Praying with Paul

Passage
2 Corinthians 4:13-15

Prayer
Heavenly Father, giver of life and faith,Thank you for the spirit of grace which enables me to believe.May I have the same spirit of faith as he who wrote, \"I believed, and so I spoke.\" I believe too, and so let me speak!I believe (I know!) that you, the God who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise me with Jesus and bring me into his presence.As your grace extends to more and more people may they pour out their thanksgiving - to your glory!In...

 

Passage
2 Corinthians 4:7-12

Prayer
Dear Father, powerful sustainer,Thank you for putting your treasure in a cracked clay pot like me so that it will be evident that the treasure is from you, the transcendent and powerful God, and not from me, the container.Thank you for upholding all who serve you. When I am afflicted in every way, I am not crushed; when perplexed, I am not driven to despair; when persecuted, I am not forsaken; when struck down, I am not destroyed.Reveal your...

 

Passage
2 Corinthians 4:1-6

Prayer
Dear Father, powerful sustainer,You have called me to minister your mercy to the world, so let me never lose heart or give up! May I renounce disgraceful, underhanded ways in all forms and refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with your word.Let me state truth plainly and thereby commend myself to every one's conscience in your sight. Even if the message of Good News is veiled to some, it is veiled only to those who are perishing! Open the eyes of...

 

Passage
2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Prayer
Dear Father, transformer of my life,Lord God, I thank you for your Spirit, for the Lord, and for the freedom I have in them. Thank you that I, with unveiled face, can look freely and intently on the glory of the Lord, and be changed into his likeness, from one degree of glory to another.Help me remember that such transformation comes, not by my inherent wisdom or efforts, but only from the Lord who is the Spirit.Make me like Jesus! Help me want to...

 

Passage
2 Corinthians 3:7-16

Prayer
Dear Father,What a glorious splendor Christ's gospel has! It is a dispensation of glory! And why shouldn't the dispensation of the Spirit be attended with greater splendor than that of the letter! How much more splendid than the temporary glory of Moses is the permanent, new covenant, the dispensation of righteousness through faith by your grace!I am so full of hope because of what you have done! I have such boldness!For in Christ the veil of...

 

Passage
2 Corinthians 3:3-6

Prayer
Dear Father, all-sufficient God,Let me be a letter from Christ written to people who need to hear the Good News, written not on paper with ink but on hearts with my loving attitudes and actions.I claim no self-sufficiency, but I believe the sufficiency of your grace qualifies me to serve as a spokesman for your new covenant. I hope through Christ that you might use me this way. Grant me this sufficiency as I rely totally on you.Thank you that the...

 

Passage
2 Corinthians 2:17-3:3

Prayer
Dear Father,Thank you, Father, that I am not just a peddler of your word, but that I am commissioned by you and that I speak in Christ.Let everyone who comes to a knowledge of your will through what I teach be a living letter of recommendation, written on that person's heart, to be known and read by everyone.Let that person be a letter from Christ to the world, delivered by me, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on...

 

Passage
2 Corinthians 2:14-16

Prayer
Dear Father,Let the incense which is my life and my prayers arise as a sweet fragrance to you.Thanks be to you, my God, that you always lead me in triumph, and through me, spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ everywhere. Thank you that you have appointed Christians to be the aroma of Christ to yourself among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are a fragrance from death to death, to the other a...

 

Passage
2 Corinthians 1:23-2:11

Prayer
Dear Father, God of forgiveness,Father, help me, when someone sins, to encourage him or her to repent, then to forgive and comfort that person in your love.Help all Christians to affirm such loving forgiveness and to comfort each other so that Satan will not gain the advantage over us, for we are not ignorant that his designs are that we should be unforgiving.In the name of Jesus and in full confidence of salvation through him I ask all these...

 

Passage
2 Corinthians 1:23-2:11

Prayer
Dear Father, giver of great joy,I hope that in my effort to get others to live for you that I will never lord it over their faith.Help me work with them for their joy. Let them stand firm in freedom in their faith.Help my contacts with them not cause pain, but let my joy be their joy, and let their joy be my joy! Help us to work together in a common goal in the Lord. Help us work for each other's upbuilding in holiness.In the name of Jesus and in...