Holy Father, in Jesus name, thank You for Your love, faithfulness, grace, mercy, protection, provision, presence, peace, joy, hope, salvation, and so much infinitely more than we even know. If we each had 10,000 tongues that could continually sing Your praises and give You thanks then we would still not be able to praise and thank You enough for who You are and what You've done. God, You are indescribable and have given to us the indescribable gift of Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. You are incomprehensible for You can not be fully known nor understood. Yet, we thank You that You have given us knowledge and understanding of who You are. Help us to always be mindful that no matter how much we know and understand of who You are and the salvation You have given to us, that there remains an infinite gap between that and who You really are and what You've done for us. We humble ourselves before You declaring that You are God and frankly we are not.
Jesus, from now through the rest of eternity cause us to be blown away by You, our God and King. Humble us before Your majestic presence. As we bow low before You, cause us to stand before people in Your authority with great boldness, courage, compassion, love, grace, and truth. God, keep us mindful of our deep and desperate dependence upon You and grant us a great confidence in You because You are with us wherever we go. O God, grant us a greater desire for You than anyone or anything else. Bring us to the place that from the depths of our hearts we cry out and yearn for You, the Living God. Grant us undivided hearts, devoted only to You, and teach us to fear Your holy name. Drain the love of this world from our hearts and fill our hearts to overflowing measure with the love of the Father. Help us to remember the heights from which we have fallen, to repent of our sin, and to return to You, our first love, with our whole hearts.
By the Holy Spirit, empower us to love You, the Lord our God, with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. God, may You, and You only, be the preoccupation of our lives. Do not let us be distracted from You even by Your will and our service to You. Show us where, like Martha, we are worried and anxious about many things when there is only One thing that is needed - You. Help us, like Mary, to choose the good portion, to sit in Your presence and to listen to You Word, that will not be taken away. Forgive us for allowing temporary things to distract us from You, the eternal King. Cause all that we do to flow from our intimate fellowship with You and one another. Bring us back to the heart of worship where it is all about You, Jesus.
O God, we are often so consumed with ourselves and our well being. When this is the case our motivation for doing anything is so impure - wanting to please man, vain glory, selfish ambition, monetary gain, a good reputation among people, honor, prestige, longing for comfort and convenience, and worldly success. Help us by the Spirit to put these things to death and to live by the Spirit who in everything glorifies Christ to the glory of God the Father. God, keep our minds, eyes, and hearts focused on Jesus. God manifest Your presence, power, and glory to us in a manner that causes every fiber of our beings to be consumed by the fire of God as we burn for You and declare the matchless love of Christ to the world. In Jesus' name, Amen!!!
Retirement offers so much more time for my heart to wander. Your prayer draws me back to Him, to prayer and Bible study and to asking what He would have me do with this day. I believe you to be part of His provision for my perseverance in the faith. Thank you, David.