Lesson 6: Friday

“Our Father” - Our Relationship with God

Dear Heavenly Father,

I praise you, O Lord, for you are a shield about me; my glory, and the lifter of my head (Psalm 3:3).

You love me and care for me more than I will ever know. “You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told” (Psalm 40:5).

Help me to love you, Father, with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, as you deserve to be loved (Mark 12:30).

I delight in you (Psalm 37:4), rejoice in serving you (Psalm 100:2), and want to please you in everything (2 Corinthians 5:9). I seek my happiness in you (Matthew 6:33), and I thirst for a fuller enjoyment of you (Psalm 42:1-2).

In addition to loving you, you have commanded me to fear the Lord my God (Deuteronomy 6:2, 13, 24).

Grant me the ability to fear you, to walk in all your ways, to love you, and to serve you with all my heart and with all my soul (Deuteronomy 10:12).

Thank you for your promise to bless me if I diligently obey all your commandments (Deuteronomy 11:13-14).

I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you gave yourself for my sins (Galatians 1:4).

You love me and have freed me from my sins by your blood (Revelation 1:5).

You have delivered me from the domain of darkness and have transferred me into your kingdom (Colossians 1:13).

It is your will that I be set free from the corrupting power and sinful habits of this present evil age (Galatians 1:4).

I worship you Lord Jesus, for you are the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through you (John 14:6).

You are the bread from heaven (John 6:41), the bread of life. Whoever comes to you will never hunger and will never thirst (John 6:35).

You have come that I might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).

Your ways, Lord Jesus, are right (Psalm 145:17), your word is eternal (Psalm 119:89), your will is unchanging (Malachi 3:6), and your mind is on me (Psalm 40:5).

Your bond is love (Colossians 3:14), your burden is light (Matthew 11:30), and your gift to me is abundant life (John 10:10).

You will never leave me (Hebrews 13:5), mislead me (Psalm 23:2-3, John 10:3-4), overlook me (1 Peter 5:7), or forget me (Isaiah 49:15-16).

When I fall, you lift me up (Psalm 37:23-24). When I confess my failure, you forgive me (1 John 1:9).

When I am weak, you are strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). When I am confused, you are the way (John 14:6).

When I am afraid, you are my courage (Isaiah 41:10). When I am hurt, you comfort me (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

When I am brokenhearted, you heal me (Psalm 147:3). When I am hungry, you feed me (Psalm 145:16).

When I face trials, you encourage me (Psalm 16:8, James 1:12). When I face persecution, you are with me (2 Corinthians 4:9-11).

When I face loss, you provide for me (Psalm 37:25-26). And when I face death, you will carry me home (2 Corinthians 5:8).

You are everything I need or desire (Psalm 16:11, Psalm 17:15). I am yours and you are mine (John 10:14, John 17:6). Hallelujah, what a Savior![1]

Blessed Holy Spirit, enable me to walk in step with you today (Galatians 5:25).

Just as Jesus was filled with the Spirit (Luke 4:1) and walked in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14), fill and empower me today (Ephesians 5:18).

It is through the fullness of the Spirit in my life that I am equipped and empowered to be the witness Jesus wants me to be (Acts 1:8).

Help me to be sensitive to your guidance, blessed Spirit (Psalm 16:7).

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I praise you. You are the one God, manifesting yourself in three persons. You are the three-in-one, most blessed Trinity. You are all I need!

“In Heaven” - God’s Royalty

Heavenly Father, I rejoice in the fact that all the host of heaven are standing beside you on your right hand and on your left (1 Kings 22:19). They are ready to obey your command.

“You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you” (2 Chronicles 20:6).

No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can prevail against you (Proverbs 21:30).

You remove kings and set up kings (Daniel 2:21).

Promotion comes from God (Psalm 75:6-7).

“Hallowed Be Your Name” - God’s Reputation

Lord, you have set apart the godly for yourself; you hear when I call to you (Psalm 4:3). Thank you for hearing my prayers.

Grant that today, by your grace, I live godly in your sight.

Jesus, you said, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Paul wrote, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24). Help me to do this today.

“Your Kingdom Come” - God’s Reign

Grant that by your grace I will have the same attitude Christ did, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).

Help me to surrender my rights to you daily, Lord, and yet be faithful to fulfill my responsibilities and to please you.

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.

Bless, strengthen, and encourage all the believers who teach in public and private schools, that they may be witnesses to the grace and love of God.

You promised, “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.

Please bring people into their lives who will help them know how to be saved (Romans 10:13-14).

Bind the powers of darkness that hold them captive (2 Timothy 2:26) and open their eyes to their need of you (2 Corinthians 4:4).

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

You tell believers that we “like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5).

I am to offer the following spiritual sacrifices to you:

1. The sacrifice of thanksgiving (Psalm 116:17)

2. My body as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1)

3. The sacrifice of good deeds (Hebrews 13:16)

4. The sacrifice of sharing what I have with others (Hebrews 13:16)

5. The sacrifice of continual praise to God, that is, the fruit of my lips acknowledging your name (Hebrews 13:15).

I am a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that I may proclaim your excellencies. You called me out of darkness into your marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).

You tell me: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

You also said, I should be “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).

Help me to do this today.

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

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).

Father, please forgive me for ever murmuring or complaining about my circumstances.

If people misunderstand me or are unkind to me, help me to remember that “a servant is not greater than his master” (John 15:20). Jesus also was misunderstood and abused.

Forgive me, also, for worrying about the unknown future.

You said, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).

You promise me that if I do this, your peace, which surpasses all understanding, will guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).

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 the financial blessings you have given to me.

Help me to put you first in my finances and always honor you with the firstfruits of my income by faithfully tithing (Proverbs 3:9-10).

I pray for… (whatever you feel you need that is within God’s will for you).

Help me to remember and be thankful for all you have already done!

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

Confession is an act of self-humbling. It is an acknowledgement of the need of God’s grace and help. Properly offered, it expresses the desire for spiritual improvement. Confession is to adopt God’s viewpoint and attitude toward what is wrong or needs to be changed in your life. Confession assumes personal responsibility for your choices and attitudes regardless of how other people treated you.

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

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24).

Jesus, you said, “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:25).

Father, bring to my mind anyone I have not forgiven.

Grant me the grace to forgive each person who has sinned against me or hurt me or those I care about.

Cleanse me of all bitterness, ill-will, or resentment toward them.

Father, I confess my need to have a closer walk with you and to develop a prompt obedience to the prompting and checks of the Spirit.

I thank you, Father, that you “are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you” (Psalm 86:5).

“If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3).

Thank you for forgiving my sins.

You have removed them 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).

I thank you for your mercy and forgiveness.

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

Father, Psalm 119:1-2 says, “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart.” Help me to seek you today with my whole heart.

You said that those who seek you with their whole heart do not sin; instead, they walk in your ways (Psalm 119:3).

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

Help me to stay away from things that I know will hurt me spiritually (2 Timothy 2:22).

In the areas of my weakness, guard me against the temptations that Satan has designed to defeat me (2 Thessalonians 3:3).

You said my feet are to be shod with the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15). Help me to stand firm in your truth and discern when you want me to share the gospel of Jesus with others.

You said, “Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16). When I am tempted today, grant that my faith may not fail (Luke 22:32).

I am to learn how to use the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17). Help me to store up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you (Psalm 119:11).

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

I praise you Lord, that you are the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. You do not faint or grow weary. Your understanding is unsearchable. You give power to the faint, and to him who has no might you increase strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for you Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:28-31).

In the name of Jesus I pray this, Amen.