Category: Customized Prayers

Prayer For Honest Reflection

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power.  2 Tim. 3:2-5

Form of godliness ~ Using religion without treasuring Christ

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I often believe that I am further along on this journey of sanctification than I really am. I’m pondering each thing on this list to really see how much of each thing is still in me.  Shine Your light in my heart, Lord. I want to be ready when You come.

Am I a lover of myself?  Am I narcissistic?  Often, life is all about me.  Change me.  Make my first thought of You, not myself.

Am I a lover of money?  Often, I am captivated by beautiful things.  Change me to love Your beauty far above all.

Am I arrogant?  Do I have an inflated view of myself?  Change me by showing me my depravity ~ to remind me how I can do nothing good without Your grace.

Am I abusive?  Do I desire, even secretly to be verbally hurtful?  Change me so that, by default, I leave all offenses in Your hands.

Am I disobedient?  Or do I downgrade it to just ‘stubborn’?  Change me so that I see my rebellious spirit as You see it.

Am I ungrateful?  Do I presume upon Your kindness?  Change me so that every trace of entitlement is relinquished.

Am I unholy?  Am I disturbed by how different from Jesus I really am?  Pave the road from mild disappointment to heartbrokenness.

Am I heartless?  Am I unable to empathize?  Do other’s sad stories affect me beyond shallow pity?  Change me so that I resemble You, a high priest who is touched by every one of my infirmities.

Am I unappeasable?  No matter how many times someone says they’re sorry, do I stubbornly think they haven’t paid enough yet for their sin?  Change me so that I forgive as readily, and outrageously, as You.

Am I slanderous?  Do I love to twist what others say?  Change me so that I am grieved when a brother or sister is disliked?  You love them and I should, too.

Am I brutal?  Am I dead to all tenderness?  Has life hardened me?  Change me so that I am as tender and teachable as a child.

Am I reckless?  Do I crave others’ admiration for taking risks and being courageous?  Change me so that I acknowledge there are no risks.  Just well founded faith.

Do I have just the appearance of godliness?  Do I use religion so others will worship me?  Change me so that I treasure Christ and think of myself last.

And in all my sinfulness, give me the joy of grace, not the self-inflicted punishment of self-condemnation.  Amen

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Prayer of Meditation on Heaven

My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.  Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young.  Psalm 84:1-2

Yearn ~ To long persistently, to feel tenderness

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Oh Lord, I can see how so many have grown desperate and are driven to do irrational and desperate things without You as their hope.  They don’t know that You can be their Father, that they can be a son or daughter of promise.  They don’t know what could await them as a beloved child who comes home to Your presence.

I long for life with You.  Not just internal life, but external life.  This world groans for Your touch, to know the wholeness of the Eden You created.  No animal will fear for its life or the lives of its young.  Birds will build nests without a second thought for their young’s safety.  Children will play on the expanse of green meadows without fear of assault or kidnapping.  Anyone will nap under a tree without having to guard their belongings.

No relationship will be treacherous.  No one will betray another.  The most sensitive secrets will be shared without fear of judgment or rejection.  There will be no conflict about expressing an unfailing love for You.  All will worship.  All will call You, ‘Lord’.

The worse this world gets, the more my soul yearns for You.  While I ache, even weep, for the brokenness around me, I don’t despair.  I enjoy being a secure child who longs to come home.  You’re building a place for me and nothing threatens my future with You.

Today, I will see hundreds of signs that point to this earth’s corruption.  Litter, vile graffiti, bars over windows, airport security, dirty politics, broken relationships, and the ever frustrating battle within myself between my soul and my spirit.  If I don’t live in the hope of living in Your courts, I will surely lose my way.  My joy is in You and in the good news of Your Gospel.  Amen

Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

Praying the Lord’s Prayer

If Jesus, when asked to teach His disciples how to pray, composed this prayer out of the perfection of His holiness, is this not a perfect prayer?  Perfect in content, perfect in composition, even perfect in length?

How does it look for me to use this prayer as a template – expanding it as the Spirit leads me?  Today, it is this ~

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. I bow low, prostrate before Your throne.  You are my Father, holy, and perfect. I am nothing.  You are everything.  Unless You enter my world today, it will be of no value.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I see my need right now, Lord.  I see my family’s needs.  Your kingdom needs to come down to our little place on earth.  In Your kingdom, there is righteousness.  Thy kingdom come to us.  In Your kingdom, there is peace.  Thy kingdom come to us.  In Your kingdom, there is structure and order.  Thy kingdom come to us.  May Your will be done here, in every way, just as it is done in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread. Give me hidden manna, Lord.  I embrace Your Word to my heart.  Open the eyes of my heart to see Your Word and understand it. Give me the grace to apply it.  May every member of my family today hunger for your daily bread.  Feed them so that they might live in Your abundance.  May we be a family who feasts on daily manna.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. I stand in the flow of Calvary.  Wash me clean, make me holy, that we may fellowship together without restriction.  I forgive those who will wrong me in any way today.  I put on Your forgiving Spirit as I live out my day.  I pray for every member of my family.  Mold each of them into a child of Yours who walks in Jesus’ lifestyle of forgiveness.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. I stand on Your promise that you will not give me more than I can bear.  The challenges, the sicknesses, the trials have all passed through Your sovereign hand.  Wherever I am assaulted, deliver me from evil.  Fight for me while I sleep, while I trust, while I do Your kingdom work.  Battle the unseen forces that I can’t see.  Make me battle ready to take every thought captive today, to put on the armor and stand in the victory You won for me at Calvary.

For Thine is the power, and the kingdom, and the glory forever, Amen.

Christine Wyrtzen2 Comments

Prayer Before A Potentially Explosive Discussion

Examine me, O Jehovah, and prove me; try my heart and my mind. Psalm 26:2

Prepare my heart, O God, to think Your thoughts and speak under the constraints of Your Spirit. I have no agenda other than Yours. I do not need to be right. It is Your reputation that is at stake when evil prospers. You are the one being wronged. Make me Your mouthpiece. Let me speak what You would speak if You stood in my place.

Others have shut my mouth when they accused me of judging them. I have feared hearing such words again until I remembered that You told your disciples to judge with righteous judgment. So I crucify my own self-righteousness that would want to judge others in order to stand taller than they. I raise up Your standard to discern righteously. I use my mouth to humbly proclaim Your truth. Let Your judgment fall from lips. I am Your servant.

Make this a holy confrontation. You prepared each of Your children to thrive in a wicked and perverse world. You said, “Have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” Matthew 10:26 Let today’s conversation pull what is hidden out of the dark. Let secret thoughts be exposed. Let true intentions rise to the surface. Let truth be spoken no matter the consequences.

I can be fearful of a confrontation but You are my banner. “You, Lord, are my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? You are the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1 Let me see the one I must face today as You see them. “It is You who arms with me strength and keeps my way secure.” Psalm 18:32 I need not fear their intellect. I need not fear their retaliation. I need not fear their cunning arguments. When You speak, none can stand. “You made my mouth to be a sharp sword and in the shadow of Your hand You hide me.” Isaiah 49:2

I confess that, on my own, I have lost my objectivity. The battle has worn me down. But You, Lord, have illumined my thoughts. I am seated with You in heavenly places and You have graced me with insight to view events as You see them, not as they appear on earth. I rise today with supernatural knowledge only born of Your spirit. You are the one who “gives the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might.” Isaiah 11:2

Make me Your ambassador today and bring Your kingdom to earth. Come, Holy Spirit, to our conversation and let Your sword of truth fall. May righteous outcomes arise. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

Prayer For Someone To Know God

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to <him> a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.  I pray that the eyes of <his> heart may be enlightened, so that <he> may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.  Ephesians 1:17-18

Thank you for hearing my prayer, not just casually listening, but invested.  You bend your ear to hear every pause, false start, and You discern the emotions behind my words.  No one listens like You.  No one understands all the questions I’ve not yet asked. You do.  You lead me to a place of understanding.

My heart aches today for someone who says they know You.  He knows ‘of’ You because he knows stories about You.  He’s heard us talk about You and I fear he is deceived into thinking that he knows You well.  I do not know if he would seek You if he were not influenced by friends and family.  Father him ~ and don’t let his pursuit of You depend on others.  Awaken his hunger so that it is self-generated by your gift of grace.

I pray that You will open his eyes to see You.  Give him a spirit of wisdom and revelation to realize that unless He has personal experience with You, he doesn’t know You at all.  He doesn’t know how You think and process things.  He doesn’t know what moves Your heart to beat passionately.  He doesn’t know about his hope and spiritual inheritance.  Not really.  If he did, Lord, he would not be checked out, living life by putting one foot in front of the other.  He has no purpose and little significance.

Break through the fog of indifference with Your glory.  Stun him and give him a Damascus road experience.  Let him be privy to an intimate relationship with You.  Let his knowledge of You have personal content.  Penetrate his heart of stone.  Kiss his soul to life and melt the walls of resistance.  He is afraid of love.  Afraid of feeling.  Afraid of change.  Afraid of Your calling on his life.  And in each of his fears, there are lies about your heart.  Tell him the truth, Lord.  In truth is his freedom.

You love him more than I do.  Call him to Your embrace and teach him to live as Your son.  Amen

Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment

Prayer For Tenuous Faith

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. Jeremiah 33:3

Hidden things ~ Making what is inaccessible – accessible.

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Lord, I hope I have done a wonderful thing in Your eyes.  I heard Your voice, I felt the allure of Your call, and I came out of hiding to follow You into uncharted territory.  I came to the threshold that separates safety from risk, I looked behind to the familiar, then looked ahead into the dark, and abandoned myself to the unknown.  You have promised that my trust in You will be rewarded.  How I hope that my faith tugs at Your heart.

I am affirming yet again that I trust You.  I will not look back at some of the bridges that were burned as I crossed over into the land of faith.  I obeyed You and You burned them. But in a weak moment, I see a few bridges that are left.  I could go back to where it feels safe and I will admit that this is a great temptation.   But I know the cost.  To go where it is familiar, I must let go of Your hand.

Please don’t allow it, Lord.  Close the door to the past.  Cause your holy fire to consume the lock and disfigure the metal.  Should I falter and insert my old key into the lock, may it no longer work in the mechanism.  I want to stay here with you, in the land of faith, in the purposes to which You called me before I was even born.  I am adapting to a new way of life.  The truths are awkward and the rhetoric is strange on my tongue.  But as I rehearse them, I know I am making them mine.

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I do not know all that You are planning.  I could fear but I choose faith.  When I could faint, I speak Your promises.  When it’s dark and feels like the end, I know You are still carving out a new road.  Your plans for me are good.  You said, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”  In this, Lord, You excel.  You are my God and there is none other.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

Christine Wyrtzen1 Comment