Ohana Prayer 403 – Philippians 3
1 Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.
16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Praise the Most-High God, our Father in Heaven. We are not worthy to come to You, but thank you that Your beloved son Jesus who saves us from our sins and covers us with His blood and gives us the privilege that through faith in Him we can come to Your throne of grace for mercy. We can pray as Jesus would pray to receive the promise of answered prayer. Being the source of our joy and happiness, we can rejoice in our sorrows and be at peace. Everything that You created is good, just like us, the masterpiece of Your work. May we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. Guide us so that what we do today will please You and give you glory.
Jesus, we offer our reverential praise. You change our weak mortal bodies and make them like Your own glorious body, using that power by which You are able to bring all things under Your rule. We love You, Jesus. What else do we have in heaven but You! Since we have you, what else could we want on earth.
Lord Jesus forgive us for the outburst of our indignation due to evil deeds and arrogance of others. Unknowingly we have been influenced by them and become the object of our detestations. We wear their haughtiness as necklace and violence as clothing, speak blasphemous and slanderous words to one another, and abusive each other verbally. We agonized God’s people by our evil deeds and made the church a laughingstock for nonbelievers.
Holy Spirit, use the words of the Bible to realign our minds, a thorn stick to open our eyes, and a rake to clear our ears so that we may realize that the road to recovery from the pandemic is long, the frequent occurrences of disasters are threatening the foundation of our faith, and the ways to reboot the depressed economy have yet to be confirmed. Give us the spirit of discernment so we will not look for things of value in the dung.
Enlighten us with Your light so that we acknowledge nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus, whom we can trust completely, is our only way out. Clear our visions so that we may see the abundance of God and His infinite mercy. Help us to forget what is behind us, do our best to reach what is ahead, and press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Set our minds on things above so whatever we and the church do will glorify God.
In His name we pray. Amen.