Prayer Focus: The Fruits of the Spirit:: PATIENCE.
Central Scripture: “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope.” (Romans 5:3-4)
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I don’t have to look very far this morning to see suffering and chaos and pain. My own day has plenty of troubles, and I see problems of all kinds affecting people close to me. As I come to you in prayer, I thank you that we don’t have to ride the rolling waves of life alone. We suffer our trials alongside the One who tames the waves and calms our hearts in the midst of the storm.
God, this morning I have to laugh a little as I pray for patience for my family. I’ve always heard that we have to be careful when we pray for patience, because You will give us opportunities to exercise patience when we do. But God, my family and I need patience. We need the ability to suffer well. We need to be able to persevere in the face of adversity because adversity won’t back down.
Father, give us the perspective to be able to rejoice in our sufferings. I don’t want to be mindless and appear to be in denial about things happening around us, but I do want us to have a perspective that allows us to see something bigger at work than what we can see.
God, when we are in pain…when we are suffering…when we don’t know how much more we can take, please give us the strength to continue to praise You. Please help us to have real joy in the middle of our troubles, knowing that those troubles are strengthening our ability to endure. We don’t know what is coming in our future, Lord, but we do know that You use all things for our good. You redeem our suffering and You count every tear. Nothing we endure escapes Your notice, and we know that in Your economy, nothing is wasted. Help us to keep those things in mind when our suffering seems to go on and on.
Father, help our perseverance to grow so that we can be strong in character, standing up to the inevitable tests that life gives us. Let our character stand out among our generations, not so that people will speak well of us but so that people will see where our strength comes from. Let Your name be exalted in our character.
And God, lead us through patience into hope. Help us to have hope that never wavers…never falters…never gives up. Let us have an eternal perspective, remembering always that our present trials don’t hold a candle to the eternal joy awaiting us in heaven. Let hope carry us through even the darkest of days.
Lord, let us suffer well. Let us keep our eyes on You, and let us be faithful no matter what we are asked to endure.
Cultivate patience in us, Lord….not only for our circumstances, but for our relationships. And not just for relationships with people outside our family, but for our relationships with one another. We see each other at our weakest and most exhausted, when patience has dwindled and we have reached our limits. Help our home to be a training ground for patience, that we learn patience here and exercise it faithfully in the world. Please forgive us for our impatience, and help us to learn from our past mistakes.
Thank you, Holy Spirit, for making a way for us to suffer well. Make my husband, my children, and I more patient, by Your power at work in us.
Amen.