I. Prayer to enter the Lord’s presence:
Be still for a moment. “Lord, I give the day that is now past to you. It is yours. I give the day that is to come to you; help me to see where you are working and to join you there. Speak to me during these moments. I commit them and myself to you.”
II. Prayer of Confession:
“Lord, you are faithful to forgive me and cleanse me of my sin when I confess it to you. I confess my sin(s) of ______________. Thank you for forgiveness.” (1 John 1:9)
III. Prayer of Thanksgiving:
Choose to be thankful, speak out loud of what God has done.
“Thank you, Father, for _________________. Fill my heart and my mouth with gratitude throughout this day.”
IV. Scripture Reflection
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
The Apostle John gives us a beautiful and definitive picture of love. But any good definition of a thing is improved by describing what it is not. Here, John says that love is “not that we have loved God but that he loved us…” Paul speaks to this same reality in Ephesians 2 by declaring that salvation is “not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Salvation does not come through our demonstration of love for God. Salvation comes through God’s demonstration of love for us.
And then, as those who have experienced God’s love, we demonstrate love for Him in return and love for others as a reflection of His love toward us. When we grasp the Gospel, we are stirred to freely and fruitfully walk in the good work for which we were created. Love has an order. When we get the order turned around in our minds, we develop all kinds of spiritual and relational illnesses.
Do you have the order of love straight in your mind? Are you living out of the life and identity you have received from God in the Gospel? Or are you trying to live into some achieved life and identity through your own works of righteousness?
Turn back to the Gospel and rest in the reality of God’s grace and love for you. Now, without departing from the reality of the Gospel, move out into the world this day and walk in the good works for which you were created.
V. Prayer for others:
Pray specifically for the concerns of your life and the lives of others.
VI. Prayer of commitment:
“Lord God, I commit to love you with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength and with all my mind and to love my neighbor as myself. Empower me today to love you and others with everything that I am.” (Luke 10:27)
This Week’s Scripture Memory:
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.
Proverbs 18:8