Pastor Albert wrote this prayer to encourage all of us (and himself!) to turn our hearts towards the Lord each day.
A Prayer of Meditation for Daily Consecration
Dear Heavenly Father,
On this new day You have called me
to take up my cross,
To die to myself,
and to follow Your Son.
(Luke 9:23-24)
You have called me to seek
To love You more than my own life,
More than any loved one,
Friend, or possession.
(Matthew 10:37-39, 22:36-40)
You have told me that if indeed
I seek to lose my life for Jesus,
I will find my true life in the joy
Of knowing You in Him
And I will also become a means of His love
To those in my path today.
(John 17:3; Matthew 16:25; John 15:8-9; Ephesians 5:2; Galatians 5:6,14)
Lord, You have also told me that this
Is truly impossible for me to do in myself,
Yet with You all things are possible.
And though I will not yet be perfect,
By Your grace I can indeed press on
Toward the upward call
Of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.
(Matthew 19:26; John 15:4-5; Romans 8:5-8; Philippians 4:13, 3:12-14)
I can do this because…
Jesus is a gentle Lord
And He is humble of heart,
His yoke is easy and His burden is light,
And in Him I will find
Rest for my soul.
(Matthew 11:28-30; 1 John 5:3)
I can follow You because
By the one offering of Himself
Jesus has paid the full penalty
For all of my sin: past, present, and future
And now by faith I am counted
As completely righteous
Through the free gift
Of Your righteousness in Him.
(Hebrews 10:10-18; Romans 3:19-26, 5:17, 6:23)
I must never set aside this free gift
Of righteousness that comes
By Your grace through faith.
For I can never ever earn
My own righteousness or acceptance before You
Through my obedience to Your law
Because my obedience is imperfect
And I still struggle with sin.
(Galatians 2:21, 3:10-14; James 3:2)
Therefore, I must always trust
That my righteous standing before You
Comes only from Christ
Through His all-sufficient sacrifice on the cross.
(Philippians 3:9; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; Hebrews 10:23)
But because of Your great love,
I am indeed counted perfectly righteous in Christ,
And therefore, I have inherited all the spiritual blessings
That Jesus has won for me by His blood.
Now I stand before You as Your child,
Adopted forever into Your family.
I stand before You as a new creation;
Holy, chosen, accepted, forgiven,
Redeemed, and precious,
Dearly loved by You,
My true Heavenly Father.
(Ephesians 1:3-14, 2:10; Isaiah 43:4; Colossians 3:12; John 20:17)
And more than this,
You have given me God the Holy Spirit
Who now lives inside of me forever
So that by Him I can put to death
The deeds of sin and live for You.
(John 14:16; Romans 8:13-14)
He gives me the same power
That raised Jesus from the dead,
Victorious over sin and death!
And He will lead me today as I trust You
So that I too can walk in the new life
You have given to me.
(Romans 6:4; Ephesians 1:19-21)
Indeed, as I hold onto all that Jesus is for me
The Holy Spirit bears Your fruit in my life
So that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
Goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control
Flow from my heart,
For this is your very life in me!
(Galatians 2:20, 3:1-6, 13-14, 5:22-23; Romans 8:1-10)
The Holy Spirit also intercedes for me when,
In my weakness, I don’t know how to pray,
So that Your perfect will is accomplished in my life.
(Romans 8:26-27)
Once more, I can follow Jesus today because
Jesus Himself also intercedes for me
Before Your holy throne right now,
Sympathizing with all my weaknesses
And all my temptations.
(Hebrews 4:14-16)
He is my Great High Priest
Holy, innocent, undefiled,
Separated from sinners
And exalted above the heavens,
And He represents me before You!
(Hebrews 7:26)
And Because He lives forever,
He will never stop interceding for me
So that I will be saved to the uttermost –
Completely and forever.
(Hebrews 7:25, 4:14-16)
Even more than this,
Because Jesus has paid for my access to You
With His very own shed blood
I am now commanded to come boldly
And confidently to Your throne of grace
To find mercy and receive grace
For every need this day brings.
(Ephesians 2:18; Romans 5:2, Hebrews 4:14-16; John 15:7-8)
I can follow Jesus because no temptation
Will come upon me today
That isn’t common to all people,
And You will be faithful
To provide a way out of it,
So that I can endure it
And stay faithful to You.
(1 Corinthians 10:12-13)
And even if I fail, Jesus remains
My righteous advocate before You, O Holy God
And for His sake You always
Hear my confession and forgive me.
You will cleanse me of all unrighteousness,
And set me back on the right path once again
For Jesus’ shed blood is forever
The atoning sacrifice for my sin.
(1 John 1:9-2:2)
I can follow Jesus today because
You are not only my God,
But my true Father,
Who works all things for my good,
And since You did not spare Your own Son
But gave Him up for us all –
You will – along with Him –
Freely give me everything I need to live for You.
(Romans 8:15, 28-32; 2 Peter 1:3)
Therefore, in light of all of this, o holy Father,
I seek to give myself wholeheartedly to You today.
I seek to follow my Lord Jesus
As my greatest love and my greatest treasure.
(Matthew 13:43, 22:37; Romans 12:1-2)
O help me Lord!
Help me each moment to trust You,
To love You, to obey You
I want to experience Your presence!
For Your love is better than life!
(John 14:23; Ephesians 3:17; Galatians 2:20; Psalms 63:3)
I want to love my brothers and sisters
Through Your strength
For in serving them I am serving You
I want to serve the lost
Whom You came to seek and save,
To see them escape the judgment of hell
And find eternal life
In coming to know You, the one true God
And Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
(Matthew 25:40; John 21:5; Luke 19:10; Acts 17:31; 1 Peter 3:15; John 17:3)
Lead me by Your Spirit today Father!
Fill me with Him once again,
Strengthen me by Him
So that Christ dwells in my heart through faith.
(Romans 8:14; Ephesians 5:1-33; Luke 1:13; Isaiah 40:29; Ephesians 3:14-17)
I love You Father. I love You Jesus.
I love You Holy Spirit.
Yes Lord, I love You.
Help me to love You more.
In Jesus’ precious and holy name, Amen.
(1 John 5:14-15)