O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your Name; For You have worked wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness (Isaiah 25:1) Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and you exalt Yourself as head over all (1 Chronicles 29:11) Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your Name. (Psalms 63:3-4)
Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD, how much more the hearts of men! (Proverbs 15:11) Teach me what I do not see; If I have done iniquity, I will not do it again (Job 34:32) Tear [our] hearts, not just [our] clothes, and return to the LORD [our] God. For the Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and He relents from sending disaster. (Joel 2:13) My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your Word (Psalms 119:25). The unfolding of Your Word gives light; It gives understanding to the simple (Psalms 119:130). Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law and keep it with all my heart (Psalms 119:134). Establish my footsteps in Your Word, and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me (Psalm 119:133). For with You is the fountain of life; in Your Light we see Light (Psalms 36:9).
O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. (Psalms 95:1-2) For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).
We wait in hope for you Lord; You are our help and our shield. In You our hearts rejoice, for we trust in Your holy Name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in You (Psalm 33:20-22). May we be one, Father, just as you are one (John 17:11). And this is my prayer: that [our] love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that [we] may discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ– to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11)
Father, teach us to “devote [ourselves] to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the Word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ…that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. (Colossians 4:2-4) Lord Jesus, we pray that all will “turn to [You] and be saved…for [You] are God and there is no other (Isaiah 45:22). Father, may we “go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation” (Mark 16:15) so that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:11). May we “rebuild the ancient ruins..and raise up the age-old foundations. May we be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.” (Isaiah 58:12)
Holy Father, strengthen us with your mighty power and equip us with your full armor so that we can stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Father, may we stand firm in the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and with our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Give us also the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Provide the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit and teach us to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. May we be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Father, whenever we speak, give us words so that we will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, and we pray that we will declare it fearlessly, as we should. (Ephesians 6:10-20).
Finally, Father, may we love You with all of our hearts, soul, strength, and mind and love others as ourselves (Luke 10:27). May we follow You and fear You and keep Your commandments, listen to Your voice, serve You, and cling to You (Deuteronomy 13:4) Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting. And let all the people say Amen! Praise the Lord! (Psalm 106:48).
Avenues of Grace 