Monday with Calvin: A Daily Prayer for May 22, 2023
Prayer: Grant Omnipotent God, since our life is exposed to innumerable dangers, that we may flee to you and resign ourselves wholly to your will, that we may know that you are the guardian of our life, so that not a hair of our head can fall without your hidden permission. May we also learn to ask of you the spirit of wisdom and discretion, so that you yourself may guide our steps, as it is not in us to defend our life from those many intrigues by which we are on every side surrounded, the whole world being opposed to us, so that we may proceed in the course of our pilgrimage under your care and protection, until we shall be removed into that blessed rest laid up for us in heaven by Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Lifting Up Our Hearts, 57)
Scripture Meditation: Phil. 4:4-8
Prayer: Our God, you who called your people from darkness to your marvelous light, we give you thanks and praise for your wise provision of this one day in seven in which we come apart from the activities of this fleeting world to rest in your presence and hear from you as you speak to your redeemed people. We thank you for the ministry of the bride of Christ and the glory you have determined to place on her. We beg of you, our Father, that your ministers, called by your name, will proclaim your Word with boldness and strength, depending on and trusting in your Holy Spirit to speak plainly into the lives of your people. We pray for fruitful ministries and faithful men. We ask that you ministers would gladly spend and be spent for the sake of the souls of your people. We further pray that you would make us attentive to your Word. We ask that you would cause us to hear and do what we hear. Please grant us a desire to sit at the feet of Christ and learn from him today. Please help us to take stock of our souls, and may you protect us from our hearts that are easily led astray. 
Prayer: Our God, sometimes we feel you have abandoned us and left us to our miseries and struggles. Sometimes we are conflicted over what we think and what your Word tells us. Yet, we know that you can’t cast off your redeemed people since your Son, the good Shepherd of the sheep, has purchased them and promised them to be with them all of our days. Still, we sometimes struggle. We struggle because of the things we witness in our world. We see many who rebel against you. We see many who blaspheme your name. Worse, we see many who name the name of Christ professing to be Christians, who seem to seek their kingdom and not your own. As we scan the landscape of our morally bankrupt world, we see those created in your image erecting idols of every kind, the greatest of which is the idol of self. Indeed, Father, we live in a self-centered world. Rare is it when we meet someone who does not look merely to his interests but the interests of others. 
Prayer: Our God, you are truly good to your covenant people. You show your kindness and grace to us each day. Though we are miserable creatures of dust and unprofitable servants on our best day, you are still generous to us, giving us our daily bread and an abundance of the good things of this life. We thank you for your unending faithfulness and praise you for taking our dead, cold hearts and making them alive through the work of your beloved Son. As such, you see us in Him, and, therefore, we are pure in heart before you. We know this is true only because of Christ’s work. Consequently, we pray that you would purify our hearts more and more and grant us your Spirit so we can put to death the deeds of the flesh. 
Prayer: Our Father, we praise your name and thank you from the depths of our hearts for giving us this one day in seven as a weekly reminder of your eternal love and promise of the New Heavens and the New Earth. Though you have graciously given this day to your people and commanded us to it a delight, we often treat it as common. Too often, Father, we talk of things that are not worthy of this day that you have made. Too often, we are more interested in doing our own thing, going our own way, and finding delight in things that will never satisfy our weary souls. On this day, you call us apart from the world because we belong to you, and you know that we are often wearied by the efforts of the Evil One to harm us. You know our frame, and you know that we are often burdened with many struggles of this fallen and ruined world. Why, Father, do we find joy in things that are fleeting and passing away? Why, Father, do we seek treasures from this life instead of the place of your dwelling? Why, Father, are we content to be mediocre when it comes to your worship and the joy that should come from the gathering of your people in worship? We are this way, we confess because we are worldly. We fight an irreconcilable war between our flesh and your Spirit. Forgive us for our hard-heartedness and forgive us for our low affection for that which your Son purchased by his blood. Please help us to honor you from our hearts and serve you this day, knowing that you delight in meeting with your people and blessing them. Therefore, bless us, O God! Please help us ride on the earth’s heights, feeding on the bounty of the labors of our eternal rest, the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray these things in His Name. Amen.
Prayer: Our kind and compassionate God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we gladly and joyfully bow before your throne praying to you, the true King of heaven and earth, giving you praise and adoration for all that you have done and are doing in the lives of your redeemed people. As we read your word and hear the prayers of the king of Israel, we are reminded of the true King who alone has all authority and from whom we enjoy the answer to the prayer offered by this earthly king. We are thankful that our Lord and Savior judges with righteousness and true justice. We are grateful that your Son brings prosperity to his people. Though rich, he became poor for our miserable souls so we might become rich. We thank you that he defends the cause of those he has redeemed by his blood, giving us the Holy Spirit who guides and directs our lives. We thank you that he watches over us as the Good Shepherd of the sheep, teaching and leading us wherever he would have us go. We pray, our Father, that all mankind would fear him and give him the honor, adoration, and service that he deserves and requires. We further pray that your people, called by your Name, would joyfully do his will this day. We pray that through our union and communion with this King, we will be delivered in our time of need as we remember his heart of compassion for the lowly and weak of this world. May he pity us, O Lord, and rescue us from the world, the flesh, and the devil. Please grant us, our Father, a great love for this eternal King! We beg you to stir up our affections for him and his beauty, and may we be eternally grateful for his love and service as he still ministers for us at your right hand. These things we pray through Christ, the true King and Savior of sinners. Amen. 
