A Life Changing Prayer

The Last in a Series of Life Changing Prayer Requests

Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end.
Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.
Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.
Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.
Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared.
Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good.
Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life!
(Psalm 119:33-40 ESV)

Praying scripture back to God can be an enriching experience.  Try it, using the above passage.

…. pray without ceasing, …. (1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV)

Putting it all together.

Psalm 119:33-40 was the passage of scripture used for the past eight blogs.  If you missed any of  these blogs you can read them on the Seeking His Kingdom Ministries web site.

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Give Me Life.

The Eighth in a Series of Life Changing Prayer Requests

Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life! (Psalm 119: 40 ESV)

The more time we spend in the Word, the better we will know God and the better we will understand His plan for our life. We will learn that God is offering us full and abundant life now and for all of eternity.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10 (ESV)

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. ( NIV)

My purpose is to give life in all its fullness. (TLB)

Our prayer for today is, “Give me full and abundant life today and for all of eternity.”

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. (John 14:13-14 ESV)

Check out  “WHOEVER BELIEVES ….” at www.seekinghiskingdomministries.com

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We Need to be Focused.

The Seventh in a Series of Life Changing Prayer Requests.

An expression I frequently use as a teacher is, “You need to be focused.”  I use this expression because I believe students are missing something important when they are distracted.  Distractions are like weeds or thorns.  In The Parable of the Sower, some good seeds were choked (distracted) by weeds or thorns.  “And some (of the seed) fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it.” (Luke 8:7 ESV)  The good was choked out by the bad.

We need to be sure that the good seed God is planting in us is not being choked out by weeds.

Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good. Psalm 119:39 (ESV)

We may need to be praying, “Take away the reproach, shame, dishonor, insults, rebuke, taunts, and distractions that surround me and let me focus on You and Your Word.”

And some (seed) fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Luke 8:8 ESV)

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Reassure Me that your Promises are for Me.

The Sixth in a Series of Life Changing Prayer Requests.

What can we do when we doubt promises given to us in scripture?

•  Examine scripture.  Be sure you know what God promises and know to whom these promises were given.   When Paul was teaching in Berea; ” they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11 ESV)

•  Observe how God is working now and how He has worked in the past.  John the Baptist had a time in his life when he doubted the role of Jesus.  “[2] Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples [3] and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” [4] And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: [5] the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” (Matthew 11:2-5 ESV)

• PRAY AND ASK GOD  to:

      Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared.  Psalm 119:38 (ESV)

       Reassure me that your promises are for me, for I trust and revere you. (TLB)

       Fulfill your promise to your servant,  … (NIV)

       Establish Your word to Your servant, ….(NKJV)

• Finally, be patient.  “[8] But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. [9] The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8-9 ESV)

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Turn My Eyes From ….

The Fifth in a Series of Life Changing Prayer Requests.

We are constantly being bombarded with worthless and inappropriate visual images.  We see things on TV, the Internet, billboards, movies, and in real life situations that turn our focus from the Lord to worthless, harmful, or self-destructive thoughts and actions. Our focus needs to be turned back to the Lord.

We need to be praying: Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways. Psalm 119:37

When we are focused on God and His Word we can live the life He wants us to be living.

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Oh how I love your law!

The Fourth in a Series of Life Changing Prayer Requests.

In Psalm 119:97 the Psalmist emphatically expressed his love for God’s word when he said, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.”

Is that your (my) testimony?

It is so easy to get caught up in “earning a living” that our focus becomes “selfish gain.”  We subconsciously place our faith and security in money (material things) rather than in God and His Word.

I suspect many of us need to be praying, “Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!” (Psalm 119:36 ESV)

The Message says it this way, “Give me a bent for your words of wisdom, and not for piling up loot.”

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Lead Me

The Third in a Series of Life Changing Prayer Requests.

A very familiar Psalm begins with:

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:1-3 ESV)

The psalmist recognized that the Lord was his shepherd. We should be praying for the same guidance for our lives.

Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Psalm 119:35

We need to be asking God to lead us to where He wants us to be, not to where we want to go.

For you are my rock and my fortress; and  for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me; (Psalm 31:3 ESV)

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Give Me Understanding

The Second in a Series of Life Changing Prayer Requests.

What good is reading scripture if we don’t understand what we are reading?

There is a story in Acts 8 of a court official of the queen of the Ethiopians traveling back to Ethiopia after worshiping in Jerusalem. “He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”

At times we may find ourselves in a similar situation.  We are reading scripture but we do not understand what we are reading.  We need guidance.  Psalm 119:34 would be a good prayer to pray.

Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.  Psalm 119:34 ESV

Without a doubt, God is able to answer our prayers and give us the understanding we need to live the life he has planned for us to live.

For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; (Proverbs 2:6 ESV)

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The First in a Series of Life Changing Prayer Requests.

Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end.  Psalm 119:33

Who is your teacher?  Who do you go to for instruction, help, understanding, advice, wisdom and council?

My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:2 ESV)

Pray and ask the Lord to be your teacher.  Be attentive to all that He is saying to you.  Like the Psalmist, commit to make application of all that the Lord is teaching you today and for the rest of your life.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)

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I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.

Psalm 50:11

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