to God and he will come near to you."
Respond
Repentance
is one of the greatest gifts we have been given by God. It is the gateway to
fruitful living and walking in fellowship with God. And it is the step He is
waiting for you to take.
Will you draw near to Him in honest
repentance?
What
areas of your life have you tolerated sin or become complacent to sin?
As
you look to 10/10/10, what sin is God declaring as "former things" in your
life? What "new things" is He declaring for you as you repent and return to
Him?
Imagine Jesus standing with you, and together you talk about your sin.
Imagine Him taking your sin from you, releasing you from its power over you and
welcoming you to return to full union with Him.
If you have a story you would like to share about something you feel God is doing through this One Prayer Journey, click here to share it with us online.
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