Ohana Prayer 392 – Galatians 4
1 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.
2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.
3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world.
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.
6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
9 But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?
10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!
Lord, our Heavenly Father, we give you praise for You are good and Your mercy endures forever. We humbly offer our bodies, hearts, and spirits as living sacrifice early in the morning. We want to start the day with You in our minds so that what we do today will be pleasing and acceptable to You.
Thank you that you enlarge and increase our capacity and ability to do the things that you have called us to do. You allow us to experience the same joy, misery, fatigue, and precious moments in our daily life just as Noah had when he was in his ark for a whole year with all the living creatures. You give us memories to
cherish and we are grateful.
Thank you, Lord for the undeserved grace, for the eternal life through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Thank you that when we believe Him and accept Him, You give the right to become children of God. Thank you, Lord Jesus that You are at the right hand of God, pleading for us along with the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groaning for You know that we want to do what is right but we are weak.
Lord Jesus, forgive us for not facing our difficult times with joy. We anguished over our struggles but did not seek Your presence through frequent, dedicated prayers. When our needs are met, we did not express our gratitude for the blessings You so richly give us. We are just not wise in or of ourselves.
Holy Spirit, You know our deeds and our thoughts, please speak to our hearts harshly. We conform to the standards of this world, long for revelry and indulgence with the end of the pandemic approaching, and hope to return to pre-pandemic life. We forget the lessons of the past year, and just want to make up for the lost time during the pandemic. We fill our calendar with activities and become enslaved to this world.
Holy Spirit, ring the bells of our hearts, open our spiritual eyes so that we can see how the pandemic created chaos across the globe and changed our lives forever. Help us to rethink, rebuild, and repair damages by developing post-pandemic strategy to insure we emerge from this crisis in better shape than before. Not so much to ask for what we desire but to seek Your truth and to reset our purpose and focus on God. Please call on churches to pause, reflect, and remember the reasons for their existence – to reach people for Christ and to disciple them to maturity in Christ. Thank you that we can continue worship on Sunday, the Lord’s Day using the digital platforms. Thank you that Your power has strengthened the churches to thrive in this challenging time.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen