Praying for Yourself

-
There is great blessing in standing before God with our petitions for one another. We are clearly called to lift up our brothers and sisters. We are to pray for our leaders and any in authority.  We are even called to bless those who curse us (Matthew 6:28). 
Something that I fail at miserably,  is praying for myself.  Somehow that always seems so selfish. I often cry out for help in a dire predicament, when I should have been praying far in advance of the situation. We are given clear examples in Scripture of ways we are to petition God for ourselves. I have been learning the prayers that God calls us to pray for myself and making those a more regular part of my time at the throne. Let's look at some of them together -- OK? 
1) Guard my heart. Proverbs 4:23
This is, of course, talking about the part of our innermost being that controls our thoughts and desires. That heart, according to Mark 7:21-22 is the source of all our evil doing. Thankfully, if we have been born again, we have been given a new heart, but we must call on God to protect our heart from sin and the daily attacks of evil. 
Psalm 19 is an example of praying for God to guard our heart. The Psalmist calls on God to keep his heart from ALL sin. Phillippians 4:7 tells us that the peace of God will "guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." This comes with prayer and petitioning the Father. I must ask God to guard my heart from all sin.
2) Fill me with your love.
Jesus tells us that the greatest command is to love God, but the next is just as important: love our neighbor as ourself (Mark 13:30-31). I Corinthians 13 tells us that nothing we do is worth anything if we don't act with love. I John is all about love. There is a long list of biblical references to love. In John 15, Jesus tells us that we must have His love within us to love like Him. We must be asking every moment for the love of Jesus to be within us, so that we can extend His love to those around us. 
There are many more prayers that we are instructed to pray for ourselves. This is true "self-care." We can be confident these prayers are in accordance with the will of the Father. 
Take a moment today to pray these petitions for yourself and those you love. 
Soli deo Gloria!
Heather Sparks 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It Is Well With My Soul

-
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. We are all reeling from the images we are seeing of our neighboring communities after Hurricane Helene blew through our region and dropped unprecedented amounts of rain. TVA has stated this was a 1 in 5,000 year event. There has been much loss of life and personal property. With the loss of my nephew fresh on my mind, I have found myself thinking of the words and humming the old hymn "It is Well" frequently. The story behind this hymn (along with the lyrics) tells that the state of our soul is the only thing that truly matters.  The author, Horatio G. Spafford was a businessman from Chicago. He had a successful legal practice and was a devout Christian. Spafford’s lost almost everything overnight in the great Chicago Fire of 1871. To add to this tragedy, his young son had just passed away a short time before the fire...
Read more

Jesus is the Bread of Life

-
Image
Bread of Life Digital Art by April Moen fineartamerica.com        My mom made homemade bread for our large family (12 kids) for all of my years in her home.  She ground wheat berries, mixed dough, kneaded, formed and baked four to eight loaves every two or three days.  Oh, I love the smell of fresh homemade bread just coming out of the oven!  There is simply no better taste, in my opinion, than butter on a piece of warm, freshly baked bread.  This bread was a staple in our home and provided a good part of our daily nutrition.  It "stuck to your ribs," as Mom used to say, especially when topped with Mom's homemade peanut butter and honey from Dad's bee hives! Yum!! Sweet memories. . .     Looking at the names of Jesus, this one jumped out at me:   Jesus is the Bread of Life .       In John chapter 6, Jesus performs a miracle where He feeds 5,000 men plus women and children (probably adding up to over 20,000 p...
Read more

My Shepherd Will Supply My Need

-
Image
  Recently my sister reminded me of a song our dad loved to sing.  My dad loved the Psalms and had a dream to see all 150 of them put to music in a form that anyone could sing.  He wrote music to five of them himself.  The lyrics to this particular song is a paraphrase of Psalm 23, written by Isaac Watts who wrote many hymns in the 1800s.  It was put to an old Southern folk hymn melody and is a simple, beautiful melody that runs through your mind for a long time once you hear it.  If you would like to listen to it, here is one  version of it:  My Shepherd Will Supply My Need .  Here are the lyrics:  My Shepherd will supply my need: Jehovah is His Name; In pastures fresh He makes me feed, Beside the living stream. He brings my wandering spirit back When I forsake His ways, And leads me, for His mercy's sake, In paths of truth and grace. When I walk through the shades of death His presence is my stay; One word of His supporting grace Drive...
Read more