Daily Prayer 12/14/07

Colossians 1:13-23 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, {both} in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the {Father's} good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, {I say,} whether things on earth or things in heaven.

And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, {engaged} in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-- if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.


Father- Help us to understand the depth of what is written above for us. There are so many things for us to see there if we will just slow down and observe all that the text is saying. Mostly I just ask for the last part. We were engaged in evil deeds, but now we are to be holy and blameless and beyond reproach. Wow this is hard considering we have sin in us! What will we let master us Lord? Will we let sin master us or will we let Christ master us. Our actions show us which we love more. That is hard Father. I know my heart and my sin and how easily I could slip. Keep us from sin and protect us from temptation. Do not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear, but when we are tempted, also show us the way out so that we can stand up under the temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).

For our needs and for our faith in Christ and for our personal holiness I pray.

For Thaddeus I pray.

For Jill and their baby I pray.

For Samuel and Stanley and all on this list I pray.

For those without warmth and electricity I pray.

As we approach Christmas, that our minds would be focused on Christ and not the secular commercial christmas that they celebrate. May ours be one fully focused on Christ coming to bear our sins.

For opportunities to share the Good News with others, I pray.

In Christ's name we bring our marriages to You. Protect them and always strengthen them. Help us to love the other with a servants heart, may we desire to be the less of the two halves and lift up the other to be the better half. May the husband be able to lead in a godly way. Strong and gentle. May the wife be able to follow the husbands lead and gently submit, a helper without taking the man's role from him. May we love each other as Christ loved the church and understand it's not about equality because we are equal and serve each other in love, but we understand You have given us different roles in the family.

We PRAY PRAY PRAY for our children.... May they be hard workers, and grow to be people of character and integrity. Protect them from the profanity and pornography and the sexually explicit and violent world they are exposed to so young. May they be holy and we pray that You are preparing spouses for them. You know their future spouse and we also pray for him or her. Keep them holy so they will be a special gift from You to our child when it is time for them to meet. We thank You for ALL things, in Christ's Name we pray, amen.