Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 1 Peter 1:13 NIV
Father, God, thank you for your continued love over my life. Your love is steadfast even when I am unstable as the sand beneath my feet at the seaside. Your love is always deep enough for me to experience more and more as you call me deeper still. Our best examples of unconditional love are only the starting point of understanding the love expressed when you gave your Son for us.
Father, I don’t know how to keep my mind fully alert and focused on your heavenly agenda. I know the Sunday School answers and could choose some right actions out of a list. But my overwhelming consumption with “myself” leaves little time for interaction for You and Your ways. Simplistically, I think, “Well I am not drunk, therefore I must be sober.” Forgive me.
Father, please teach me practically how this looks in my life. Help me to maintain a constant state of prayer with your Holy Spirit. May I recognize His voice amid the turbulent atmosphere of the world and others vying for my attention. Help me to train my mind to turn away from the inward focus on myself.
Father, thank you for Jesus who became a man. You, Jesus, understand my struggle to keep my thoughts focused. You understand that my best efforts fall short. I need your help. Help me to focus on the reality of your grace to take me in my weakness and to start walking with me at that very point of failure.
So, Father, I choose not to give up because it may seem too hard and beyond reach. I choose not to try to compare myself to some other great saint who appears to have “figured” it out. You love me, just like I am. So today, God, help me to walk in the abiding fellowship of your presence.
In Jesus Name, Amen