Strenthen me, O God, by the grace of thy holy Spirit.

Grant me to be strengthened with might in the inner man, and to empty my heart of all useless care and anguish; so that I be not drawn away with sundry desires of anything whatever, whether mean or precious, but that I look on all things as passing away, on myself also as soon to pass away with them.

For nothing abideth under the sun, where all things are vanity and vexation of spirit. O how wise is he that so considereth them!

O Lord, grant me heavenly wisdom, that I may learn above all things to seek and to find thee, above all things to enjoy and to love thee, and to think of all other things as they really are, according to thy wise ordering.

Grant me prudence to avoid him that flattereth me, and to endure patiently him that contradicteth me.

Because it is a great part of wisdom not to be moved with every wind of words, nor to give ear to an evil flatterer; for thus I shall walk securely in the way which I have begun.

[From Of the Imitation of Christ, Book II, Chapter XXVII, #4-5.]

Holy God, today I pray again for the USA and for this coming day of voting for a new president.  We need You in the center of our world.  We need You changing hearts and minds, clearing us of all the worldly debris that is clogging us.  We need You and Your people to remind us of what is right and good and holy.  We don't know any longer.  We are all twisted up.  We think we understand and then we find out that we never even knew You.  You are that deep and amazing.
    Father, I pray for good government.  I ask You to give us good government in the USA.  I ask You to have mercy on us even though we haven't repented, we haven't humbled ourselves, we haven't sought Your face.  We haven't done any of the things that are required to bring about the promise, but I ask for it anyway.  I ask You to be merciful because You are merciful.  I ask You to give Your church another chance to wake up and be about the work that You've called us to.  I ask You, Lord God, on the very character of who You are, to remember Your Name which You placed in this nation hundreds of years ago. I know, Lord, that our ancestors weren't perfect, but the leaders believed that You were God and that You were involved in the ordinary and the extra-ordinary affairs of men.  They used Your Book when they laid out the principles to guide this nation. Remember what You started.  Bring the USA to its day of completion in Christ.  Does a man begin to build without considering the cost?  Neither, Father, would the great God of heaven, begin to build a nation without considering the cost and what it will take to complete it.  I'm sorry that hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and terrorist attacks are not enough to draw our eyes up to You and acknowledge that You are Creator and Sovereign.
    But, still I ask You for good government, in spite of our evil and foolish thinking. In spite of our unwillingness to submit to You in all things and acknowledge Your greatness and mercy and love, I still ask for good government.  I ask it because Your Word says that You want us to have good government so that we may live in peace, so that the Gospel can go forward unimpeded, so that the Name of Jesus would be glorified.  So I ask You, Absolutely Able, to give us good government in the USA so that the Name of Jesus the Christ would be glorified in the Capitol Building, glorified in the White House, glorified in the Pentagon, glorified in NY and CA and TX and Maine, Florida, and beyond.  I ask You to glorify the Name of Jesus our Redeemer in the schools and colleges and universities, in the businesses and banks and Wall Street, in the hospitals and research labs and clinics. I ask You, our Blessed Assurance, to give us good government in our churches, in our courts, in our counties.  We are nothing without You.  We have nothing of worth.  We have no worth.  Unless You pour out Your grace upon us.
    So I ask You for good government because of our desperate need.  What father gives his son a snake when he asks for a fish?  Certainly not our loving Father. So I plead Your character of love before You this day.  We need good government.  We need leaders on all levels who will yield to Your Sovereignty and seek Your wisdom.  We need You involved in the work each person's heart.  We need Your Spirit moving across this country once again, free to enter any building or gathering, free to shepherd His children wherever they roam. We need Your Spirit to cleanse us again.  We need Your Spirit to purify us and prepare us for Jesus' return.  We need You for all these things, loving Father. It isn't the economy or even the form of government that terrifies me when I think of the future. Not the loss of freedoms or the possible persecution of Your church. What scares me about the end times is how Your church falls away, too.  How Your church rejects You.  How Your church refuses to suffer for Your Name.  How Your church doesn't get that You are worthy of every sacrifice that we possess and could offer.
    It shames me, Lord God, that we aren't any different than the world when it comes to the desires of our hearts, to our need for comfort and rights and glory.  That we want what we want when we want it.  That we don't think differently.  That we won't persevere longer. That we give in to temptation at the first volley. My God in heaven, I ask You to forgive Your church and wake us up, shake us up, teach us the Truth, the full truth of Your Holy Word via Your Holy Spirit who guides us into all Truth.  You know what we need and that's why I pray for You to bring us good government.  I don't ask for what my foolish heart clings to as right.  I ask for Your right.  I ask for Your mercy.  I ask for Your grace and Your Holy Spirit to have the right to move without infringement from the forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  I ask You to shine brighter than the sun, to burn up the evil that would encompass us.  I ask You to withhold Your righteous wrath again and to give us another chance to depend on You and trust You and submit to You and obey You.  Thank You for being a compassionate and loving God.  Thank You for providing what we need when we need it.  Thank You for not being swayed from Your ultimate goal of glorifying the Name.  You are worthy to be praised.  You are the only great and glorious God.  You are holy.  You are Sovereign King.  You are the Great I AM.  Before time began, You ARE.
    Thank You for not changing to suit the desires and cultures of man.  Thank You for being faithful to Your Word even when we are not.  Thank You for the shed blood of Jesus Christ that takes away the sin of the world.  Thank You for living again, Holy Jesus, and defeating death and sin and Satan at the Cross.  You are the Victor.  You are always the Victor.  You will reign forever.  Independent of the governments of men and the nations that rise and fall, You are LORD God Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, Author and Perfecter of our faith, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. In You we have no fear of what this world offers during our short walk of faith.  We trust You.  We find peace in the shelter of Your wings, Strong Tower, Rock of Refuge, Shield, and One Hope.  To You be the glory, great things You have done and will do.
    Thank You for giving us good government. I choose to believe You hear the desperate cry of Your daughter asking in Your will: grant us good government that we may live in peace, that the Gospel will go forward unimpeded, that the Name of Jesus Christ will be glorified.  Amen and amen.
    In Jesus' name.  Amen.

El Kanna, You are a jealous God, a burning flame, a consuming fire. You are mighty to save and unstoppable in Your plans.  We bow to You in humble and reverent fear.

But You are not a covetous God like we who are a covetous people who are jealous when others are crowned and lauded, jealous when others are blessed and gain profit, jealous when others receive what we desire.  No, You are a God who is jealous of the things that are already Yours.  You are jealous of Your Name, Your glory, and the faithfulness of Your chosen people.  You are jealous like a husband for his wife's faithfulness, something that has been vowed to him, something that belongs to him.  That is Your jealousy. Not petty wants and selfish concerns.

El Kanna, we confess before You that we are not a faithful people. We do not hold tight to the covenant that our ancestors made with You when this country was founded. We cling to things of this world, to traditions of men ("Trick or Treat?"), to foolish philosophies ("It's just fun to have my fortune read. It doesn't mean anything."), and to our own comforts ("How dare you infringe of my right to be a __________."

You have said, "Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden.  For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God" (Deuteronomy 4:23-24).

The Israelites saw You as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  Your church sees You as a Holy Spirit, burning through chaff, refining us like silver and gold. We yield to You, Holy God, this day. This is not Satan's day.  Everyday is Your day.  You are the God of the day and the night.  You are the God of life and death.  You are the God of mercy and justice.  We yield to You.  We bow to You.  We offer our praise to You and to You alone, the Only God.  We choose not to worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

And still I come to You for mercy, for myself, for my church, for my nation.  I come to You because I have no other hope than to find mercy in You.  I come to You, El Kanna, because You are holy and unchanging. You are honorable and faithful. You are zealous for Your own righteousness.  Consuming Fire, purify us once again. Rain down Your Spirit upon this land. Claim us as Your own for Your own righteousness' sake and for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Rain down on us the mercy and grace that we need to shake out of our slumber and gluttonous snoozing. We cannot do it without Your mercy.  We cannot change without Your touch.  I plead Your mighty attribute of jealousy, Merciful Father, to redeem Your people who are called by Your Name to mighty and holy living in You once again.

Thank You for being jealous of what rightly belongs to You. Thank You for Your mercy and Your pursuing love. Thank You for Your touch of grace. Thank You for the shed blood of Jesus Christ and that You, God of all, live in victory. Thank You that we too can live in You with the full assurance of Your protection and provision.  You are that good.  You are that able. You are everything we need.  Amen and amen.

"I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." Revelation 1:18

To the Living God,

There are people in this world who worship dead things, inanimate things, temporal things. And there are people who say that I worship a dead God, too.  That You didn't return to life after three days in the tomb.  Of course, those are usually the same people who say that You were just a prophet and a good teacher, and not God the Son.

But I am convinced that I serve a Living God, a God who understands Life because You created it, sustain it, grant it purpose and hope.  You are the God who died and now lives.  You are the God who always was and always will be.  You are the Only God, and the Three-in-One God.  You are mystery beyond my current means to grasp.  So I thank You for every scrap of revelation that You reveal about Yourself.  I thank You for every verse in the Bible that shows us another facet of Your character.

Living God, I thank You for the sacrifice of the Chosen Lamb that enabled me to come back into Your presence, to have the assurance that I too will live forever in glory.  You are my Salvation and Hope, the Rock upon which I place all my convictions, and the God who Lives and will never die.

Thank You for defeating death.  There is no more fear. There is no more sting.  You are the balm for all our current pains and the assurance of the glory and perfection to come.  Thank You for providing everything that we need to live life here and to be prepared for life eternal.  In You is all life.  In You is all we need.  In You, we find the grace to continue, one day at a time.

You are that good and that powerful, Living God. You breathe, and Your Spirit moves.  You speak, and Your Word creates. You live, and Your Children have hope and strength for the day.

Thank, Lord Jesus, the Living God, for my life to walk in faith.  Amen.

To the God who tends to His children,

Thank You, first, Lord, for the reminder that we have all like sheep gone astray. That we need someone to take care of us and protect us and save us from our own willfulness.  Sheep get in predicaments when left to their own devices.  So do we. Though many of us think we run our own lives just fine, thank you very much.

Sheep can be silly and are easily frightened.  So are we.  Though many of us think a little anxiety goes with the job. We don't recognize it as a lack of faith in Your provision.

Sheep need directed to the right kinds of food and water.  Thank You that Your Word is the Bread of life in a starving world.

Sheep can be bullies and ram one another just to feel good. Shepherd God, thank You for carrying a rod and a staff, for the Holy Spirit who puts Your children in much needed isolation and downtime when we behave as animals to one another. Forgive me for butting in where I don't belong. Forgive me for smart aleck remarks offered for no better reason than that I feel clever. Today I want to build up others with my words.

The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want. You are sufficient for every need.  You are enough for every circumstance. You never lack, and when I abide in You, I too am filled and satisfied.  You are the Good Shepherd.  You lay down Your life for Your sheep, and I thank You and praise You for that mystery and reality.

This day, may we all recognize Your goodness for us, Your beloved sheep.
    In Jesus' name.  Amen.

"Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" (Exodus 34:14).
    Father, Creator, help me to see You in this deeper fashion.  Help me to praise You in all Your characteristics and facets. Help me to see the Truth of who You are and how You are motivated by Your very nature, not by outside forces, as I am.  Help me to be motivated by who You have created me to be and not by the circumstances of my life.
    Jealous God, what does it mean that You are jealous?  Certainly, not covetous, not envious. You would not deny us something that You would indulge in.  When You say that You are jealous, You speak of a different type of jealousy than when I flippantly say, "I'm so jealous that she got what I wanted." When You say You are jealous, You are speaking of the things that already rightly belong to You.  In Your Word, You are jealous of Your Name, Your glory, the faithfulness of Your chosen people.  You have a righteous zeal for these things that rightly belong to You and should be respected by the very connection they have to You.
    And when You are Jealous, You are a consuming fire, a Refiner, a God of cleansing. You will not be mocked by wicked and unholy people. You will show compassion. You will offer mercy.  But You are Jealous and a Defender of the things that belong to You, not willing to let them be maligned or stolen.
    Thank You that I belong to You in Christ's blood.  Thank You that You are jealous of me and my faithfulness to You.  Thank You that You will not allow me to be stolen or maligned by Your enemies. Thank You for being a Jealous God.
    Now rest upon me Your Holy Fear, that I would know that You are God, the un-Created, the ever Eternal, the First Cause and the Last breath, the One who lives in Light and from which all Life begins. The God who has the last say on what will be and how it will be.  Grant me a Holy Fear that I would respect Your Name and Your glory and the faithfulness of Your chosen people.  Grant me a Holy Fear that I would resist the pull of the flesh in this world and embrace Your Holy Spirit because You are a Jealous God, and I know that You desire me to be holy as You are Holy.
    I praise the Name Jealous, even as I seek to understand You more. You are always right, always good, always love. Thank You, Jesus.  Amen.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity.

    Holy God, when I pause to think about Your holiness, I realize I don't know You, not to Your heart, not to Your perfection and purity and separateness from this creation in which I reside. I have heard about You. I have read Your Book. I've felt Your Presence. I've heard Your prompting and guidance. I've been washed in Your Blood. But who are You, so separate from what You have created that You have no need of us, of this world, of time or space? You are self-sufficient and self-existent. You are holy, holy, holy.
    Then, I think about Your patience and the various ways that You have revealed Yourself to Your children — the Son, the Word, the Indwelling Spirit, the Creation. How You are all about overcoming the sin that separates us so that we can come back into Your presence. These are the actions of a holy God? Definitely a loving and forgiving God.
    And then I am dismayed to think of the times that I've questioned Your character and Your goodness. You who have never sinned — to have Your actions judged by a finite, created, selfish creature like me. How stupid I can be. How forgiving You are. Thank You for patience. Thank You for Your holiness, that doesn't change no matter how unholy I am. Thank You that we would be separate except for the blood of Jesus that cleanses me from sin and provides the way back into Your life. You are a holy God.
    I thank You, too, that I can be holy because You are holy. That I can be righteous because You are righteous. That I can be clean and forgiven and pure. I don't have to live in stupidity and sin. All because You are holy and unchanging and faithful regardless of what Your creation does. I praise You for being a holy God who is mighty to save. I bow before You and worship.
    Amen and amen.

Protector of my heart and my spirit, I praise You for both Your love and Your power, working together for my best in every situation. Like a missile, You are both offense and defense when it comes to protecting Your children. You are Shield and Sword. You are the Rock we stand on and the Rock that crushes, the Cornerstone the Church is built upon, the Capstone the builders rejected.

But, Prince of Peace, when I think of You as my Protector, I remember the chivalry and pageantry of the Middle Ages. You are my Fortress and Strong Tower. You are my Buckler and my Armor. My Shield. The Banner that covers me when I ride into battle. You go before me and behind me, and yet surround me. I am safe in Christ.

You are the Safe Place and the One who dwells within me. You amazing Holy Spirit. My Refuge. Holy God, nothing can touch me without Your permission. Thank You. Thank You for safety, blessing, and hope. Thank You for correction, discipline, and trials that draw me back into Your arms. Thank You for being my white Knight, my Prince, and my King.

I worship You with my words. May I worship You this day with my life. Safe in You, what should I fear? Help me to live with abandon for Jesus, my Protector.

To the God who heals:

Lord, I can't help but think about my dad who died from cancer.  Friends gone from this world before they gained gray hairs.  Alzheimer's disease and dementia. We are all destined to die once and then the judgment.  But You are the God who said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you."
    And I know that You heal from so much more than diseases.  I have been the recipient of Your healing when You gave me a new heart in Christ, when You healed me from agreements I made with Satan's lies, when You restored relationships that I had ripped apart.  You are the Healer of our sicknesses and our sin.  You heal bodies, minds, marriages, and mistakes.  You are never too late, because the ultimate healing is standing in Your presence and knowing Truth.
    Thank You, Healer God, for wanting more for us than what this life offers. Thank You for providing the sacrifice and shedding the blood that heals us from our foulest enemy, death.  And, thank You, too, for the small mercies, the shrunken tumors, the healed bones, the bodies that You created for us that are programmed to heal on the cellular level.  You are amazing, God.  We worship You, the YHWH Rophe.