PRAYER
Almighty God in Heaven, our Father, we pray to You today, ever mindful of all You have done for us, always aware of Your greatness, and thankful, amid our imperfections, for the calling You have placed upon us.
And we pray today, sincerely, here in this earthly world, where we confess, we are tired at times. Not defeated, but tired.
We are tired of watching confusion pressed upon our children of all ages as though it were "kindness." We are tired of defending what Your Word has always made plain: that You made us as man and woman, that life begins with You, that the family is Your design and not ours to redesign. We understand those things and believe them in our hearts. We are tired of seeing these practical foundations chipped at, day after day, in classrooms and courtrooms and even in some corners of the Church.
So we pray today, not to complain, but to do what our Savior, Your Son, told us to do. We pray to ask. "Ask," He said, "and it will be given to you."
Therefore, we ask, Father, not that everything be easy, because we are willing to do the hard work. But we ask that You strengthen us so that we are able. We ask that we would be strengthened with power through Your Spirit in our inner being. That Christ would dwell in our hearts through faith. That we, being grounded in love as You have taught us, would have the strength we need to stand through all of this.
Bless us, Your children, with Heavenly strength, as we carry the light of Your Word into a culture that, near home and around the world, seems to prefer the dark. We confess we do not always understand why. But we see it, and it will not deter us from standing firm in the knowledge, the Truth, You have granted us.
And guard religious liberty, we pray, O Father. Where Your believers have been free to speak and gather and teach, let that freedom hold. And where public life seems to drift away from You, give us not bitterness, nor the frustration we sometimes fear we will give in to, but the steady, patient, faithful wisdom of those who know how this ends. For we do know how this ends. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess. And evil will not prevail.
So as the new week opens before us, with all it will ask of us and all we cannot yet see, we go forward in faith, leaning on strength that is not our own but Yours. For it is only in You, day by day, moment by moment, that we are made able, through Christ who strengthens us.
In the mighty name of Jesus,
Amen.
