The Glorious Deeds of Christ

He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross (Mal. 3:3).

Father, in Jesus’ name, burn away every dream, desire, attitude, thought, feeling, word and action that is not a result of Your Spirit reigning in my life.

Burn away everything that is more important to me than my revelation of You and my relationship with You.

Burn away everything that hinders me from loving You with all my heart and loving my neighbors as I love myself.

Burn away everything that hinders me from hearing and obeying Your voice.

Burn away everything I believe about who You are and what You are like that is not the Truth.

Burn away everything in my heart and mind that causes me to desire to harm or destroy those who desire or act to harm or destroy me.

Burn away the lust of my eyes, lust of my flesh and pride of life.

Burn away everything that causes me to desire to own or possess anything that is not rightfully mine.

Burn away everything that causes me to desire to lie or exaggerate to get what I want or impress or harm others.

Father, in Jesus’ name, I ask that I will be deeply intimate with You, filled with your Holy Spirit, free of pride, lust, and fear, loving, patient, kind, tenderhearted, forgiving, joyful, thankful, grateful, humble, considerate, healthy, successful, prosperous and very generous. Amen.

~~Dr. James “Jay” H. Ferguson

Yet a time is coming and has come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks (John 4:23-24).

Father, we love and adore you and we desire to worship you in Spirit and in truth. You seek worshipers who long for you as a deer seeks water. Only through your grace can we lay down our personal desires for our needs, set aside the way we want things to turn out and surrender our will to yours. As we release our demands, change our hearts so that we can be true worshipers; those who know the truth about you and your will toward us and who blissfully gaze on your holiness and are remade in your image. Let our hearts be flooded with the kind of love that leads us to seek your face, not your hand. In Your Blessed Name. Amen.

~~Nancy Beckham

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).

O’ Lord, most beautiful, caring in all your ways, unrelenting in your love and devotion toward us in Christ Jesus. Your love for us has no beginning and has no end. Your love is not limited by space or time because your love is immense and vast like a beautiful, bottomless ocean. Your love never wavers in its pursuit of us: it is undeserved, unsurpassed, unmerited, and free. Your love conquers our deepest fears, overwhelms our greatest worries, and heals our deepest hurts. Your love is unsurpassed for it was displayed in all its glory on the hardwood of the Cross.

Pray, Lord Jesus, open our minds and free our hearts to grasp the width, length, height, and depth of your love. Help us to comprehend that every act of your will and every work of your wisdom is love; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

–Fr. Glenn E. Davis

 

Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! (Rom. 11:33 NLT).

O’ God, all-wise, all-knowing, who always knows what is right, chooses what is right, and performs what is right. We are grateful that you never lead us astray: nothing takes you by surprise, nothing happens by chance, nothing is beyond your purpose and workings. We rejoice that we can trust your all-pervasive wisdom, we never need fear being lead into blindspots. We never need fear being overwhelmed by the world with all its problems and disappointments.

We can know with certainty that our wise God will never leave us confused, bewildered, or forsaken. We pray Lord Jesus Christ, who is all wisdom and knowledge, generously gift us with your wisdom for it is peace-loving, always gentle, full of mercy, and the fruit of good deeds; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

–Fr. Glenn E. Davis

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again (Mark 8:31).

Lord Jesus, we worship You today. Thank You for dying on the cross for us. You didn’t deserve to go through all the agony and pain, but You did it anyway. We glorify You because you didn’t take the easy way out. You don’t ask us to do something that you were unwilling to do. We praise You because You were not ashamed to identify with our sinful, broken humanity. You didn’t whine or complain under suffering like we do. By Your death, You crushed the head of the serpent and returned from the grave so that we could experience Your never-ending life. Lord Jesus Christ, transform us, we pray, into Your likeness that our attitudes and actions may reflect Your glory and grace. You are worthy to receive all honor and all glory. Amen.

~~Nicholas Beckham

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13). 

Jesus,  you are the God of hope. We have no one like you who fills our souls with joy and peace. We thank you, Lord, for you are our only hope. It is your hope that gives us rest. It is your hope that causes us to wake with expectation in the morning and lay down in peace at night. It is your hope that gives us the courage to live the Christian life with confidence knowing that you live in and through us. Jesus, we thank you for your resurrection has defeated death, our greatest enemy.  Pray Lord, make us a people of hope, a people determined to believe your promises. You, Jesus, are our only HOPE! Amen!

–India B. Davis

Definition: Hope is the confident expectation that the good things that God has promised, he will bring to pass.

 

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8 ESV). 

Our Father who are in heaven, we your children are often troubled in mind, hearing within us at once the affirmations of faith and the accusations of conscience. We are sure that there is in us nothing that could attract the love of One as holy and as just as you are. Yet, you have declared your unchanging love for us in Christ Jesus.

If nothing in us can win your love, nothing in the universe can prevent you from loving us. Your love is uncaused and undeserved. You are the reason by which we are loved. Help us to believe the intensity, the eternity of the love that has found us. Then love will cast out fear; and our troubled hearts will be at peace, trusting not in what we are, but in what you have declared yourself to be. Amen.

~~A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, pg. 104 (updated language).

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me (Psalm 23:4).

Lord God, you are always with us. Your Scripture teaches us that you will never leave us or forsake us. Even when we stray, rebel, and flee Your presence, You promise to pursue us and draw our hearts back to You. You are with us even when all seems dark and empty. You comfort us in life and death. We are grateful that Your presence goes with us and that You give us rest.

Satan cannot take away anything you have promised. You protect us under your mighty wings. We praise you that we do not have to fear any evil because you have overcome darkness with your light. Let your light shine forever in our lives. We pray, teach us to trust Your Word and promise. Let your presence reign on Earth. In Jesus’name. Amen!

~~India B. Davis

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people (Titus 2:11). 

Almighty God, God of grace and God of glory, whose Son, Jesus, is full of grace and truth. Thank you that your grace relentlessly pursued us and never stopped pursuing us until you won our hearts by your great love. Your grace was undeserved and unmerited, You rescued us from a just judgment of our own making. Your grace called us to trust Jesus Christ as our Savior, the one who took all our sin upon himself. Your grace lifted us out the pit of our sin, renewed us, empowered us, and elevated us into Your presence.

Assist us, Lord, to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Assist us to know that your grace is available at all times, in every need, and for every good work. Assist us to experience your grace enabling us to say, “no,” to ungodliness and to live upright and godly lives; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

~~ Fr. Glenn E. Davis

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy (Matt 5:7).

Holy Father, teach us to see others as you see them. When we see others in sin, help us to pray for them, not gossip or criticize. When others deal harshly or are unkind, or impolite, let us see them as people who have been hurt and are wounded, a damaged people in need of Christ. Let us stand in need of prayer so that we may display the same mercy, you have shown to us. Teach us to not compare our sins against the sins of others, hoping to find their sins worse than ours. May we listen to Your life-giving Spirit all the day recognizing places large and small where we have fallen short of Your glory. Give us, we pray, grace to repent, mercy to show mercy, and love to serve, so that others may see You in us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

~~ Fr. David Surrett