7. Help me, Lord God, to be a good steward of my God-given treasures, time, and talents.
The tenth commandment says, “Thou shalt not covet” (Exodus 20:17, KJV). We should be content with what God has given us and shouldn’t look longingly at our neighbor’s stuff, lusting after it. We should be thankful for what God has entrusted us with. Instead of wishing we had our neighbor’s fancy new car, we should be grateful for transportation, even if it’s the clunker in our driveway.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you” (Matthew 6:33). The stuff, “all these things,” that Jesus referred to can easily become a distraction, so we can pray that God will help us keep our priorities straight, and continue to remember that our stuff is not ours. It’s His. We don’t own it, God does. We’re just stewards.
Lord, help me be a good steward of all that You’ve entrusted to me.
8. Holy Father, help me know and understand my true identity in Christ.
“I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the Spiritof wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength” (Ephesians 1:17–19).
Oh, my! Chew on that for while!
Paul prayed that the Ephesians would begin to comprehend the wealth... the immeasurable greatness of His power... the mighty working of His strength! Paul prayed that the church would realize their prized position in Christ.
We are completely forgiven, past, present and future. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
We have been adopted by the King of Glory. Our Abba Father is God Almighty! We are His children, “and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).
In Christ “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37–39).
I challenge you to examine the Scriptures to discover the promised blessings of being united with Christ. We need to see ourselves as God sees us. Pray, earnestly asking God to help you.
All Scripture quotations, except as otherwise noted, are from
Holman Bible Publishers’ Christian Standard Bible.
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