Ohana Prayer 407 – Colossians 3

10  and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 

12  Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 

13  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 

16  Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 

17  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

18  Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

19  Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

20  Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

21  Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

22  Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 

23  Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 

24  since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Praise the Glorious God, our Father in Heaven for You are Good and Your loving devotion endures forever. With reverence we bow before You to start the day in Your word, to receive and share the nectar of Your love with our family. Help us to be model of Your love to our family, caring, supporting, loving them unconditionally, and showing them unwavering affection.

Thank you, Father that You created us all with unique features, personalities, and traits. In spite of our great diversity, we are still able to bear with one another, forgive each other, care for one another like a family that God calls us to raise with those values in mind. We are to focus on the family and love one another.

Thank you, Lord Jesus. If You had not come to this world to die on the cross for our sins, we would not be able to come to the Father’s throne and start asking for things in Your name; we would not be the holy citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Thank you for letting Your peace rule in our hearts. Let the word of Christ dwell richly among us, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God the Father with gratitude in our hearts.

Thank you for giving our spirits the assurance of salvation. Though we are a new recreation in Christ but our spiritual life is yet to be fully transformed. We still strive to grow from infancy to maturity in Christ. Forgive us for not treating others with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Whenever any of us has a complaint against someone else, we did not forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven us. This causes our relationships to fall further apart especially under the stress and chaos of the pandemic, the differing political ideology, and the burden of life. The rift among us deepens and everyone is upset.

Holy Spirit, lift us out from the dark place of despair, cleanse our hearts and minds, and free us from earthly things that hold us captive. There is no place that we can go to hide from You. Please lead us to set our minds on things above, renew our strength that we may rise on wings like eagles, and put to death our rebellious heart. Help us also get rid of anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene speech, and all such sins. Let us take off the old self with its practices and put on the new self.

Holy Spirit reminds us that whatever we do, work at it with all our heart, as though we were working for the Lord and not for people. Help us to let go of things as nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. We would give up everything else and count it all as garbage.  Therefore, serve the Lord with a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith. Focus on the goal ahead of us knowing that we will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord and with God, there is no favoritism.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.