Praying Through A Warning

 

Leviticus 26:14-20 – “If you turn away from Me and refuse to follow My instructions, expect terror to follow! All manner of ills will surround you, and all your hard work will come to nothing. The sky will be like iron against you and the soil like bronze, and the sources of your pride will be destroyed.”

 

Lord, this is not the kind of promise we want to hear! But thank You for letting us know what to expect. Thank You for reminding us that our choices and actions have consequences – as surely as when a child disobeys a parent or teacher, especially after being warned.

Heavenly Father, You have instructed us. You have warned us. If we start to turn from You – or if our friends, family, church, or country start to turn away – please coax us back before we go too far astray. Thank You, Lord.

 

 

Mary Harwell Sayler
from the book, Kneeling on the Promises of God 

 

Praying for those who labor

 

Matthew 11:28-30 – Jesus promised, “Come to Me you who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”

How often do we place unnecessary loads on our own shoulders, Lord, or struggle to do jobs that aren’t ours but Yours? How often do we let our ambitions and egos get in the way of Your Way?

Help us to be kindly taskmasters toward ourselves and other people over whom we have influence.
 

Help us to recognize and receive Your easy yoke without squirming or flinching or trying to shift the light weight we’re to carry onto someone else.

Thank You, Lord, for promising a reward of rest to Your followers. Help us to rest easy in You.

 

 

from Kneeling on the Promises of God 

Mary Harwell Sayler 

 

 

Prayer of Thanks for the Holy Spirit

 

John 14:26 – Jesus promised, “The Comforter – your Advocate, the Holy Spirit – Who the Father will send in My Name, shall teach you all things and bring to mind everything I’ve said to you.”

 

Lord, we get busy, busy and forget. We get older and sometimes lack recollection of what we thought we knew. We have to confess that sometimes we did not listen in the first place!

 

Thank You, for promising to teach us through Your Holy Spirit, Who speaks to and for us like a perfect lawyer, well-prepared to provide a sure defense.

 

Please draw us into reading the Gospels, again and again, so we can hear You more clearly and see how Your words and teachings give us exactly what we need today.

 

 

Mary Sayler

from the book, Kneeling on the Promises of God