Blessings of Grace

Passage Romans 16:1-27

Prayer
Our Father, my strength, I bless you for the multitudes of believing people who have gone before me, for those named in the Bible whose examples of love and loyalty to you I would like to imitate. Help me to be a helper, to work hard and to be approved like they were. Never let me be among those who create dissensions and difficulties, in opposition to the doctrine of your word. Help me be wise about what is good and guileless about what is evil, that through you Satan can be crushed under my feet.
Let the grace of the Lord Jesus be with me. O God, be my strength! To you, the only wise God, be glory forevermore. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Striving Together

Passage Romans 15:30-33

Prayer
God our Father, giver of joy and refreshment, help us strive together in our prayers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of the Spirit, for every person who is proclaiming your word in difficult circumstances and places.
Be with them. Deliver them from their enemies. Let them find full acceptance among your holy people. Let them find joy and refreshment in their company.
In the name of Jesus we ask, praying with all our hearts that Israel according to the flesh will come to faith in your Son.
Amen.

Praying for Israel

Passage Romans 15:25-29

Prayer

Father, God of Israel, please give us generous hearts toward the Jewish people and indeed all people, throughout the world. "They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises, and the patriarchs; and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ.
"We know that "as regards the gospel, they are enemies of God" for our sake, but "as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers."
According to your word we who are not Jews are in debt to them. Since we have come to share in their spiritual blessings, put it into our hearts to share sympathy and our material blessings with them.
Help all of us come to share in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. In the name of Jesus we ask, praying with all our hearts that Israel according to the flesh will come to faith in your Son. Amen.

A Channel for the Word of God

Passage Romans 15:14-21

Prayer

Our Father, I pray that I may be full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct others who want to know about your salvation.
Give me a share in the priestly service of your Good News to the world. May I as a believer make (and be!) an acceptable offering, sanctified by your Holy Spirit.Help me to make it my ambition to speak of Jesus Christ everywhere to everyone.
Let me love your word so much that I will either go or help others go to places where it has not yet been proclaimed. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Abounding in Hope

Passage Romans 15:1-13

Prayer
O LORD and Father, who welcomes all into your family,help us to welcome one another, as Christ has welcomed us, for your glory. For you taught us that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show your truthfulness - in order to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs, and in order that we who were not Jews might glorify you for your mercy.
May you, our Father and God, fill us with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit we may abound in hope.
In the name of Jesus and according to his command. Amen.

Imitating Christ

Passage Romans 15:1-8

Prayer
Loving Father, God of steadfast love, may the strength you give us be used to bear with the failings of those who are weak, not to please ourselves, but to please our neighbor for his good, to build him up.
In this let us imitate Jesus, your Son, who did not please himself, but lived as it was written of him, "The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me."
May you, our Father, the God of steadfastness and encouragement, grant us Christians to live in such harmony with one another, in full accord with Jesus Christ, that together we may with one voice glorify you, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the name of Jesus and according to his command. Amen.

Pursuing Peace

Passage Romans 14:17-23

Prayer
O heavenly Father, you who give brotherly love, how wonderful that your kingdom, your rule in people's lives, is not a matter of food and drink, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
May I, in serving Christ this way, be acceptable to you and approved by others. Let me and all the members of your family pursue what makes for peace and for mutual uplifting.
Please let none of us, for the sake of personal rights, destroy your work of grace in someone else. Help us to appreciate our rights, but help each of us understand that it is wrong to make others fall by insisting on them.
Guide us to see that it is right not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that would make a brother or sister stumble. The faith that I have, let me keep between you and me. Let me find happiness in having no reason to judge myself for what I approve.
May I never do anything from the basis of doubt, because not acting from conviction is sin.
In the name of Jesus I pray all this, asking that you will give me love for my brothers and sisters. Amen.

Walking in Love

Passage Romans 14:13-16

Prayer
Our Father, to whom all will bow,please help me not pass judgment on others or despise them. Let me look to myself in view of the fact that I will have to give an account for my own self.
You have said, "As I live every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God." Help me praise you now before the day of your judgment. Let my praise be willing and not forced.
Help me never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother or sister in Christ, and especially of some young person.
Don't let me injure anyone by exercising my rights. Let me rather walk in love toward all. Don't let my right to do something cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. Do not let what is good to me be evil spoken of.
In the name of Jesus I ask for the love and wisdom to so live. Amen.

Staying Awake

Passage Romans 13:11-14

Prayer

Our Father, victorious deliverer,may I be found in Christ, not trusting any righteousness of my own - because I've none. Let me know him and the power of his resurrection. May I share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, so I might attain the resurrection of the dead.
O God, let me obtain it! Let me be awake! Let me put on the armor of light! Let me put on the Lord Jesus and his righteousness, and be found in him! Let me trust, obey, even suffer, in order to have the victory!
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Last Days

Passage Romans 13:11-14

Prayer

Gracious Father, object of my desires, everything points to the fact that we live in the last days. Knowing what hour it is, let me wake up from my sleep!
For salvation is nearer to me now than when I first believed. The night is far gone. The day is at hand.
Lord please help me cast off all the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Let me conduct myself as becomes one of your people, not in reveling or drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling or jealousy.
Rather, let me put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provisions for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Strengthened with His Love

Passage Romans 13:9

Prayer

Heavenly Father, generous giver,Love sees needs and shares resources. How lacking I am in this regard. Please forgive me and make me better.
Please give me a spirit of generosity not only to me, but also to my wife, my children, and my whole extended family - also to my spiritual family, your church.
Help all of us to be giving people, because you are a giving God. Move us to serve a needy world. I praise you and thank you for all your mercies. You are so bountiful in your gifts.
I love you, good and gracious God. I love your Son. I love your Spirit. I love your people. I love the lost. All because you loved me first.
My prayer is to love you and them more. In the name of Jesus and with the Spirit's help, I ask these things. Amen.

The Debt of Love

Passage Romans 13:8-10

Prayer

Father, I owe love to my fellow man, as you have said in your Word. What an endless debt! How can I keep your command to love my neighbor as myself?
What would it be like to live in a world where such unselfishness prevailed?
Ah, it would be heaven on earth, therefore such behavior is a precondition of our heavenly inheritance.
But Lord, be gentle in your judgment toward me. I fall so far short on this. Love would absolutely do no wrong to one's neighbor - never taking anything that was his, or even wanting to.
So fill me with love, so that I may fulfill your law. In the name of Jesus, help me, Lord. Amen.

No Debts Except...

Passage Romans 13:8-10

Prayer

Our Father, senior Partner in my business, please help me get completely out of debt and stay out! Let me follow your word, "Owe no man anything! . . . except to love one another."
Help me be a good steward of my business affairs. Spur me on to work smart as well as hard.
Let me be very wise, even shrewd, in the way I order my business. While conserving resources, let me move forward, even taking risks when such is best.
Help me, Father, to see you as the senior partner in what I do. And may I always render a generous portion of my income to do your work in the world.
In the name of Jesus and with the Spirit's help, I ask these things. Amen.

Authority

Passage Romans 13:1-7

Prayer

Our Father, from whom all power comes, help me to show proper respect for the duly constituted authority of government.
Help me to do what is good, that I may receive the approval of those who serve you for the enforcement of good order.
Please teach me to be subject, not only to avoid the punishment of the state and to avoid your wrath, but also for the sake of my own conscience.
O Lord, give me the integrity to pay taxes to whom taxes are due, to give revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
May my subjection to proper human authority reflect my subjection to your authority because all authority comes from You.
Don't let me resist your will and incur judgment from you.
In the name of Jesus, who has all authority, I pray.
Amen.

Living in Harmony

Passage Romans 12:16-21

Prayer

Peaceable Father, God of the lowly, help me live in harmony with others - without haughtiness, without conceit, willing to associate with the lowly.
Please help me to repay no one evil for evil, but to take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
As far as it depends on me, let me live peaceably with everyone.Let me seek no revenge for myself, but leave it to your wrath, O God. Help me, Father, not to be overcome with evil, but to overcome evil with good. In the name and authority of Jesus I boldly come, asking these things according to his will. Amen.

Inspired by Love

Passage Romans 12:9-15

Prayer

Our Father, empowering God, let my love be genuine for everyone in heaven and on earth. Help me hate what is evil at all times and everywhere. Help me hold fast to what is good, the old and the new.
May I love my fellow disciples with brotherly affection. May I show them greater honor than they show me.
Let my zeal not cool. May it blaze with energy from your Spirit. May I rejoice in hope and be patient in tribulation. Let me be constant in prayer. May I contribute liberally to the needs of your holy people. Help me be very hospitable.
And Lord, help me to bless those who persecute me. Help me to bless them, not to curse in return.In the name and authority of Jesus I boldly come, asking these things according to his will.
Amen.

The Value of Interdependence

Passage Romans 12:3-8

Prayer

Our Father, who wills our interdependence, having gifts that differ, let us use them appropriately according to your will.
If prophesy, in proportion to one's faith. If service, diligently serving. If teaching, instructively teaching. If exhortation, strongly motivating encouragement. If giving, with liberal and generous contributions. If giving aid, with zeal. If acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Great Giver, give your gifts to your people through your people. But let us always give you the glory! Praise to you, our Lord.
It is in the name of Jesus, who shares all spiritual blessings with us, we ask for a growing love among all your people. Amen.

Sober Personal Assessment

Passage Romans 12:3-8

Prayer

Our Great Father, who wills our interdependence,Help me not to think more highly of myself than I ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith which you have assigned me.
I know that I am but one member in the body of Christ, and while important, no more important than any other. For as in one body, we have many members, and all members do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of each other. Help me to understand and practice the interdependence necessary for the healthy functioning of the body of Christ. May each member be in sympathetic union with all others.In the name of Jesus, who shares all spiritual blessings with us, we ask for a growing love among all your people. Amen.

The Temple of God

Passage Romans 12:1-2

Prayer

O God, dweller of my temple,Please give me the mind of Christ and make my body a temple of the spirit of holiness which is his.Make me holy through and through. May my whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless by your power until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.I trust you to do this because you are the one who has called me, and you are faithful. Your word says that you will do it!By the authority of Jesus and in his name I ask for this growth in grace. Amen.

Invited by God

Passage Romans 11:17

Prayer

O God our Father, King of banquets, may I enter your halls wearing the appropriate garment, the righteousness of Jesus Christ, not that of my own making.
The false righteousness of adherence to man-made rules is a worthless covering. Only the true righteousness of belief in your Son will make my appearance acceptable to you.
Grant me true humility. If I boast, let it be about you. Let my pride be in what you have done for me, not in what I make of myself.
In the name of Jesus, the honoree of the banquet, I offer thanks for inviting me to your feast of good things.
Amen.