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.
Sometimes we struggle due to sin that dwells in us. Though we long to be holy as you are, we wrestle with that irreconcilable war between the flesh and the Spirit. Our God, please do not cast us off. May you be pleased to help your people as they seek to walk according to your purposes and ways. Please make us as holy as possible for sinners! We beg you, Lord, to grant us an outpouring of your Holy Spirit, teaching and guiding us as we pilgrim in this sin-wrecked world. Forgive us for our doubts, insecurities, and failures. Forgive us for our transgressions and sins. Arise, O God, defend your cause against evildoers and rescue us from those who would harm us. These things we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Scripture Meditation: Psa. 74
