Prayer for Spirit-Transformed Lives

Prayer for Spirit-Transformed Lives

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,

In preparation for our first-week-of-the-month prayer meeting on Wednesday, I thought I would prime the pump a bit by offering the following prayer that is focused on our individual and corporate sanctification. Since the mission of our church is ‘To bring glory to God through Spirit-transformed lives by the beauty and power of the gospel of Jesus Christ’, it only makes sense that we should be praying for this sanctification transformation in our own lives and the lives of those around us. Please pray with me...

Great God and Father, You are glorious and good. Your majesty and beauty are beyond our ability to describe or even imagine. Your wisdom and power are limitless. You are the Creator and Sustainer of all life and the Source of all that is good. No one can fathom your greatness. You delight to show mercy and steadfast love. It is your love that never fails. You have put yourself on display in creation in all of its beauty, but we especially thank you for revealing yourself to us in your Word.

Father, we confess that we read your Word and hear your Word and sing your Word, but we fail to truly apply it and obey it. We confess that we do not worship you the way you deserve to be worshiped. We are often distracted and our hearts are often far from you. We confess that we do not love one another as we should. We do not want to be bothered with other people’s problems. We are harsh when we should be gentle, and when we need to be firm, we lack the courage to say or do what is right. We confess that we lack passion for evangelism. We are afraid to talk about spiritual things, for fear of what others will think. In the name of Jesus, we ask forgiveness for these sins.

Father we thank you that you sent Christ to us and that he laid down his life to die for our sins that we might have life. We were dead in our sins and without hope, but you made us alive in Christ. We thank you for the Word made flesh. You know where we struggle, where we are tempted, and where we are weak. O Lord, would you meet us today and help us right where we are. You know that some of us are distracted, so help us focus. You know that some of us are discouraged, so encourage us. You know that some of us are so busy that we often forget about you, so make us still and quiet before you. We ask that you would awaken every one of us so that we frame and orient our lives around you. We were meant to live awake to you at every moment. Life loses all meaning if it is disconnected from you, but life works the way it was meant to work when you are at the center of it.

You have begun a good work in us, and you will carry it to completion. By the power of your Spirit, make us instruments of your grace in the lives of others. Make us into people who are teachable and humble and who delight in you, and out of love for you, would you please help us to reach out to others in simple acts of love, that we would notice people, and pray with people, and extend ourselves to them in simple ways to show them that we care. Father, give us a faith in you that translates into a love for people.

Please transform us not just through the public proclamation of your word and the private ministry of your word, but also through the interpersonal ministry of your word between one another as we speak the truth in love. We pray that you would be pleased to make this body a richer, deeper, more loving, wiser community of mutual care and counsel. For your name’s sake, make us people who see, love, trust, and adore Jesus Christ. We ask you to do all of these things for the praise of your name and the spread of your gospel.

In Jesus’ beautiful and powerful name we pray. Amen.