HEAVENLY FATHER, I bow before You this Lord’s Day morning through the Lord Jesus Christ and by Your Holy Spirit. Thank You, Father, for Your amazing grace and wondrous mercy. I thank You, Father, for electing me unto salvation and giving me as a love gift to Your Son, Jesus Christ, so that He would redeem me by His perfect law-abiding life and sin-atoning death. I thank You, heavenly Father, that in Your own purpose and pleasure You chose to adopt me into Your family. I know this was not because of anything in me, but solely according to Your good purpose and pleasure. For I am not worthy of the least of Your benefits or truth as I have broken all Your commandments! As David declared in Psalm 8:4, “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” Thank You, Father, for loving me and redeeming me by Your blessed Son, Jesus Christ. For, as Jacob declared, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant” (Genesis 32:10). And in the words of the prodigal son, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:21). Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned against You. Wash me and cleanse me for Christ’s sake. As You have promised in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
LORD JESUS, I praise You for laying down Your life for me, and for all Your sheep. When You found us, we were miserable, blind, rebellious, wretched sinners. Not only did you lay down Your life for us, but You also lived that perfect life in our place. As the Scripture declares, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Lord Jesus, You alone fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the Law of God and have clothed Your people with Your perfect righteousness in order that we may come boldly into the throne of grace being justified by Your work which You accomplished in Your life, death, resurrection, ascension, and session. I thank You, Lord Jesus, that You imputed Your righteousness to me and to all Your people in exchange for our sins being imputed to You. Thank You that on the cross You dealt with all our sins, past, present and future, once for all time and therefore we bear our sins no more! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! What A Savior! Help me, Lord Jesus! For I am so insufficient and inadequate to serve You. Strengthen me by Your power. Guide me, guard me, lead me on, Good Shepherd, lest I go astray and wander as all Your sheep are prone to do!
HOLY SPIRIT, thank You that while I was spiritually dead in my trespasses and sins, You made me spiritually alive and created faith in my soul that I might believe the Gospel, love You, love the Father, love the Lord Jesus Christ, and love Your Church. Thank You for creating faith in my heart so that I could believe the Gospel and trust fully in Jesus for my salvation, which He obtained for me by His sin-atoning death and law-fulfilling life. Thank You for making me a new creation in Christ! Thank You for enabling me to serve Christ by serving His Church, which Jesus purchased with His own blood. Fill me, Holy Spirit, with Your presence and power, dominate my life, control my every thought, word, and action, and cause me to be obedient to that which You command of me in Your Word. Cause me to realize that when I am obedient to Your will, I am only an unprofitable servant who has only done that which You have commanded. Do not let me grieve You, Holy Spirit. Correct me when I go astray, make me humble when I obey. Holy Spirit, I ask that You open my understanding more and more in order that I might rightly understand Your Scriptures since You alone give understanding of Your Word. Fill me with Your holy presence and power and grant me courage to live completely and comprehensively for Jesus my Lord and Savior. Open my eyes that I might see the wondrous things in Your Word. Show me Jesus in Your Word. As the hymn writer declared, “More of His saving fullness see, More of His love who died for me. More about Jesus in His Word, Holding communion with my Lord; Hearing His voice in ev’ry line, Making each faithful saying mine!”
O GOD: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thank You for blessing me with all the blessings in the heavenly places in Christ for I know that I am unworthy of the least of Your blessings and truth. I know that all I have merited is damnation, an eternity under Your wrath because of my lawlessness! All Your blessings come not by my obedience but by Your sovereign grace. My obedience is always less than perfect and defiled with sin and is only acceptable to You because of the merits of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who always lives to make intercession for the saints. O my Father, hear my prayer for the sake of your Son, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name and authority I pray. Amen!
