“Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!”
Psalm 66:20
The outward requests of our inwards wants and needs, the nature and the character of prayer is the means by which we make ourselves and our hearts known to the Lord, our God. As Jacob wrestled with the Lord, so too is this our means by which we may grapple with the divine will and the plan of our Creator as He reveals Himself unto us and shows His face unto us.
Consider then long and hard, dear brothers and sisters, not just the words of Your prayer but the heart by which You bring them to the Lord. Let them be a sincere pouring of Your soul unto Him as You seek and implore His grace, actively striving to understand His ways that You may see the true Spirit of His love made manifest in Your life and the lives of those whom You pray for.
Let not Your heart be hardened, nor think yourself more righteous than others, but vigorously and energetically uplift your fellow man in your communications with the Lord. Seek the needs of others, look to the struggles and the suffering of those in captivity and bondage, whether it be of the body and the mind, the spirit or the soul that you may plead their case before the Lord, beseeching His mercy in their lives. Reflect on the nature of this world and pray for the unrighteous and the sinful, those who let darkness guide their way, for like you once were they so are now, finding that wickedness guides their path devoid of the love of God to grant upon them the grace that they so need to work that sincere repentance in their hearts.
Then let the gracious mercy of our Lord show forth His compassion in your life as you learn the deeper lessons of Christ and seek to be as He was, looking to the plights of others before the challenges you yourself face, that you may offer true healing through the blessings of God as You beseech Him, entreating His deliverance in the lives of others, knowing that He works forever for the cause of His people, rejecting not our prayers and withholding not His love from us as we humble ourselves before His mighty throne, casting ourselves before Him as His Spirit takes a hold of us.
Let us pray:
Bend Your ear O Lord to our prayers, hear our humble supplications as we come before You in submission to Your word.
Let Your grace encompass O Lord as we entreat Your mercy, lift Your eyes to us as we look to Your promises of steadfast devotion.
Guide us by Your love O Lord as we beseech You on behalf of those who struggle amidst captivity and bondage, standing firm in Your assurances of deliverance.
By Your hand guide and protect Your people as You withhold nothing from them. As You move let Your authority remain unquestioned and unchallenged by the presence of darkness in this world. Answer the challenges of captivity and bondage, poverty and destitution, persecution and oppression, slavery and tyranny with the loud and resounding voice of You liberty made manifest by Your Spirit as that guiding and encompassing presence for Your children.
Deliverance... bring deliverance into this lost and fallen world. As You have so often before in the lives of Your children show that Your people shall not be forsaken to wickedness and unrighteousness, By Your precepts let Your love be known that all shall see that You have not failed or forsaken any who have found themselves lost amidst this temporal time of trial that threatens to so engulf and overwhelm them.
Then shall we rejoice in the goodness of Your mercy as Your love overtakes us and freedom is shown through the power of Your Spirit moving through this world and in this world according to the blessings that can and shall always and only rise by Your hand amidst the lives of Your children.
In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.
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