Prayer Focus: The Fruits of the Spirit:: KINDNESS.
Central Scripture: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your exceedingly abundant kindness, Your perfect compassion, and Your limitless forgiveness toward us, Your children. When we are hard to love, You remain kind. When we are suffering, Your never run out of compassion. When we fail You, You open Your arms even wider to forgive us. Thank You for loving us like that.
I pray today that by the power of Your Holy Spirit at work within us, my family and I would be increasingly kind in spirit. Help us, Spirit, to be reflective of Christ in our interactions with others.
Lord, I pray that we would be kind in our words and our actions. Give us eyes to see opportunities to bless others with kindness, and give us willing hearts to take action when the opportunity presents itself. Show us what it means to have Christ-like kindness in day-to-day relationships.
Father, I confess that kindness is often hardest within our own home. We put on our best faces for the world outside, but once we are home we often let down our guard and allow unkind words and attitudes to reign supreme. Please forgive us for taking each other for granted and for not letting our home be a haven for one another. Please forgive our willingness to mutter unkind words under our breath, to be needlessly harsh when we are frustrated, to be selfish in our use of our time and energy, and to make excuses for our foul moods. We taint the image of Christ within us when we allow kindness to fall aside as a priority, even within our home.
Let our home instead become a haven of kindness, that it feels different to us than any other place we go. Let each member of our household feel important, cherished, and loved by the acts of kindness that define our family. Help each of us to seek out ways to surprise one another with kindness, that the habit would be formed in the home and would translate into our interactions with the world around us. Make kindness a heart habit, rather than an obligation.
Father, please help my husband to be kind in his work environment. I don’t always know how men interact with one another, and I don’t know the full extent of the day-to-day goings on of his work place. I do know, though, that in high stress, sometimes frustrating situations, it is easy to become more task-oriented than people-oriented. It is easier to focus on the job at hand than the people standing in front of us. Please help my husband to see the people in the midst of every problem at work. Cultivate in him a spirit of benevolence toward his coworkers and the other people he interacts with daily, always assuming the best and looking for ways to bless them.
Lord, please help my children to be vessels of kindness in an unkind world. Schools are notoriously harsh places for kids to learn how to interact with others. I pray that instead of the unkind, self-preservationist habits they can learn there, my children would introduce kindness and concern for others. Help them to shine, God. Help others to be loved by them in unusual ways, that they develop a reputation not for being “nice kids” but for being “Christlike kids.”
Lord Jesus, thank You for giving us a model for living that is so vastly different than what the world offers us. Help us to follow in Your footsteps and to be people of other-worldly kindness.
Amen.