My Prayer Today

“No, this is the kind of fasting I want: free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people” (Isaiah 58:6, NLT).

Dear Lord Jesus,

I never really lived before I knew you. I can remember not loving you, and the pain is so great. The thought that I once rejected you–that my everyday actions and heart continually drove nails into your forgiving hands, brings such anguish. Thank you for forgiving me for those years. I praise you for washing my life clean, and that you remember my sins no more. Don’t ever let me forget from where you have brought me, but don’t ever let the memory of that time pull me down. The emotional baggage is gone. The spiritual and physical separation is gone. In Your precious name, I have found healing.

Lord, Jesus, help me always to seek your perfect wholeness of body, mind and spirit. Teach me your precepts so that I might walk in your perfect plan–following the steps that you carefully lay before me. Open my eyes to the reason that I walk in them. Open my mind to understand the depth of my commitment. Open my ears to hear your still soft voice. I long for my eyes, ears, and mind to be blessed by your wisdom and understanding. I yearn for the humility of heart and soul that brings you joyful pleasure. I am starved for your presence. Come in this moment and hold me safely in the security of your heart.

Heal all relationships in my life that need healing. Teach me that the healing in a relationship starts within a person that can be molded by the Holy Spirit. That should be me, Lord. I can’t change another person's heart, but I can forgive the one who has hurt me, Lord. I can pray for words to say that brings healing to a broken and hurting life. You can show me that one thing that will pull down the strongholds in a life–that one thing that can start your healing. Reveal to me my own strongholds so that I may not judge another person for theirs.

Some people are so hurt by those they love! They have been injured by painful actions or unnecessary words. Lord, Jesus, it is how I react to those injuries that will either bring healing or more heartache. It is how I pray–it is how I listen to your direction–it is about my will being open to your precious leading–that speaks life instead of death. You wish life for all! You wish salvation for all your creation. How I respond to injury and pain caused by others, speaks what I really have inside my own heart.

Lord Jesus, for anyone who suffers from pain caused by someone's words or actions, I ask that they choose to forgive. Flood their hearts with your love, and the freedom that comes with forgiveness. For those who have hurt others, and asked forgiveness, and have not been able to mend those relationships, I ask for your love to be greater that the pain of their rejection. Lord, there is healing in you alone.

Lord, I pray restoration in all our relationships, and that we would offer you a fast of our own needs. Then emotional prison walls that have not only bound our hearts, but also bound the hearts of others, shall crumble. Oppression will end, and we will be free to love. It is then and only then, you can be the restorer of broken lives. It is only when we come in true sacrificial fasting of heart, and actions that speak your love, that we can receive healing, and be used to bring healing (Isaiah 58:6-12).

Lord, I am on your altar this morning asking you to always take any injury or pain–giving you any bitterness that might try to take root–giving you any rejection that I might feel– giving you the wall that my human heart continually tries to erect. These are all gone in your healing presence. I am open and free to walk in your spirit. I am free to be all you have called me to be. Where you spirit is, there is freedom.

I see healing. I see victory! I know and really understand the power of your sacrifice and your resurrection. Only in you is life, and that life is the light of men. I pray the power of your Word and your love create light within my heart–a light that draws those wounded to you. Today, I commit my heart to loving those who hearts are held in bondage. Today, I claim freedom for them. Today, I believe in your miracles. I trust you to do a work in me and through me. But I must make the decision, and I must be the catalyst.

Praise you, Lord Jesus, for your power and love that imparts healing. Lead me through this day and use me to bring life to someone else. Lay out surely and clearly the road I must travel. And help me to always remember that even though helping another is not easy, it is my life.

Amen