Father,
We know that a life
lived well is lived in submission to Your revealed will. And we know that that
is more than obedience. It is an attitude. It is a desire to yield to You. It
is rooted in the acknowledgement that You are the wise God who is for us and that
life, in its fullest sense, is gained only in submitting to Your wisdom and
trusting Your care.
But Father, there
are so many who refuse to yield to You. They refuse to obey Your revealed will.
They live according to their own wisdom. They think that they are wise enough
and that they know enough. How foolish. No wonder their lives will not work. We
are seeing this more and more as people are shedding even the superficial nod
to Your revealed will. These have been lied to and misled so that they come to
believe that life on their own is the only way to go. How sad.
There are also those
who are eager to mislead. They have consciously and completely embraced a life
of rebellion against You. And it is their great desire to get as many as they
can to follow their lead. These are so very evil because they are leading many
to destruction, both now and forever. They deserve to be cursed by You. And so,
we ask You, Father, to do exactly that. You are the God who does not leave the
guilty unpunished. So, we pray, punish these liars. Make their lives horrific.
Bring justice so that some will see and will reconsider their own rebellion.
We ask You, Father,
to bless us. Bless us with a growing submission to Your revealed will. There
are still many places where we are not doing well at this, areas of our lives
where we want to live our own way. By Your Spirit, point out these areas to us and
grant us the repentance and faith that we need so that we will be changed and
that to the glory of Your Name.
Our desire, Father,
is expressed in these words that we offer to You. 'Thy will be done, on earth
as it is in heaven.'
Through Christ our
Lord, Amen.