Father,
My weaknesses, my shortcomings, my faults, my mistakes, my flaws, and my emptiness... they are all covered or filled or strengthened by You. i am a grain of sand standing before the sun when i come to You in prayer, yet instead of disintegrating, i am brought to life by You. i shine brightly when you rub away the dirt, and i pray that You do so tonight, and tomorrow, and the rest of this week as i try to reflect You into a small, specific corner of this world, a place on Mitchell street, where three people whom You love to death are now sleeping.
Your children, Lisa and Llaura and Alissa, need You, as i do, as we all do. i pray for them now. i pray that their spiritual wisdom will increase, and that the depths of their being will be filled by Your Holy Spirit, Who is active and powerful and willing to transform.
Romans 15:4 ~ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.
i pray that they will seek guidance from Your word. Just as so many others have done, i pray that they, too, will find direction in Your words, which are relevant yesterday and today and tomorrow. i pray also that You will help me to encourage them to do this.
Proverbs 3:6 ~ In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
God, may they also see that You are to be honored. i pray that they will think of You in the morning, and ask You how they can please you with their days & moments. i pray that they will be reminded of You in all their endeavors, and seek to make their work Yours instead of theirs.
Isaiah 26:9 ~ My soul yearns for you in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
i believe that Christ is our righteousness, God. Please plant in these three daughters a hunger and thirst for righteousness. Give them a will to discern between right and wrong, good and bad, in every word they speak and how they speak it. Show them what it is to live uprightly, loving You and loving others, and help me to encourage them to do this.
1 John 5:2 ~ By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.
Father, numerous times in Your story, You have shown the importance of obedience in faith. Those who do not obey Your teachings fall victim to wrath and doom, both earthly and divine; but those who obey in love, by loving, will prosper. My heart cries when Your children suffer difficulty and pain because they do not love each other. God, please teach them True Love. Teach them to be patient and kind, not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. Teach them not to insist on their own way. Teach them the importance of rejoicing in the truth, not in wrongdoing. Teach them to bear all things, believe through all things, hope through all things, and endure through all things. Do not let Your loved ones fail.
Proverbs 7:1-3 ~ My child, keep my wordsand store up my commandments with you; keep my commandments and live, keep my teachings as the apple of your eye; bind them on your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart.
You have begun to teach me the value of Your instructions, God. Even in Proverbs alone, i have found too much wisdom to measure. But it's all powerless if i am not teachable. God, please soften the clay of the Kennedy family, and make them open to receive Your words. Make them open to Your teachings, and if it's Your will to use me, an imperfect yet redeemed sinner, please giveme the courage and the right words, and the right spirit.
1 Samuel 12:23 ~ Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.
May i be like the speaker in this verse, God. i am no better than they, nor do i have any wisdom on my own; yet i know that it is Your will that we teach each other, and so i pray that Your wisdom which You have so graciously allowed me a glimpse of will begin to take root in the Kennedys as i plant those seeds to the best of my ability. i trust in You to make these seeds grow. May they learn the good and right way because of Your Holy Spirit's work in their lives.
Psalm 127 ~ Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved. Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the sons of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
Family, Father, is what You are all about. i believe wholeheartedly, because of Your teachings, that we were created for community, to live in joy and enjoyment with each other and with You. This family has already come through too much suffering to withstand (without Your grace), and so i beg of You that they would not be separated further, but that they would build their home on Your foundation: Love. God, please bless them with harmony and fellowship like that of the early church, where everyone had everything in common and love was the law. May they be blessed with Love, God. Please bless them.
John 17:15 ~ I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.
i know that circumstances will always change, Father, and that manyof them will be difficult to endure. Some will seem impossible. i know this from experience. My faith in Your strength and promises, though, is much greater than faith in the world. Some depend on fortune, but i depend on the unending Life that flows from You, and i believe that this is the way we are meant to live. God, may the trials these three daughters of Yourd endure only serve to increase their faith and trust in You. Do not keep them from hardships, but protect them from evil. i pray for Your protection around them, that their faith would grow unceasingly.
2 Chronicles 7:14 ~ If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
So many times in the past, God, You have used my circumstances to show me the error of my ways. Oftentimes it is only with discipline and strong consequences that i begin to see how i've trampled Your name instead of honoring it. Even now, i humble myself and ask that You would forgive my mistakes, andgrant me these requests, because of Your love and grace for me.
Change the hearts of Your daughters, Father, so that they may seek You with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Transform them, no matter what it takes, just as You have transformed me in the past, when i have submitted to my own heart's desires instead of Yours. i fall, God, but when i go to my knees, You lift me up again, and i pray that You would bring this miracle to pass in the lives of Lisa, Llaura, and Alissa.
John 14:13 ~ I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
James 5:16 ~ Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
In Your story, prayer has done amazing things. Because of prayer, bitter water was made sweet, weak bodies were supernaturally strengthened, drought and rain came to an entire nation, prisoners were rescued and freed by angels, and dead men and women were raised to walk again.
My words seem pretty pitiful compared to Yours. i guess they are. That's why i'm choosing to speak Your words instead of mine. But like i said at the beginning, God, i am flawed. i'm broken. i need You to speak through me if i'm to accomplish anything worthwhile. i need Your guidance if i'm to make any progress. i need Your confirmation if i am to act confidently in Your name. So tomorrow, i ask that You fill me when the time comes, that i may be an encouragement to those i love.
Please grant me these requests, because i ask them in Your name, for Your purposes, only because i love You and Your children. i know You wish them to be blessed with Your love, God, and i'm no longer satisfied with washing dishes and fixing sprinklers. i feel a need to do more; so please empower me to do so.
i love You, God. Please let this be obvious, and please use me to do Your work in their lives.
i ask for these things because You said i could, and should.
i trust You to answer me according to Your limitless love.
thank You for hearing me.
Amen.
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