Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for giving us so many opportunities to speak Your Word of Life into the lives of so many individuals. Thank You for blessing me to interact with different people from all walks of life. Thank You for helping me to maximize these opportunities for Your glory. I pray that my eyes are opened to what You desire me to see and thank You that I am attentive to take care of the details and tasks that You have assigned to me.
Lately, I’ve been concerned specifically for my generation. There seems to be a lot of people turning away from Your Word. In John 17:17, Jesus Christ prayed for the ones that You had given him on the earth; those that walked with him daily. He prayed that You would sanctify them by the truth of Your Word. To be sanctified is to be set apart for Your purpose. We can’t talk, think, or behave like everyone else in the world. We must be different, because we are the people You have called to be set apart and holy. Many young people are blinded by satan, and they have been tricked into believing that this set-apart-ness will keep them from enjoying life. Oh Father, how wrong they are.
It is such a privilege to know You. It’s a glorious privilege and honor to be saved and to live a saved life. To delight in Your presence through Jesus Christ is the greatest joy of all eternity. There are no words that can describe the completeness we experience by being in fellowship with You. Nehemiah 8:10(NLT) tells us, “Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Pleasing You, doing what You tell us to do, and being in Your presence daily is our strength. It builds us up in phenomenal ways.
I praise You for the wisdom I have obtained about Your Word, and I thank You for the people You’ve placed in my life to teach it to me. As a young person, I’m told all the time, “you don’t act your age” or “you have an old soul”. To some, those statements might be insults or jabs, but for me they are compliments. They let me know where I am mentally and spiritually. As I continue to grow, I want nothing more than for the light of Your Son, Jesus Christ, to shine through me.
The Apostle Paul asked in Galatians 1:10 (NIV), “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” This is a very important distinction that You have made for us. We will either focus on pleasing You, or we will focus on pleasing people—trying to win their approval instead of trying to win Yours. I think this is where many young people are in their minds and hearts; they are trying to please their friends and the people they hang around every day. They don’t understand that a person has to make a choice, and we must choose You in order to have a blessed life. They must make a decision to live for You. They have failed to see that the stuff they think is fun isn’t at all. It’s the devil’s playground, and ultimately it will tear their lives apart.
Thank You, Father, for waking up this generation of young people so they will no longer be blinded by the devil. Please show them the error of their ways so they will seek You for a clean heart and the renewal of a right spirit within them. Please help all believers to wake up as well. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 9:37 that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. This is true today. Please Father, help us to invent new, exciting, and effective ways to spread Your Gospel. Help us to be creative and resourceful, and to make bold strides towards moving Your agenda for the earth forward. Following You through the Lord Jesus Christ is wonderful beyond anything we can imagine. Thank You for helping us to show this to people everywhere we go. We pray this prayer in the wonderful name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Set Apart by God”, written by KLizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.