God, You are the Sovereign Lord! You are in absolute control over all of human history and even that which will happen in my life. You are all knowing, all powerful, and free to do whatever You want. You have ordained the end from the beginning and You are never caught off guard or by taken by surprise. It is not possible for anyone to know and understand all that You are and all that You do. To put it simply, You alone are God and You are God alone. I am left in awe of You as I contemplate the truth that You sent Your Son Jesus into the world for me to know You and walk in Your ways.
God, I am asking You to show me where I fail to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus, yield to the Holy Spirit, obey the Word of God, and submit to Your will. I confess that I so often care more about what people think of me and what I am doing than what You think of me and have called me to do. I ask You to break that and root it out of my heart. Forgive me for fearing people and my desire to please them. Grant me an undivided heart and teach me to fear Your holy name. Make me a man who fears the Lord, honors the authorities, and loves the brothers. Bring me to the place where I truly seek first the Kingdom of God and Your righteousness so that everything that I need to do Your will is added unto me.
God, break me out of ministry mainly to gatherings of those who profess to be Christians and send me out into this world filled with chaos, deceit, division, hatred, hostility, injustice, murder, sexual immorality and identity confusion, racial tension/ethnic strife, and polarizing politics. God, send me forth with a heart to serve those that You send me to and a longing for them to know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ who You have sent, for this is eternal life.
Jesus, prepare me to stand in the place that You have ordained for me and do not let let arrive there one second before I am ready. Like Joseph, may I be fully convinced that You alone are the reason why I stand where I stand and You are all that I have to offer. Make me a man who is deeply dependent upon You knowing that apart from You that I can do nothing. Help me, by Your Spirit, to not be afraid nor to be discouraged but to be strong and courageous for You, the Lord my God, are with me wherever I go. May I never be intimidated or fearful of standing before any man as You have made a way, through Your blood, for me to daily have an audience with the Father in His holy presence.
God, I ask that You would grant me a greater ministry to the Church and a greater influence to take the gospel of Christ to people in our world on their turf. God, do not let me live with a Christian/secular divide but with the one call to represent Christ and build Your Kingdom wherever You lead and place me. I am convinced that we do not gifted people and their ideas and opinions. For there is no worldly solution for the problems that we face. Jesus, we need You to manifest Your presence and speak Your gospel through Your people. For the entire world needs You, Jesus, the One has reconciled all things to God by the blood of Your cross.
God, even as I ask this I must confess that I am beginning to be cynical about the Church truly proclaiming and living out the gospel of Jesus Christ in the world. As I look around we do not appear to have different values, motivations, and lifestyles from those who do not proclaim to belong to You. I so often am discouraged because we fail to make Jesus the issue and allow the culture to shape the narrative. I confess that I often compartmentalize You to certain areas of my life instead of living like You are Lord of all. It is not everybody else who does not get it but me as well. Far too often I find myself longing for the temporary things of the world that can not and do not satisfy.
God, make my greatest desire to know Christ and may You have the preeminence, priority, and first place only in my life. Show me anything that I love more than You and produce a godly sorrow in my soul over my sin that leads me to repent and return to You, my first love, as You revive me again. May my entire life be consumed by You so that everything that is not like You, from You, or of You be burned off of me as You conform me more and more into the image of Christ. In Jesus' name, Amen!!!