Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion (1 Corinthians 14:15; NLT).
Plead with the Father, Call on his Son,
And pray in the Spirit of God.
Worship the Father,
Follow his Son,
And pray in the Spirit of God.
Join with the Father, Serve with his Son,
And pray in the Spirit of God.
Live in the Father,
Rest in his Son,
And pray in the Spirit of God.
All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God (Romans 8:14; NLT).
A reading: Romans 8:26-7; AMP.
We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself [knows our need and at the right time] intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words. And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes [before God] on behalf of God’s people in accordance with God’s will.
Keep searching, and you will find (Luke 11:9; HCSB).
Search for God
In all that happens.
Search for God In everyone.
Search for God In good and bad –
Finding, always,
His dear Son.
The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40; NIV).
References
O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water (Psalm 63:1; NLT).
I create the light and make the darkness. I sendgood times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things (Isaiah 45:7; NLT).
God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them (Romans 8:28; NLT).
Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9; NLT).
Yesterday I prayed in silence, seeking God. However, I saw nothing, experienced nothing, and felt both sad, and a failure.
Then, today’s prayer came to me, and I saw where I was going wrong. God is always with us. Believing that He is present is far more important than whether or not we experience His presence. As Jesus said to Thomas: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (John 20:29; RSV).
I suspect that our faith is far more precious to God than our enjoyment of the spiritual experiences He sends. Anyway, following these reflections, here is today’s prayer:
In the morning I earnestly seek for God (Isaiah 26:9; NLT).
I seek you, Lord,
But you’re already near.
I thirst for you,
Yet you’re already here.
Then, I see clearly:
Father, you’re my soul
Which nothing can take away –
With you, I’m whole.
Lord, I believe and trust in you
Each day,
So I’ll rejoice, give thanks,
And try to pray.
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; NIV).
Notes
The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7; KJV).
You were made from dust, and to dust you will return (Genesis 3:19; NLT).
The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7; NIV).
I am convinced that nothing can ever separateus from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38; NLT).
Today I’ll let this simple prayer speak for itself:
I love you, LORD (Psalm 18:1; NLT).
Jesus, Teacher, I adore you,
And have faith that you love me.
Help me when my faith falls short:
Lord, listen to my humble plea.
Jesus, Master, I revere you, And believe that we are one.
Help me, when I’m tired and stressed,
To come to you, God’s only Son.
Then Jesus said, “Cometome, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28; NLT).
References
He loves us with unfailing love (Psalm 117:2; NLT).
We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7; CSB).
At once the boy’s father shouted, “I do have faith! Please help me to have even more” (Mark 9:24; CEV).
Lord, hear my prayer! Listen to my plea! (Psalm 102:1; NLT).
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe (John 20:29; CSB).
Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him (Philippians 3:8; NLT).
God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16; NLT).
I’ve been finding it very difficult to pray for the last few days, perhaps because of having constant migraine, but today, after asking for the Holy Spirit’s help, I was given a new, very simple way forward.
I repeated Jesus’ name silently in time with my breath, making no attempt to add any intentions of my own. Whenever a person came into my mind, I prayed for them briefly, then returned to the slow, silent repetition of Jesus’ name.
This meant that nothing was a “distraction” any more. Instead, each distraction showed me who or what to pray about. My distractions had become part of my prayer, which was a great relief.
Eventually, some words began to come together in my mind, and today’s prayer was gently born.
I am the light of the world (John 8:12; NLT).
Jesus,
You’re my shining light,
My living bread,
My truth, my life;
My guide, my rod,
My staff, my way;
My well, my water –
Every day.
Jesus, You’re in all I see,
And taste, and touch; You’re here, in me:
God’s Word, God’s Son,
God’s Spirit, too –
Please lead me, always,
Back to you.
Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25; NLT).
References
Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? (1 Corinthians 6:15; CSB).
Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11; NLT).
We are the temple of the living God (2 Corinthians 6:16; NLT).
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you (Romans 8:11; NLT).
Thine incorruptible spirit is in all things (Wisdom of Solomon 12:1; KJV).
Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him (Hebrews 9:28; NLT).
Thedustreturns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7; NIV).
This prayer came to me yesterday morning as I kissed the cross on my bedroom shrine, then blessed myself with holy water. All I could do was to start writing it down immediately.
To my utter astonishment, the second line of the second verse had already been given to me the day before, though at the time it seemed unconnected with anything else. As always, I had noted it down, but with no idea how it might be used. It was only as I finished roughing out the first verse that I realised the purpose of this precious phrase.
1. Good morning, Mother, Father: Yahweh –
God of gods, and Lord of lords;
My thanks for all you send each day –
The “good” and “bad” that life affords.
2. Good morning, Teacher, Saviour: Jesus –
Son of God, and Son of Man; You are the sacrifice for sins –
The consummation of God’s plan.
3. Good morning,Ruach: Holy Spirit – Breath of God, the King of kings;
All life, and truth, and peace are here –
Beneath the shadow of your wings.
Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.
(Psalm 63:7; NLT).
Notes and references
Verse 1 * Will I, who causes others to give birth, not also give birth myself, says the Lord? Will I, who bestows generation upon others, be barren myself, says the Lord your God? (Isaiah 66:9; CPDV).
* “As truly as God is our Father, so truly is God our Mother” (Julian of Norwich).
* “The personal name of God, Yahweh, which is revealed to Moses in Exodus 3, is a remarkable combination of both female and male grammatical endings. The first part of God’s name in Hebrew, “Yah,” is feminine, and the last part, “weh,” is masculine” (David Wheeler-Reed, “What the early church thought about God’s gender”; the conversation.com).
* Should we accept only good things from the hand of God, and never anything bad? (Job 2:10; NLT).
Verse 2 * The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven (Hebrews 1:3; NIV).
* The angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35; KJV).
* Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20; NLT).
* He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins – and not only our sins but the sins of all the world (1 John 2:2; NLT).
* Once at the consummation of the ages He has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Hebrews 9:26; NASB20).
* This is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:6; NLT).
Verse 3 * “In Hebrew the word for Spirit (רוח) (ruach) is feminine“(Gender of the Holy Spirit, Wikipedia).
* God, who knows everything in our hearts, knows perfectly well what the Spirit is saying, because her intercessions for God’s holy people are made according to the mind of God (Romans 8:27; TIB).
* The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life (Job 33:4; KJV).
* The mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:6; NIV).
* The Spirit is truth (1 John 5:6; NKJV).
Today I want to share this short, simple prayer which arrived a while ago:
There are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. (1 Corinthians 12:6; NKJV).
1. Many gifts and skills exist,
But God works all in all;
2. The church belongs to Christ, his Son,
And God fills all in all;
3. His Spirit lives in everyone,
So God is all in all:
4. One God, one Father, King of kings,
For He is Lord of all.
The same Lord is Lord of all.
(Romans 10:12; NIV).
References
Verse 2:
God put all things under Christ’s feet, and he gave him to the church as head over all things. Now the church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:22-3; NET).
Verse 3: When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28; CSB).
Verse 4: There is…one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all (Ephesians 4:5-6; NLT).
This prayer came to me a while ago, but it was only whilst laying awake with a migraine a few days ago that I was finally able to set it out in a way that felt right. Even then, there were still a few tiny changes that needed to be made today, just a seconds before posting!
I love you, Lord.
(Psalm 18:1; NLT).
I dare to love you, Lord, my God;
I dare to love your Son;
I dare to love your Spirit:
For you live in me, as one.
I know you love me, Father,
For you sent your only Son
To fill me with your Spirit:
So that we can live as one.
I want to live within you,
And to follow your dear Son,
Relying on your Spirit, Lord:
And loving you, as one.
To love means living to the full By serving like your Son,
And praying in your Spirit, Lord:
For then we will be one.
PrayintheSpirit at all times and on every occasion.
(Ephesians 6:18; NLT).
We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
(1 John 4:16; NLT).
Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, by Robert Walter Weir: metmuseum.org.
This prayer overtook me yesterday whilst I was praying very sleepily, straight after waking up. It virtually wrote itself, which was an amazing experience.
Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.
(Luke 22:42; NLT).
Father,
I love you –
May your will be done.
Then, may I accept it
Like your Son.
Thank you for all you send,
Both “good” and “bad”.
In sickness, grief and pain
May I be glad,
And keep on serving.
Lord, may I grow like Christ,
Making my life
A willing sacrifice –
For this is my heart’s desire;
My only plea.
Father, I love you –
Thank you for loving me.
He loves us with unfailing love; the LORD’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the LORD!
(Psalm 117:2; NLT).
