My Father and My God,
Thank You for the Lord’s Day so that Your people might gather to worship and praise You: Father, Son, Holy Spirit!
As Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
We gather to hear Christ speak to us through His preached Word (Romans 10:14) and to meditate upon His promises (Phil. 4:8).
We gather to bow our hearts in prayer to You, O LORD (Psalm 32:6), to rejoice in Christ (Phil. 4:4), and to be comforted by His promises (Romans 15:4).
We gather to confess Christ’s name as the name above all names, the Lord (Phil. 2:9-11), to confess our sin and our constant and continual need of Jesus (Rom. 15:9; 1 Cor. 1:30-31).
We gather to give our tithes and offerings to the work of Christ’s kingdom (1 Cor. 16:2), to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to minister to one another with the gifts supplied by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:11).
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me! Of myself, I am so undeserving and unworthy of the least of Your benefits!
Of myself, I have earned Hell and everlasting punishment since I have broken all Your commandments.
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for living and dying in my place so that I would be granted life everlasting!
Thank You for fulfilling all the righteous demands of the Law of God in my place!
Thank You for dying on the cross to satisfy the justice of God against my sins!
Thank You for turning away God’s wrath from me by absorbing all my punishment in your person!
Thank You for making me acceptable to the Father by Your perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness.
Thank You, Father, for Your forgiveness!
Thank You that when I confess my sins to You that You are faithful and just to forgive and cleanse from unrighteousness! (1 John 1:9)
Thank You for Your kindness, mercy, grace, love, and compassion to me, a weak, sinful, ignorant vessel of clay!
O my God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, I love You because You first loved me! (1 John 4:19)
You have poured Your love into my heart by the Holy Spirit, enabling me to love You! (Rom. 5:5)
My love for You and for others is not what it ought to be! It’s so imperfect, so selfish! I fall so far short!
I daily fail to love You with my whole heart! I fail miserably! And I fail to love my neighbor as myself as well as those who hate me!
I have sinful thoughts, words, and actions, and I must daily fight against the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life!
Sadly, I don’t fight as I ought. I am inconsistent; I am selfish; I am lazy; I am ignorant of so much!
I am slothful in doing my Christian duty and ignorant of so much of Scripture!
But praise Jesus that He never failed to love You, O Father, with His whole heart, soul, mind, and strength on my behalf and that of all the sheep given to Him.
Jesus never failed to love His neighbor as Himself and He even loved those who hated Him with a perfect love!
What Amazing grace of Jesus that saved a wretch like me!
Heavenly Father, I need Your constant forgiveness as I have not reflected Your glory as I ought!
I need Your continual abiding presence and Your face shining upon me lest I slip into despair, discouragement, and depression!
I need You every hour!
Revive me again, Holy Spirit, to serve You with zeal and vigor!
Lord Jesus, keep me in the palm of Your hand as You have promised.
Keep me back from presumptuous sins.
Keep me treading upon the straight and narrow path that leads to life.
Cause me to always remember that I stand by faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ, and nothing in me.
Make me always remember 1 Cor. 10:12, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.”
Heavenly Father, I ask all these things in Jesus’ name!
Amen!
