Lesson 5: Thursday

“Our Father” - Our Relationship with God

Dear Heavenly Father,

“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds” for you are worthy of all my praise (Psalm 9:1).

“I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High” (Psalm 9:2).

“Those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you” (Psalm 9:10).

Father, I am grateful that I know your name (character). I gladly put my trust in you.

Since I claim you as my Father, help me to honor you today in my thoughts, words, and actions.

You said that for me to fear the Lord means that I adopt your attitude toward evil. I am to hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior, and perverse speech (Proverbs 8:13). Help me to do this.

Help me to be obedient to you by walking in the fear of the Lord all day long (Proverbs 23:17).

May the beauty of Jesus shine forth from my life today so that whoever is around me may see my good works and glorify you, Father (Matthew 5:16).

May your approving smile be on my life.

Grant me the grace to be merciful to others as you are merciful to me (Luke 6:36).

Father, I am so thankful that your Son came into the world that I might be free from sin and the tyranny of self-centeredness.

“…Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).

Through my union with you, Lord Jesus, I have died to sin (Romans 6:2). You tell me that I am now free from sin (Romans 6:7).

May I remember that the person I was before you saved me—self-centered and sinful—was crucified with Christ at the moment of my new birth (Romans 6:6).

Your purpose for my life is that sin’s control over my body might be destroyed, so that from now on I will no longer be enslaved to sin (Romans 6:6).

You command me to exercise faith and consider myself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11).

I am not to let sin reign in my body by obeying its evil desires (Romans 6:12).

I am to present the members of my body as instruments of righteousness to God (Romans 6:13).

Help me to obey these commands and to live in the power of Christ this day.

Thank you, Father, for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says the Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father (Luke 24:49).

Fill me today, blessed Spirit, with your holy presence (Ephesians 5:18). Teach me to submit to your control over every area of my life.

Cleanse me from all that would hinder your work in my life (2 Corinthians 7:1).

May I not grieve you today in any way (Ephesians 4:30).

“In Heaven” - God’s Royalty

Heavenly Father, I marvel that you, in your sovereign royalty, choose to love me (John 3:16).

Your love for me is causeless and free. It is undeserved, measureless, and will never cease.

You did not set your love on me because I was loveable, beautiful, or clever (Romans 5:8). In my sin I was unlovable, repulsive, and foolish.

You love me because you chose to love me (Ephesians 2:4-5).

Yet, in your love, you refuse to allow sin to remain in my life (Titus 3:4-5).

You are actively working to conform me to the image of your Son (Romans 8:28-29).

Help me today to gaze upon your glory, Lord Jesus, and so to be transformed into your image from one degree of glory to another by your Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).

“Hallowed Be Your Name” - God’s Reputation

Father, I hallow your name by protecting your reputation, for you are a Holy God.

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3).

The Psalmist said, “Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!” (Psalm 105:3).

“For our shield belongs to the Lord, our king to the Holy One of Israel” (Psalm 89:18).

Help me, as the song says, to

“Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;

Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.

By looking to Jesus, like him thou shalt be;

Thy friends in thy conduct his likeness shall see.

“Take time to be holy, let him be thy Guide;

And run not before him, whatever betide.

In joy or in sorrow, still follow thy Lord,

And, looking to Jesus, still trust in his Word.”[1]

“Your Kingdom Come” - God’s Reign

Lord Jesus, you send us forth to minister in your kingdom not as lords, but as servants (1 Peter 5:3). You set the example of what it means to be a servant (Philippians 2:6-7).

You came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). You did not seek your own will (John 6:38), your own pleasure (Romans 15:3), nor your own pursuits.

Help me to adopt the mind of Christ so that I will find more joy in serving you and others than in pursuing my own pleasure, possessions, power, performance, or prestige (Philippians 2:5).

Your kingdom is a spiritual kingdom in the hearts of men and women who are born again (Luke 17:21). May your kingdom grow as more and more people come to know you as their Lord and Savior.

Christ, send out ambassadors to implore sinners to be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Bless, strengthen, and encourage pastors of local churches, that they may be true to all the teachings of your Word, for you are a God of wrath against evil and a God of forgiveness for those who confess and forsake sin.

You said, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” (Jeremiah 33:3).

I pray for... (names of people who are not saved)... to be saved.

Father, draw them to Jesus (John 6:44). Grant them a heart of repentance (2 Timothy 2:25). Create in them a hunger and thirst for you (John 6:35).

Bind the powers of darkness that hold them captive (Matthew 12:28-29) and open their eyes to their need of you (Acts 26:18).

May the day of their salvation be soon.

“Your Will Be Done, on Earth as It Is in Heaven” - God’s Rule

Lord, help me to be in tune with what the Holy Spirit wants to do and is doing in my family, my church, my community, my nation, and this world.

Guard and guide my desires and dreams. You have warned me no matter how much a person sees, he is never satisfied. No matter how much a person hears, he is not content (Ecclesiastes 1:8). The things of this world will never satisfy my heart. Only you and your presence can do that.

Help me to derive my satisfaction and contentment from my relationship with you. I am complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10).

Help me to be grateful for what you have already provided for me.

“Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread” - God’s Resources for Us

Remember: God has unlimited resources. They are available to us. Ask him to meet your physical, financial, emotional, and mental needs.

Dear Father, you said that if I seek first your kingdom and your righteousness—if I put you first in my life—you will supply all my material needs (Matthew 6:33).

I thank you for your promise to supply every one of my needs according to your riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

I thank you for all the physical and material blessings you have given me in the past.

I bring you my current needs…. (name them).

I pray for… (others who are oppressed and in need around the world).

I pray, like Jabez of old, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” (1 Chronicles 4:10). Please grant me my request like you granted Jabez his request.

“And Forgive Us Our Debts, as We Also Have Forgiven Our Debtors” - Reconciliation with God

You said, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Father, I confess my need to have a greater love for your Word and to spend more time in memorization and meditation of scripture.

You said, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).

John said, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:1-3).

Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). Help me to be pure in my motives and thoughts today.

Paul said, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5).

Help me to “Flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22).

Thank you for forgiving my sins.

You have removed them from me as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). You have cast them behind your back (Isaiah 38:17), to remember them no more (Jeremiah 31:34).

You have blotted them out for your own sake (Isaiah 43:25) and have cast them all into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19).

I thank you for your mercy and forgiveness.

“And Lead Us Not into Temptation, but Deliver Us from Evil” - God’s Protection

Father, I praise you for your protection.

You said, “The Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3).

“Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me” (Psalm 119:133).

Help me to “hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your Word” (Psalm 119:101).

You promise me that as I obey your Word continually, I will walk in liberty and freedom (Psalm 119:44-45).

Grant that today, Father, I may be spiritually strong in you. This is your will for my life. You said, “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10).

Help me, Father, to put on the full armor of God today so I can stand firm against all the strategies and tricks of the devil (Ephesians 6:11).

I need the belt of truth to sustain me, the breastplate of righteousness to protect me, and my feet shod with readiness both to obey and to share the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:14-15).

“For Yours Is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, Forever” - Praise to God

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all” (1 Chronicles 29:11).

You said, “Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits (is fitting for) the upright” (Psalm 33:1).

Lord, you declared, “I am the one who helps you… your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 41:14).

You have told me to “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4).

You said, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaiah 43:2-3).

I praise you “for nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

“Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17).

This is the confidence I have toward you, that if I ask anything according to your will you hear me. And I know that if you hear me in whatever I ask, I know that I have the requests that I have asked of you (1 John 5:14-15).

In the name of Jesus I pray this, Amen.