This week’s daily prayers are written by Charlotte Adjepong. Keeping the Lord Jesus at the centre of our relationships gives us the strength, the hope to carry on – allows us to be loved and to love others like Jesus.

December 6 – Psalm 73:26, ‘My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever.’

Thank You Lord Jesus that when all else fails, You are always there by our side. When our spirit grows weak and we feel we are unable to carry on – when we call on You in prayer, You are there to give us the strength to continue. I give You praise, Lord, that when we lean in and look to you, that You hear our prayers. When we read Your word, it goes deep into our souls, feeds us and lifts us up.

Lord Jesus, I pray for the people whose health is failing them. I pray that they will take the time to lean into You so You can comfort, heal and restore them. I pray for people whose spirit may be weak because of their circumstances. I ask that You let them know You are there by their side helping them to understand and walk through their situations.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You remain the strength of our lives. Amen

December 7 – 2 Corinthians 3:18, ‘So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord who is the Spirit makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.’

Hallelujah, praise Your glorious name, Lord Jesus, Your Spirit is at work so that we can come into a relationship with You. Thank You as we spend quality time in Your presence, and when we spend that precious time we get to know You more; and through the intimate relationship with You – You help us to take our fleshy, worldly veil off and we can reflect Your glory.

Thank You for Your Spirit who makes us more and more like You as we read Your word, worship, fellowship, give and serve – we are forever changed. Lord Jesus, I pray that all of us in church who have had the veil removed, that others will see Your glory in us. I pray that we will reach others and explain how they can come into a relationship with You. Help them to feel the love, peace and joy that comes from knowing you. Amen

December 8 – Psalm 119:1-2, ‘Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.  Blessed are those who keep His statues and seek Him with all their heart.’

Lord Jesus, it amazes me how You have blessed my life, how You have called me blessed when I have deserved nothing. You have blessed me by setting my feet to walk the narrow way. 

Lord Jesus, continue to help me to walk in Your ways and not my own; help me to continue to sit quietly and hear Your guidance through Your word – to allow You to guide my steps. Continue to bless me with wisdom to better know Your will, and the courage to live it out each and every day. Amen

December 9 – John 15:12-13, ‘My command is this, Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this; to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.’

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the friendships each of us have; thank You for how You modelled what a friend should truly be like. Thank You for the friends and family we have in our lives, and that we can do life with them.

I praise You for the people You have blessed me with, the ones who have come alongside me to love, encourage, support and lift me up through all the different seasons of life.

Thank You that we don’t have to do life by ourselves but You, Lord Jesus, have sent Your Spirit to live in us. You have shown us Your love and Your example – pour Your love into me, including through me into my friends. 

I pray that You will be present in our friendships – that You would be drawing us together into a deeper, spiritual, strong community with one another, and towards a greater and deeper relationship with You, Jesus. I pray that You will heal any places of brokenness or disagreement in friendships, and that You would restore any friendships that have fallen apart.

Like Your word says in Colossians 3:12-13, we are to clothe ourselves in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. May we be patient with our friends and forgive freely like You have forgiven us. May Your light shine through our friendships giving You the glory through it all.

Thank You, Jesus, that through our friends we can see Your goodness, love and faithfulness at work. Amen.

December 10 – Matthew 11:28-30, ‘Then Jesus said, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”’

Lord, I pray for the people in the church who are feeling tired, worn down, overwhelmed; Lord, I ask that You draw near to them. I pray that You will speak to them and guide them in how to come completely to You, take Your yoke upon them, learn from You, and step into Your salvation rest.

I pray that if it has come to a point where they need to think and reflect on what they are doing – allow them the time to do so, and through that time may they learn about Your peace, and how to allow Your peace to guide them when making decisions.

I pray that they will be then able to evaluate what they are doing and where their time is being spent. I ask that You will help Your people to acknowledge, and work through their emotions and feelings, and know that You are the Lord and have our best interests at heart. Lord Jesus, Your purposes and will are always best for us –  may each person know and walk in Your purposes and will.

Help them to understand that there is a time and a place for everything, and when we lay things down on the altar to You, You, Lord Jesus, turn the sacrifice into a place of praise and new life. Thank You that when we come to You, learn from You, take Your yoke on us – then You also take the feelings of being overwhelmed, the tiredness and the feeling of being worn down; You experienced such feelings in Your Incarnation.

You have walked this path and we can share our feelings and experiences with You. You then begin to lead us into a new place where endurance comes, our faith grows, and our character develops as we receive Your grace, stand on Your word and share fellowship with wise fellow-believers. Thank You, Jesus. We pray that each of us will keep our eyes fixed on You, Lord Jesus. Amen

December 11 – Psalm 46:10, ‘Be still, and know that I am God, I will be honoured by every nation, I will be honoured throughout the world.’

Lord Jesus, many times we fight our battles in our own way and in our own strength but we soon grow weary and give into defeat. This happens because we are fighting both spiritual battles and things in us and the world around us that are too big for us to deal with.

We pray that You, Lord Jesus, will intervene. You are the only one who is undefeated and can conquer any enemy or threat to Your people. Lord Jesus, we need to put our own weapons down and acknowledge, trust and believe that You have the power to save, deliver and share Your victory with us.

Jesus You are our Creator, and You never made us to operate without you. I pray that people will stop for a moment and turn their attention to You, as God the Son whose Spirit fights our battles. We surrender our weapons and let You, Lord, take charge. In Your name I pray Amen

December 12 – Psalm 23, NLT, ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; He leads me beside peaceful streams.

He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honour to His name.

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me.

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honour me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

Lord Jesus, You are the Good Shepherd. I proclaim this Psalm over my life today, and over our church, Telford Elim in person and online. Amen