Don’t Let the Length of this 52-Week Plan Installment Beatitude Prayer Guide Frighten You! 🙂
Would you agree with me that the foundation of our nation is the strength of the family?
In preparation for some training I am to do later in the month of July, I was getting some thoughts together, then I realized this connection AGAIN. Our nation’s strength is connected to the strength of our families; our families’ strength is connected to the strength of the individuals who lead. Several articles have appeared in recent weeks pointing to a lack of strong, loving dads being at the root of our nation’s woes.
My writing today is being offered as a help to us as leaders of families- married, couples, singles, grandparents, etc. All I am saying is that you and I must take full responsibility with God’s grace and the power of Holy Spirit to become the man or woman our family and friends need in order to show them the love of God in real time. We won’t be perfect, of course, but our children, family, church, community, and nation’s future will be altered for God, for good, or for ill by the legacy we leave.
My life is better today because these principles from Jesus’ own teachings have made deep, lasting impact on me. I want to leave my town, state, and nation in a better place than I found it. It started years ago and continues to this day to be much about prayer – talking to God and listening then obeying His Holy Spirit and Holy Scripture as God conforms us into the image of Jesus, His One and Only Son. My prayer is that this tool will be of help to you.
BEATITUDE PRAYER GUIDE
Background: Please read Matthew 5:3-12 with the understanding that this passage is the first part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount(Matthew 5, 6, 7). It is as if He was telling us who we are to be and not just what we are to do. These Morning and Evening Prayer Guides are based on my understanding of some of the principles Jesus is communicating to us in those Beatitude verses in Matthew 5:3-12.
Directions: Would you please pray one of the Morning Prayers before leaving home? In the evening would you pray the Evening Prayer and listen to God’s answer? Whatever day/date you begin doesn’t matter, but you may want to pray one each day completing all 8 in 8 days. You could continue going through the the prayer questions and listening times for as long as it is helpful in your growth in knowing and loving God and others.
Day 1. Morning Prayer – Father, may I realize that I am 100% needy of Your love and provision 100% of the time? Help me not feel or act superior or inferior to others; help me to live loved and give Jesus’ love freely.
Evening Prayer – Father, are there those to whom I felt or acted inferior or superior today? If so, I admit it to you now that I am neither. I am just as loved by You and just as needy of You, as every other person. You are my greatest source of hope for a blessed and enviable life.
Day 2. Morning Prayer – Father, may I bring my pain to you today when I am hurt by others or when I hurt others? Help me to admit my wrong and hurt to You and others as You direct.
Evening Prayer – Father, did I do damage to others today leaving them in their aloneness when I could have shown your love? Was my heart damaged today being left feeling alone? Did I admit either or both to you? Does anyone but You, Father, have ultimate control of my thoughts and emotions?
Day 3. Morning Prayer – Father, may I submit to your opinion of me and conduct myself in a way that shows I value your will and opinion more than I do anyone else’s; even more than my own.
Evening Prayer – Father, today was my life a clear example of someone who didn’t live for myself but lived it in complete submission to Your will and way? Does Your opinion of me matter most? Am I free of insecurity and fear, knowing you keep your promises to me?
Day 4. Morning Prayer – Father, rather than do good deeds today to make myself acceptable to You or liked by others, may I do what I do from gratitude because You already love and accept me?
Evening Prayer – Father, did I walk today in the satisfaction of knowing I am loved and accepted not because I am good but because Jesus, Who lives in me, declares me to be acceptable to You?
Day 5. Morning Prayer – Father, may I forgive others from the heart today as You forgive me, whether the wrong I experienced was recent, distant past, a single incident, or continuous over time? I can do this only as You help me know how much You have forgiven me.
Evening Prayer – Father, was there anyone today to whom I didn’t show mercy but held them at arm’s length or kept them caged in my prison of unforgiveness? Is my heart free of anger and bitterness? Did I yield control of my life to anyone who doesn’t truly love me?
Day 6. Morning Prayer – Father, may I hold nothing in my heart that would be considered an unnecessary weight or unconfessed sin, so that my heart can be pure, and I can see You as you truly are?
Evening Prayer – Father, is there anything in my heart that would be considered a burden (damage others inflicted on me) or a sin (damage I did to others)? Is there anything in either category in my heart as I prepare to sleep and rest?
Day 7. Morning Prayer – Father, may I live as a peacemaker today; and be in Your service bringing people together and to You, as any loved child in Your forever family is able to do?
Evening Prayer – Father, was I a peacemaker or a trouble maker today? Was there any gap between two people or between You and another person where I served as a bridge at Your direction or did I make the gap bigger in any relationship?
Day 8. Morning Prayer – Father, as a child of Yours living my life today, my acts of service may be appreciated or not, and my motives may, at times, be understood or not. Whether or not I am accepted and appreciated by others, may I continue to love.
Evening Prayer – Father, what was it today that challenged my faith or my trust in You? Was I stopped in my loving devotion to You or my service to others because someone misunderstood or challenged me? Was I a resilient Christian today, loving even when ignored or rejected?
Note: Each of these 8 prayer reminders is based on a Beatitude: Matthew 5:3-12