Another Prayer for Focus, Purpose, and Clarity

Lord, I keep trying this, doing that. What do YOU want me to do? Really, truly.

I keep running ahead and I stop listening to You. I leave You in the dust of my excitement for my latest fancy or whim. I’m tired of short-lived stuff. I keep saying I really do want to do Your will alone. Help me to actually live it.

Lord, forgive me for doing the things I mentioned above. I realize I keep getting sidetracked and busy. These are my two thorns I need to battle against so I can focus on a life focused on You and Your Word alone.

Lord, guide me. What DO You want me to do and how do You want me to be? I realize it’s important to do and be—not just one or the other, but both simultaneously. This is the well-balanced life.

What is Your purpose for me in this moment? I keep trying to ask to see the overall purpose. This is wrong. My purposes can change moment by moment, when and if I am open to You. So, help me live moment by moment in Your purpose.

That being said, though, I know there are some long-term purposes. Help give me clarity and let me know what they are in my life, which is really a life for You. It’s Yours.

What do You want me to do? How do You want me to be with You? I ask You both of these questions for this moment and every moment today and tomorrow.

Guide me, Abba. Help me hear You and to respond immediately and accordingly.

To You be all the glory.

I love You so.

(Image credit: Stacy Duplease 2010-2014.)

Focus and Purpose Prayer

Focus and Purpose Prayer

Good morning, Lord. Thank You for the morning and quiet time to spend with You. I so thoroughly need it.

Help me REALLY make today Your day and not give it lip service. Help me mean it all day long, moment by moment, not just right now as I say it (hence, the lip service). After all, today is the Lord's Day. It is not mine, Abba. Help me not to live as though it were.

I pray these verses to You, Lord.

Psalm 19:12-14 / Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

12 Who perceives his unintentional sins?

Cleanse me from my hidden faults.

13 Moreover, keep Your servant from willful sins;

do not let them rule over me.

Then I will be innocent

and cleansed from blatant rebellion.

14 May the words of my mouth

and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable to You,

Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.  

-- HCSB: Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Lord, let everything I think, say, plan, and do be of You and Your Word alone. Holy Spirit, please help me hear Your promptings when I am getting off-track and help me to respond immediately. All I want to do is live for the purpose and glory of God. Help me to do so--today, moment by moment, and every day hereafter.

I also pray these:

Psalm 139:1-4 / New American Standard Bible (NASB)

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

139 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

You understand my thought from afar.

3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,

And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,

Behold, O Lord, You know it all.

-- NASB: Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Lord, what sweet verses to remind me of Your goodness, love, and care. You are here with me and in me. You are always present and are all-seeing, all-knowing. I am never, ever alone. Oh, Lord, how sweet and wonderful You are.

I also pray these:

From "Believing God" by Beth Moore

Week 1 Memory Verse: Hebrews 11:6 / Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

6

Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him.

Lord, help my unbelief and teach me to believe.

Week 2 Memory Verse: Hebrews 11:3 / Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

3

By faith we understand that the universe was created by God’s command, so that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible.

Faith. Belief. Help me draw forever nearer to You and your Word. Help me make Your Word part of my life every moment.

Abba, You are so good to me--and have been all the days of my life, and will be.

Thank You for the enormous blessing of You.

(Image credit: Stacy Duplease 2010-2014.)

Good Morning, Lord, Prayer

Good Morning, Lord, Prayer 

Psalm 16:8-9 / New King James Version (NKJV)
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will rest in hope. 

--   NKJV: Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Lord, help me to set You before myself always and without hesitation. For, it's all about You and is not about me. My life is Yours. I hope to put You as the center of my thoughts in every moment, every minute, for the rest of my life on this earth. I want to put You first and foremost. Teach me to live in this way. 

(Image credit: Microsoft Images Online 2008-2014.)

Good Morning, Lord, Prayer and Galatians 5:16-18

Good Morning, Lord, Prayer and Galatians 5:16-18

Lord, here are three different versions of this passage I want to pray and meditate (ponder, contemplate, chew on, think on, grapple with) today, all day long, throughout the day: 

1 

Galatians 5:16-18 / Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
16 I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  

-- HCSB: Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

2

Galatians 5:16-18 / Expanded Bible (EXB)

16 So I tell you: ·Live [Walk] ·by following [guided by; in the power of; L by] the Spirit. Then you will not do what your ·sinful self [sinful nature; T flesh] ·wants [desires; craves]. 17 Our ·sinful self [sinful nature; T flesh] ·wants [desires] what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit ·wants [desires] what is against our ·sinful self [sinful nature;T flesh]. [L For] The two are ·against [opposed to; or hostile toward] each other, so you cannot do just what you ·please [want]. 18 But if the Spirit is leading you, you are not under the law. 

-- EXB: Scripture taken from The Expanded Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 

3 

Galatians 5:16 / The Message (MSG)

16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?  
-- MSG: Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. 

Lord, help me to remember that my life is Yours, not mine. Everything I am and do is because of You and is for the purpose of bringing You pleasure and glory. It's not about me. It's all about You. 

(Photo/Image Credit: Stacy Duplease 2009-2014.) 

Good Morning, Prayer

Good morning, Lord. I come before You and thank You for yesterday and last night. I also thank You for the opportunity of this new day. Lord, help me to make it Your day, not mine. I want to draw forever closer to You. I want more of You, less of me in my life. Help me to live this way today. Teach me how to do so. 

Lord, keep my mind from wandering. Help me to stay focused on You. I realize I need to train my mind to do so. Please teach me how. 

You are my everything. 

Help me to ponder the things of You and Your Word, not the senselessness of this crazy, sinful, self-centered, material focused world. Help me not fall into that trap. 

You are God. No one is more important in my life. Help my day today reflect this truth. 

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease. Backyard. 2013-2014)

Morning Prayer 14 January 2014

Morning Prayer 14 January 2014

Good morning, Lord. 

Thank You for the opportunity of this day. It gives me the chance to live another day of loving You, worshiping You, living the purpose You have for my life, and to bring You glory. 

This is the day You have made, Lord. You created it, and have allowed me to wake up this morning for a purpose. Lord, help me to live that purpose and bring You glory. Help me to know the purpose and to live it today, tomorrow, this week, this month, this quarter, this year, over the next decade, and for the rest of my life. 

This is Your day, not mine. Help me to remember this and grasp it. 

I love You, Father and Daddy. 

(Image credit: Stacy Duplease 2011-2014.)

Good Morning, Lord: A Prayer

Good Morning, Lord: A Prayer

Good morning, Lord.

How sweet it is to wake up knowing You are in my life and are working in my life, around my life, and through my life. You are always with me and forever present. You never leave me and certainly never forsake me (1 Kings 6:13; 1 Kings 8:57; Isaiah 42:16; Hebrews 13:5).

I also start this day knowing I have two choices:

1 Make today all about me or partially about me.

2 Make this day all about You.

I woke today because You wanted me to do so. That means You have a purpose for me this day. Am I going to live it? This is my choice.

Lord, guide me. Help me every second, minute, and hour, to make today all about You and not about me.

For, today is Your day. There is no better day.

Psalm 118:24 * Expanded Bible (EXB)

24 This is the day that the Lord has made.

   Let us rejoice and be glad ·today [in it]!

-- EXB: Scripture taken from The Expanded Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

PRAYER JOURNALING AND CONTEMPLATION

How can I make today more about You, Lord?

How can I make each day ALL about You, Lord? 
What is Your purpose (or purposes) for me today? This week? This month? This quarter? This year? This decade? 

(Image Credit: Stacy Duplease: The sunrise. 2011.)