Father, just as You sent an angel to rescue Peter from Herod’s wrath You rescue us from the dangers, toils, and snares that overwhelm us. In the darkness of Peter’s cell the sudden appearance of an angel radiated light from heaven showing him the way to freedom. Help us to look to the light of Your Holy Word that releases us from the hopelessness of our circumstance. Thank You for the messengers of light You commission who encourage us or release us from our fears, whether they be angels from heaven or your servants on earth. Amen.

Father, You have placed Your children in a world where people push and shove to be first. Because of their self-importance they clamor for recognition and will stop at nothing until they get what they want in life, even if it means hurting others in the process. But You’ve called us to view life from a perspective that considers others as important as ourselves. We are to have a humble attitude that puts You first, others second, and ourselves last in everything we do. In our humanity this is impossible, but as we are being transformed into the likeness of Your Son, Jesus, we become more like Him. Our love and consideration for others grows and we apply the golden rule to our lives where we do to others as we would have them do to us. May this relationship rule guide us as we make decisions that affect others and ourselves. Help us to have the mind of Christ in all that we do. Amen.

Jesus, we’re so thankful for Your redeeming grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt. For where our sin increased, Your grace increased all the more. Your refuge for our sin-filled souls took place at the cross of Calvary where You shed Your precious blood so that we might find forgiveness for our sins. This salvation is marvelous; it is matchless, and it is infinitely greater than the animal blood sacrifice that took away sins for only a season. Your redeeming blood sacrifice frees us from the penalty of sin in this life and for all eternity. Thank You for freely shedding Your blood on our behalf. Amen.

Father, we thank You for those who go to the uttermost parts of the world and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, making known the “unknown God” to the people of that land. From the very beginning You created a hunger within our hearts to serve you, but far too many misfeed that hunger and instead “worship gold, silver or stone, images from by the art and thoughts of man”. Instead we are to feed that hunger by loving You with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. As we draw near to You, You promise to draw near to us. We are grateful for the wooing of the Holy Spirit that convicts us our sin and reveals Your great love to us. Thank You for making Yourself known to us in Your Word as we immerse ourselves in Your truths. Amen..

Jesus, we want to fix our eyes, our thoughts, and our affections on You, our blessed Redeemer. Though You faced enormous opposition that would provide understandable excuse for altering Your redemption plan, nevertheless You endured the cross and scorned it’s shame. Thank you that you died for our sins and rose in victory and returned to Your Father to sit at His right hand. When we consider the depth of Your commitment we’re even more determined to be faithful in the night seasons of our Christian walk. Help us to endure by keeping our eyes, not on that which is seen, but on the unseen future rewards that You promise to those who are faithful. We pray this in Your name. Amen..

Father, there is incredible blessing in the miracle of new birth and along with this gift of life comes extraordinary, lifetime responsibility for the parents. May we as parents realize the impact of imparting Scriptural teaching by instruction as well as example from the time of their conception. We’re grateful for our family, other Christian brothers and sisters, our church and Christian ministries that also inspire our children to live for You. We cannot force our children to walk in Your ways, but we can certainly show them the way to life everlasting and equip them with the Scriptural knowledge that will make them wise for salvation. May this always be our highest priority. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Father, as we corporately worship we come together, both young and old, from various ethnic, social and spiritual backgrounds. Some of us were raised by godly parents and early on chose to follow in Your ways; others more recently enlisting in Your service. There is so much to be gained from young and new in the faith. And we learn so much from the older. We learn from each other and we increase our faith as we continue in that which we have learned and become convinced of because we know those people from whom we learned it. We have seen the commendable results exemplified in their lives and aspire to implement the good into our own. Keep us keeping on in You we pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Father, there is nothing that we have need of that You do not supply. Your benevolent nature gives us far more than we need and abundantly provides pleasurable and comfortable material possessions. Help us to know the difference between that which is essential, such as food, clothing and shelter, from the inessentials that make life a bit more comfortable and eases our work load. We are indebted to You for all that we have and want to be careful to share with those who have less. We thank You that Your divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of You who has called us by Your own glory and goodness. Amen.

Father, there are so many gray areas in life where we may differ with our own family or even the best of friends. We may vary in our preferences of personality styles, giftings, and tastes. But when it comes to the eternal truths, unchanging principles and commands of Scripture it is not for us to pick and choose. We must give full attention to the words of Scripture and build a godly heritage that we can pass on to our children and our children’s children. We must uphold and teach the Scriptures that are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. We want to remain steadfast and faint not as we seek to be people of deep conviction with growing faith and sterling character, making a positive difference in our sphere of influence. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Father, it has been written that he who stands for nothing will fall for anything. Most within our generation stand for very little that has eternal value, in great part because they were never instructed in the Scriptures and had no godly example to follow. We want to fill in that chasm by being hearers and doers of the Word, leading men and women, boys and girls into a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus. We are convinced of these teachings by the Holy Spirit, by men and women of deep faith who led and instructed us, and by our own defining experiences in life. Help us to stand unashamedly and fearlessly as people of deep conviction so that we can. Amen.