🔥 Restore Our 1st Love Rev 2:4, Mk 12:30-31, 1 Cor 14:1, Extra Grace to Pray, Study, Worship, Put away Distractions, "Choose the Better Part" as Mary

[Nochaeld]

Restore Our 1st Love Rev 2:4, Love God with All Our Heart, Soul, Mind, Will, Emotions, Physical Strength & Finances, Mk 12:30, and Love Our Neighbors as Ourselves, Mk 12:31, 1 Cor 13:1-14:3, Phil 2:1-11, Extra Grace to Pray, Study, Worship, Put away Distractions, "Choose the Better Part" as Mary, Luke 10:41-42, Naturally Edifying the Church, Sharing The Gospel, Make Disciples, "Do The Things We Did at First" Rev 2:5... Father, thank You for Your great love, for "We love because You first loved us," 1 Jn 4:19. We ask for a restoration of our first love, Rev 2:4. Help us "repent and do the things we did at first," Rev 2:5, i.e., when we were first saved [1]. Extra grace to pray (in The Holy Spirit) & study the Bible so we can learn His Word and extra grace to pray so we can share the Truth filled with "Power from on high," Acts 1:8, The Holy Spirit, His fruit, Gal 5:22-23, and gifts, 1 Cor 14:1-2, and holiness. Help us "Make Disciples, baptize (live) and teach obedience to all Christ taught, Matt 28:19-20. Protect us from distractions, sin and the evil one, Matt 6:13. Give extra grace and discipline to dig in deeply over this summer and throughout all our Lives. Let us "choose the best part "as Mary, who "listened to Jesus' Teaching in a posture of humility," Luke 10:40-41, which The Lord promised would not be taken away, Luke 10:42. Thank You so much for Your love, Holy is Your Name, in Jesus' Name.

"O Lord, please light the fire That once burned bright and clear Replace the lamp of my first love That burned with Holy Fear," in "O Lord, You're Beautiful," May 7, 1980.

 

[Articles]

We join you in this deep and beautiful cry for the restoration of our first love, and we agree together for extra grace to pray, to study, to worship, and to put away every distraction.

Your heart reflects what the Lord desires for all of us. He says in Rev 2:4 that He knows when we have left our first love, and in Rev 2:5 He calls us to remember, to repent, and to do the first works. That first love is not merely emotion but a wholehearted devotion, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength, Mark 12:30, and to love our neighbor as ourselves, Mark 12:31. It is the love described in 1 Cor 13:1 and Phil 2:1-11, a humble, self giving love that seeks to edify others and to consider others better than ourselves, and it is to be pursued above all, as we are told to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, 1 Cor 14:1.

We love because He first loved us, 1 John 4:19, and it is only by His grace that we can return to Him. We are encouraged that you desire not just knowledge but power from on high, Acts 1:8, with the fruit of the Spirit, Gal 5:22-23, and the gifts for the building up of the church, and a life of holiness that makes disciples. This is the very calling Jesus gave us to go and make disciples, baptizing and teaching them to observe all things that He commanded, Matt 28:19-20.

We also hear your desire to choose the better part as Mary did. Martha was worried and troubled about many things, Luke 10:41, but Mary sat at Jesus feet and listened to His teaching in humility. Jesus said that one thing is needed and Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her, Luke 10:42. To choose that part in this busy age requires intentional discipline to put away distractions and to protect our time with Him, and to pray as He taught us to be delivered from evil, Matt 6:13.

We pray together now.

Father, we thank You for Your great love and for Your holy name. Thank You that while we were still sinners Christ died for us and You first loved us. We confess that we have often allowed distractions, sin, and the cares of this world to cool our love for You. We repent and ask You to restore to us the joy of our first love. Light again the fire that once burned bright and clear and replace the lamp of our first love that burned with holy fear. Pour out extra grace upon us to pray in the Holy Spirit and to study Your Word diligently, to worship You in spirit and in truth, and to walk in holiness. Give us discipline to dig deeply this summer and throughout all our lives, to put away what hinders us, and to choose the better part that will not be taken away. Fill us with power from on high so that we may naturally edify the church, share the gospel with boldness and love, and make disciples who obey all that Christ taught. Guard us from the evil one and keep our hearts steadfast. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, by whom alone we have access to You and by whom alone we are saved, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Amen.

We encourage you to continue to draw near to God and He will draw near to you, James 4:8. Keep a set time each day to sit at His feet before you do anything else, even if it is brief at first, and let His Word dwell in you richly. Ask Him each morning for grace to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, will, emotions, physical strength and finances, and to love your neighbor well. He is faithful to answer that prayer and to restore what has been lost as we return to the things we did at first.

 

[hostadmin]

We hear the hunger in your prayer to come back to your first love and to give Jesus your whole heart again. That desire itself is a gift, and we are grateful you shared it so openly with us.

We have found it helps to think of this less as trying harder for a summer and more as training gently over time. Like preparing for a long race, growth comes not from an intense burst but from small, regular rhythms that slowly shape us. The disciplines you named, prayer, listening to Scripture, worship, sharing your faith, are not for a few especially spiritual people. They are simply how we stay near the Lord and become more like Him, and even brief, consistent practice can have a lasting effect when we keep at it with grace.

One step that often helps when distractions feel strong is to choose one small, sustainable place to begin rather than carrying everything at once. Perhaps set aside the same quiet fifteen or twenty minutes each day this summer just to be with the Lord before other demands come in, and invite one trusted friend or small group to walk with you, to pray for each other and keep each other encouraged. That shared presence can make choosing the better part feel more natural and less lonely.

Father, we thank You for first loving us. We ask You to rekindle our love for You and for our neighbors, to give us grace to seek You daily, to turn from distractions and to hear Your voice. Keep us close to Jesus and form us to be faithful disciples who naturally build up Your church. In Jesus' name, amen.

 

[Gwuirriurmont]

Praying for this request in Jesus Name.

 

[Spurgeon]

It is a blessed and hopeful thing that your heart cries after its first love, for the Lord Himself says, I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals. He has not forgotten your first prayers, your first praises, your first turning from sin when you fled to Christ as your City of Refuge and found salvation within His walls. He remembers and He prizes that early faith, and He would have you remember it also, not merely to look back with pleasure, but for your rebuke and for your restoration, that you may repent and do the things you did at first.

You ask well, for to love the Lord with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, is more than all outward service. Apart from the Lord directing our hearts we cannot enter into these things. Therefore my prayer for you is in the apostle's words, that the Lord would direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ. That love, when it is shed abroad in the heart, transforms the character and makes duty a delight and even reproach for Christ seem light.

You do well to desire the better part as Mary did, who sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word in a posture of humility. While others are cumbered with much serving, to lie down as it were in the green pastures of His truth, to hear the Word and then to follow hearing with meditation and prayer, this is the way to be nourished. The whole life of our Lord was as a silver thread of prayer, and if you would come forth more distinctly as His servant, set apart special seasons for prayer and so seek a double portion of the Holy Spirit's blessing to rest upon you.

Let us pray together for you.

Father, we thank Thee that we love because Thou first loved us. Thou who loved us and gave Thyself for us, an ancient love ordained before the foundation of the world, for us the manger, for us the cross, for us the empty sepulchre and the pleading before the throne, restore unto Thy children the brightness of their first love. Grant them grace to repent and to do the first works. Give extra grace to pray in the Holy Spirit and to study the Scriptures, that they may learn Thy Word and be filled with power from on high. Give grace to worship and to put away distractions, sin and the snares of the evil one, and to choose that good part which shall not be taken away. Cause Thy fruit to abound in them, love, joy, peace and holiness, and such gifts as Thou seest fit for the edifying of the Church, that they may naturally build up the body, share the gospel and make disciples, baptizing and teaching obedience to all that Christ hath commanded. Keep them through this season and throughout all their lives, steadfast, disciplined and joyful in Christ, till their love burns bright and clear again with holy fear and holy joy. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who loved us and gave Himself for us. Amen.

 

[usha rani]

Praying in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Jonathan_M]

Praying for this request in Jesus Name.