Praying with Paul

2 Corinthians 8:16-23



Dear Father, to whom all honor is due,
Thank you for the earnest care you put into the heart of people like Titus. Thank you for people who respond to specific appeals to serve. They give glory to you and show the good will of your people. May your grace reach to me and make me such a person also.
Thank you that such people act in ways that are above and beyond blame. They love not only what is good in your sight but also what is honorable in the...

 

2 Corinthians 8:10-15



Dear Father,
It is you, my God, who supplies seed for the sower and bread for food. Multiply my resources and increase the harvest of righteousness for me and my family. Then give us hearts that are generous and willing to share with those in need around the world. May I be a trustworthy channel of your resources, and may you receive the glory and thanksgiving for all the goodness you distribute through me. May I glorify you, my God, by my obedience...

 

2 Corinthians 8:8-9



Dear Father,
Give us hearts of love, that refuse to say, "Go, be warmed and filled," but instead give what is needful to those full of need.
Help us prove that our love is genuine, remembering that the Lord Jesus himself was very rich in heaven with you but for our sakes he became poor that by his poverty we might become rich.
Thank you, Jesus, for this. Thank you, Father, for giving Jesus to us to show us the blessedness of giving to others.
In the...

 

2 Corinthians 8:1-7



Dear Father,
Show your grace to me and my family by giving us hearts so generous that we will share liberally with those who need our help.
May we give ourselves first to you, and then to our brethren. Help us to give of our means, even beyond our means, and of our own free will. May we earnestly desire to relieve the needs of Christians who are poor and whose lives are burdened.
Help us not only resolve to do good, but to complete the good we set out...

 

2 Corinthians 7:11-16



Dear Father, who wills the good of all of your children,
Give us great earnestness, eagerness to clear ourselves of evil, indignation over the hurts done to others, alarm over danger, longing for what is good, prudence about punishment for evil.
Help us have a real zeal for each other's good, visible within our hearts to you, our righteous Judge.
Let us find comfort in our forgiveness and acceptance of each other! Give us great joy in the pride we...

 

2 Corinthians 7:2-10



Dear Father, who wills the good of all of your children,
May all your holy people open their hearts to each other. Let us wrong no one, corrupt no one, take advantage of no one.
Let us have great confidence and pride in one another. Let us comfort one another. Even in affliction, fill us with joy!
Let us be honest with each other, correcting as necessary. And if we grieve each other, let mourning be turned to joy because of a change of attitude...

 

2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1



Dear Father, worthy of my undivided loyalty,
May I never be yoked to any person or organization that does not have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. For what partnership does righteousness have with iniquity? What fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? What agreement has your temple with the temple of idols?
I am your temple, the temple of the living God! For you have said, "I will live in them, and move among them...

 

2 Corinthians 6:1-11



Dear Father, blessed bestower of grace,
As your servant I commend myself to you as your will may require: Through great endurance, if need be - afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, staying awake, hunger! Through goodness - purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, and truthful speech. Through the power of God - with weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left. In...

 

2 Corinthians 6:1-11



Dear Father, blessed bestower of grace,
Let me work together with you to entreat people not to reject or ignore your offer of grace, or to accept it in vain.
Since today is the acceptable time, since today is the day of salvation, may I never-nor anything about me-be an obstacle in the way of someone else's acceptance.
Let my mouth be open to all who will listen. Help my heart be as wide as all humanity.
In the name of Jesus, whose compassion reached...

 

2 Corinthians 4:16-5:21



Dear Father, invisible but absolutely real,
May I be compelled by the love of Christ, convinced that he died that I might no longer live for myself but for him, the one who died for me.
So let me not regard Christ from a worldly point of view. I am in Christ. I am a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come!
I am reconciled to you, my Father, through your Son Jesus. Thank you for what you did for me - through him!
In the name of Jesus I...