Praying with Paul

1 Corinthians 8:1-13



Dear Father, the one real and only God,
Give me more love and humility than knowledge, for "Knowledge puffs up but love builds up."
People know lots of things, but they let it go to their heads. Help me, Father, never to imagine that I know everything, because I know that I do not yet know as I ought to know. What I want is to love you as I should, for if I love you, then I am loved and known by you. All the things that men and women pursue, O God...

 

1 Corinthians 7:36-40



Dear Father, head of our one enduring spiritual family,
We live in our bodies and in families and we have strong needs for these very human things.
Thank you for consenting to our involvement with these, as long as we possess them without grasping or coveting, and as long as we love you more than these.
Whatever freedoms we have, let us exercise them by abiding in the Lord. Grant us the grace to follow Paul's teaching, since he spoke as one having...

 

1 Corinthians 7:25-35



Dear Father, head of our one enduring spiritual family,
Thank you that you have not left us uninformed in matters of family relations. Thank you for the apostle Paul's instructions, which tell us to be holy in body and spirit and to give ourselves up to please you. Help me, Father, to do that.
May we be content in the situations in which you have placed us. May those of us with spouses live, in a sense, as if we had none. May those of us who mourn...

 

1 Corinthians 7:10-24



Dear Father, lover of families,
May my spouse and I both strive to satisfy the spiritual, mental, economic, emotional, and physical needs of the other so neither of us will ever be tempted to look to someone else for companionship. Help us both to exercise perfect self-control, never giving Satan any opportunity to deceive us.
Father, grant that there may never be any rupture in our marriage relationship that would lead to quarreling...

 

1 Corinthians 7:1-7



Dear Father, third party to our marriage,
Thank you that in matters of family relations you have not left us uninformed. Thank you for your apostle Paul's instructions. Help me take all these to heart.
While it may have been better for me to remain unmarried and to have dedicated my life wholly to your service, I am married now, so please help me to fulfill all my vows and obligations to my wife and to freely give to her my love. Help me constantly to...

 

1 Corinthians 6:14-20



Dear Father, powerful and holy God,
This body of mine is not just temporary, meant for the decay of the grave. You have promised to redeem it, to make it glorious like Christ's. It will be my instrument to glorify you throughout eternity. Let me use it with that thought in mind.
Surely you, God, who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead by your power, will also raise my body by your power. Make me ever aware that my body is a member of Christ's body...

 

1 Corinthians 6:12-13



Dear Father, powerful and holy God,
Help me to understand that even though all things may be lawful for me, all things are not helpful. Keep me from being enslaved by anything.
You gave us stomachs for processing food and drink, and you gave us sexuality for procreation and intimacy, but you did not mean our bodies to be used for gluttony, drunkenness, or immorality!
Remind me every day, Lord, that my body is for you, and that you, Lord, are for my...

 

1 Corinthians 6:1-11



Dear Father, eternal and just judge of all,
Help me never to shame you or your saints before the world. How could I dare seek arbitration with a brother before a judge who does not even know about Christ's way? If believers are someday to judge the world, and even angels, surely we can settle matters between ourselves. Help me, Father, to willingly suffer wrong rather than to quarrel with members of your family before the world and thereby invite...

 

1 Corinthians 5:9-13



Dear Father, lover of righteousness and purity,
Give us determination to keep your command not to associate with the immoral - not at all meaning the immoral of the world, the greedy and robbers, the idolaters, for then we would have to go out of the world - but not to associate with one who bears the name of a brother if that one is guilty of immorality or greed, or is an idolater, a reviler, a drunkard or robber - not even to eat with such a...

 

1 Corinthians 5:1-8



Dear Father, who disciplines us for our own good,
Save your church from the sexual perversions that are taking place in our society. Let us show your love to sinners and show them how to receive forgiveness. But may we also say, as Jesus said, "Sin no more!"
Help us to exercise discipline, even to the removal of unrepentant members, delivering them over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that their spirits may be saved in the day of the Lord...