MY FATHER & MY GOD,
You alone are my God, the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are awesome in holiness. You are majestic in power. You are all-wise, all-powerful, and everywhere present. You uphold the universe that You created with the Word of Your power (Heb. 1:3). You alone are awesome. Nothing and no one can be compared to You. As Isaiah wrote, “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?” (Isa. 40:18). And again, “Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me” (Isa. 46:9).
O Lord, You are wondrous in truth, goodness, and mercy. You are amazing in grace, love, and redemption. O Lord, You alone can save sinners from sin, death, and Hell. You alone can regenerate the soul and create faith within the heart. You alone can impart everlasting life, because You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, alone are God! Heavenly Father, thank You for saving me from Satan, sin, and Your coming wrath! Thank You for granting me, and all Your elect, mercy and grace in Jesus Christ! You are infinitely and eternally holy, just, merciful, kind, loving, gracious, and long-suffering with Your people. You forgive the sins of those who love You, and You punish the evil doers.
Father, I love You! My love is not what it ought to be but I do have love in my heart for You and it is growing by the work of the Holy Spirit! This is evidence of my salvation since I could not love You apart from the Holy Spirit “shedding the love of God abroad in my heart” (Rom. 5:5). I could not love You apart from the Holy Spirit regenerating my soul and creating faith within! Increase my love for You. Grant me greater and more consistent loving obedience! Give me, O Father, greater understanding of Your Word! Teach me, Holy Spirit, so that I might walk in Your ways more diligently and faithfully! Guide me, O great Jehovah, since I am simply a pilgrim in a weary land.
Help me, Lord Jesus! I am a sinful, weak, fragile, frail, and vulnerable Christian! As the Apostle Paul wrote, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Rom. 7:15). I fall short every day in thought, word, and deed! Forgive me! Cleanse me! Revive me again, O Lord! Use me for Your glory and service! I take the words of John Calvin as my own, “My heart I offer to you, O Lord, promptly and sincerely.” I need You every hour to uphold me! I need the conviction of the Holy Spirit! Since truth accords with reality, help me be real about my sin and feebleness and my propensity to sin for You know my heart!
O Lord, we have such phoniness in the church today. Keep me back from erecting a facade! Help me to “keep it real” and may it be a help and encouragement to others. “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Prov. 28:13). But, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). I need Your constant forgiveness as I have not reflected Your glory as I ought! I confess that I have broken all Your commandments! I have not kept any of them. My hope is Jesus Christ, not me! Christ’s perfect obedience, Christ’s perfect death on the cross, Christ’s person and work alone is my salvation. In none other and in nothing other than the person and work of Christ is there righteousness, holiness, and perfect satisfaction. O, Lord Jesus, in You I trust alone!
Holy Spirit, I need Your abiding presence since You alone give me the assurance that I am a child of God (Rom. 8:16). Holy Spirit, I need Your continual abiding presence and Your face shining upon me lest I slip into despair and depression! I know depression, despair, and anxiety is always near, even right around the corner. Oh, such wretched consequences as a result of sin and living in a fallen world. O my Father, keep me from sinning against You. Don’t let me drift; don’t let me slip; don’t let me wander; don’t let me fall away from You. As David declared, “But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death” (1 Sam. 20:3). As the hymn writer wrote, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here’s my heart; O take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above.” And as David wrote, “Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression” (Psalm 19:13).
O my God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, I need You every moment of every hour! Lord Jesus, walk with me and keep me in Your constant care! Feed me as a sheep of Your pasture. Protect me as a child of Your fold. Revive me again, O Lord, to serve You with zeal and vigor, faithfulness, and humility! Forgive me for my rebellion against You for all sin is rebellion and lawlessness! Use me up for Your kingdom and glory! O Lord Jesus, strengthen me, bless me, fill me with Your Spirit and Word! Guard, Guide, and Protect me, O Great Shepherd of the Sheep!
In Jesus’ name and authority! Amen!