A Morning Prayer

Jesus,

I ask You to press Your heart to our hearts. I ask You to stoop down to all of us and press Your heart against our hearts until it changes us. Until it makes us more like You. We will never get there on our own. We need Your touch.

Our hearts are distracted. Temptations and sin abound. Satan entices and sin lurks around the corner. Our flesh often wants to rebel against You. So I ask You to press Your heart to ours until Your holiness consumes the dark nooks and crannies we often leave unswept inside. I ask Your heart to consume our hearts in a desire for righteous living.

Pressing Your heart against ours I ask You to give us Your love. Not just love for the pretty and popular people. I ask You to give us Your love for all people. Black, brown and white. Rich and poor. Successful and those down on their luck. Pure complexioned as well as the pimpled faced. The athletic as well as the academician. Sinners and saints.

I ask You to press against us so firmly Your love overwhelms our hearts. May this result in hearts of compassion instead of hearts ready to condemn. May we be moved with pity and grace like You were seeing the multitudes. May Your heart of love fill us to the brim with love for the homesteader as well as the homeless. May our love be sincere for others. May our love be consistent. May our love reflect Your love for people.

Jesus, only You can transform our hearts. Only You can press so hard against our hearts that Your heart rubs off on all of us. In so doing may we treat people with grace and stand ready to forgive just as you lavished grace on us and forgave us.

I pray Your heart would move us to love with WORDS and DEEDS. May our love be communicated as much through actions as with endless teaching and lectures. May we roll our sleeves up and get dirty in serving others instead of sitting in positions of honor waiting to be served. I ask You to press Your servant heart on us.

All this for the glory of Your name and the furtherance of Your Kingdom. Amen.