A CHRISTIAN'S SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER
My Father and My God!
You are the Sovereign of this universe: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!
You rule and reign over all things according to Your good will, pleasure, and purpose.
You are majestic in holiness, awesome in power, and infinite in knowledge.
I am humbled that You are mindful of me.
As David declared in Psalm 8, "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?"
You regenerated me, redeemed me, reconciled me, forgiven me, cleansed me, washed me, adopted me, justified me, and You are sanctifying me, and You alone provide me daily with all things necessary for life and godliness.
I know that all I stand in need of You provide, because You are my Good Shepherd Who cares for His sheep.
Heavenly Father, I am humbled and thankful to be one of Your adopted children.
You have taken me off the broad road that leads to destruction and set my feet upon the narrow road that leads to life.
By Your Holy Spirit, You have caused me to know and believe Your truth and have blessed me with the godly desire to continually reject the lies of Satan, sin, and this fallen world, which is under Satan's rule.
Father, You continually teach me Your truth and reveal Yourself to me more and more as You cause me to grow in the likeness of Your beloved Son and my wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ.
You cause me to walk in wisdom.
You humble me in Your sight.
You teach me to love You, Your Word, my brothers and sisters in Christ, my neighbors, and even my enemies.
I am one who is not worthy of the least of Your blessings and truth.
I am needy, and I am helpless and hopeless apart from Your grace in Jesus Christ!
In and of myself, I am only worthy of damnation for I have broken all Your commandments in thought, word, and deed.
Yet in a gracious wonder, I don't stand before You in and of myself but I am in Christ, united to Him forever, and am covered and clothed by His righteousness, holiness, and perfect satisfaction.
Therefore, You love me for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, the One Who has fulfilled all the righteous requirements of Your Law in my place.
Lord Jesus, You are the One who went to the cross and suffered for all my sins.
You are the One Who was condemned in my place and on my behalf.
You arose from the dead, which declared that the Father received Your atoning work on my behalf and also on behalf of all of Your sheep.
Hallelujah! I am eternally forgiven because of You, Lord Jesus!
I am eternally blessed because of Jesus!
I am forever loved and cared for because of Jesus!
I have life everlasting because of Jesus!
I am washed from the guilt of my sins because of Jesus!
I am adopted into the family of God because of Jesus!
My name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life because of Jesus!
I have been given all the blessings in the heavenly places because of Jesus!
Oh, how I love You, Lord Jesus!
I am humbled by Your love, grace, mercy, and Your sustaining and transforming work of sanctification.
I am forever thankful that You loved me from before the foundation of the world, that You love me now, and that You will continually provide for me and have promised to never leave me nor forsake me!
Holy Spirit, I need Your abiding presence since You alone give me the assurance that I am a child of God (Rom. 8:16).
I need Your constant forgiveness as I have not reflected Christ's glory as I ought!
I need Your continual abiding presence and Your face shining upon me lest I slip into disobedience, despair, or depression!
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 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).
Discipline me when I disobey; Humble me when I obey!
May I ever praise Your holy name!
In Christ's holy name I pray!
Amen!
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CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY
“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”
—Hebrews 13:17
Our text says that pastors and elders watch out for the souls of God’s people. To “watch out” is translated from the Greek word which means “sleepless.” The calling, gifting, and authority of the pastor and elder is from God, and they are responsible to continually watch over Christ’s flock. The church belongs to Christ, yet pastors and elders are given the authority from God to care for the church in Christ’s stead. Our prayer should be that God would give us godly pastors and elders who rule by serving the church, and church members who willingly and humbly submit to their rule. This is the avenue of peace in Christ’s church, and the key ingredient is humility.
Humility means you don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but you think soberly. When church members walk in humility they willingly obey and submit to the authority of their pastor and elders. And when the pastor and elders walk in humility, they willingly serve the congregation the Word of God as loving shepherds of the flock who love, care for, and protect the people of Christ because Jesus said, “Tend My sheep!” (John 21:16)
Therefore, when the truth of God is taught by the pastor and elders, every church member has the Biblical responsibility to obey and submit to the truth. If we disagree with something the elders’ rule upon, godly submission requires that we humbly go to the elders and present our case rather than lead a rebellion against the office bearers of the church. There needs to be respect shown toward the office of pastor and elder as those who teach God’s Word and rule in the church. The Apostle Paul wrote to Titus in 2:15, “Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.” To despise Titus would have been to despise God, whose Word Titus preached. It’s also important to notice that Titus had a responsibility to let no one despise His God-given authority as he spoke the Word of God. To “despise” is translated from the Greek word “periphroneo”, which means “to think around.” Titus had a God-given responsibility to let no one under his care think their way around the Word of God.
Our text also says we should obey godly leaders because if you cause them grief, you cause yourself grief. In other words, obedience to godly church leaders is for your benefit. Disobedience to them “would be unprofitable for you.” God designed authority to protect and bless, but if you disobey godly church leaders who proclaim God’s Word, you are really disobeying God, which always has serious consequences. Take some time today to examine your heart on the issue of submission to those whom God has raised up to rule in His church for His honor, glory, and praise, and the good of Christ’s Church.
Friday Devotional: October 16, 2026
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
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