Tag: God is Holy

God is Blameless, Do Not Complain

Featured Joy Bennett

Without a word, without complaint

In His Hands,

Leave all the things you cannot

Understand

~K.R. Hagenbach

Dear Lord, You are Holy, Righteous, and Sovereign. Praise You for Your all-knowing, completely perfect character. Much more, we thank You for saving us, forgiving all of our sins, past, present, and future. Thank You for providing justification for us so that we can stand in Your presence and interact with You as Your children: loved, protected, and cared for with deep compassion.

We pray for teachers everywhere to let go of complaining because it sows the seeds of discontent in the speaker as well as the listener. Lord, especially for teachers who are in the Body of Christ, we pray for Your power to guide their thoughts and words so they trust You with each situation at hand. Working with people in any job can give opportunity for complaint. But, God, You have called us to a higher standard in which we rest in Your providence. Praise You Lord for how you provide for every moment and situation. You see to each need in our lives with a loving hand that promises to work all things together for good to those who love You and are called according to Your purpose.

You have placed us in schools to be Your lights in the world. With each new day, we encounter difficult students and parents, administrators, and fellow staff members. Others sin against us. We see better choices our students can make. But we glorify You by Christian cheerfulness. You have called us to act with charitable judgment toward others. In other words, You ask us to look for the good that others are trying to accomplish or incapable of at the moment.  Let us come alongside those who tempt us to complain, and pray for them. Give us hearts that extend love and compassion toward them, even when we don’t understand what is going on.

Lord, let Your servants rest in Your guiding hand, keeping their eyes on Your faithfulness rather than the situations in front of them, and focused on Your promised good so that they resist the temptation to complain. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.

Ex 16:8; Num 11:1-3; Job 1:21

Rest in Peace Because Our God is Holy

Featured Joy Bennett

Praise God Our Shepherd Who is Holy, Wise, and Unchanging

Dear Lord, our Holy God, we worship You because You alone are free from all sin and there is none other like You.  In Your holiness, You are also wise, and unchanging. Thank You for showing us these things about Yourself. You are our Shepherd, associating with us as a friend, constantly caring for us, seeking us, and leading us in paths for our good. Bless You for Your purity Lord.

Prayer for Our Minds to Have Peace

Today, as each teacher goes about their work, attending to the many decisions before them, let their minds return to You, trusting You because of Your ultimately pure character. Build our faith that You are always good and powerfully work in our lives to bring about the highest benefit to Your children. Lord, You alone know the distractions and difficulties teachers face each day, at home and at work, but remind us that You are our shepherd, pure and holy, leading us in paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake. Guide us to keep our minds fixed on the truth of Your Word, and to rest in Your unchanging, faithful ways. When troubles come into our lives, add an increasing measure of faith in our hearts that we may recognize Your unfailing wisdom, Your inability to do wrong because of Your holiness, Your constant and perfect character, and Your loving, merciful care which guides us through every circumstance. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.

Ex 15:11; Is 6:3; Job 9:3-4; Ps 23:1-3; Mala 3:6; John 10:13-15; Rom 16:27; Heb 13:8

Quiet Your Mind Place Your Thoughts on God’s Peace

Featured Joy Bennett

Praise to God for His Peace and Goodness

Dear Lord, we thank You that in You alone we can have peace. You are holy and true peace exists only in the absence of sin.  We thank You that, in our relationship with You, we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in heaven, including all of Your goodness which is at work in our lives at all times.

Prayer for Peace

Father, we come to You with all the problems and stress we face with our personal, work, family, and social lives. We desire to walk closely with You, knowing that we especially affect the lives of the students, staff, and parents around us throughout our daily walk. Help us to think according to Your will. We face temptations to meditate on fears and rehearse projected scenarios, but You tell us to take our thoughts captive for Christ. Help us to practice this by replacing our imaginations with the truth of Your goodness. We are always thinking something – let us think about You.

Guide us to practice Your peace through the outline You have given us in Philippians 4:8 which says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Lord, in order to practice this command, let us keep scripture in our minds that proclaims Your character and work on our behalf. Let us remind ourselves that You cause all things to work together for good to those who love You and are called according to Your purpose (Rom 8:28). Let us study and memorize verses such as, “The LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright shall behold His face” (Psalm 11:7) and “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb 13:8) which remind us of Your perfect heart toward us and Your sacrificial gifts to us at all times.

Guide us to remain connected to the many truths You give us about your praiseworthy character. In this way, with our minds dwelling on You, we are kept in perfect peace (Is 26:3). For Your glory in our lives, we pray In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Teach the Truth, Bring Glory to God

Featured Joy Bennett

Dear Lord, we come to You as our holy God. There is no one like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises (Ex 15:11; Rev 4:8) and we ask You to help us as Christian teachers to be set apart from the world’s system as we teach various topics. Especially for those of us who teach in public schools, Lord, help us see how our teaching can bring You glory. We can use history, science, language, art, and more to discuss what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, and excellent (Phil 4:8).

Lord, we worship You as our Creator, knowing that You called everything into existence and through Your perfect wisdom and knowledge You have formed everything to reflect Your glory (Ps 146:5-6; Col 1:16). Let our teaching honor this truth by pointing to the infinite value of human beings. All humans, regardless of their differences or actions, are made in the image of God and we should seek to show them love and care throughout their lives. Lord, give us Your words to communicate these truths to our students.

Keep us mindful, Lord, that because of Your work on the cross and Your resurrection on our behalf, we are not of the world and You sanctify us in the truth of Your Word as we are sent into the world to do the good work You have set before us (John 17:16-19; Eph 2:10). Let us, then be lights for Your glory in our classrooms.  You, God, are light, and in You, there is no darkness at all. Let us fellowship with You in light, practicing truth, and pointing our students to the goodness You have set before us (1 John 1:5-7, Ps 31:19).

Lord, for every Christian teacher, let us keep our eyes on You as our loving Lord who has loved us with an everlasting love and with lovingkindness have drawn us to Yourself (Jer 31:3).  In this, let us work on the mission field of our schools to prepare the hearts of our students by showing them this same love and kindness and let us help them desire it in every area of their lives that they may recognize their need for You at the proper time.  Thank You for placing Your people in schools throughout the world, Lord. We praise You for how You are at work. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.

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Professionalism in Teachers and Staff

Joy Bennett

Dear Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to serve You in our schools and we ask that You especially guide Christian teachers to act professionally in their daily work. Let each one be reasonable in their interactions with others and in their private conduct. Let them be free from anxiety as they pray over each situation and go on with excellence to Your glory, building a successful learning environment for their students and an atmosphere of support and encouragement with colleagues, administrators, parents, and community members (Phil 4:5-9).

 As we go out into the lost world each day, let each teacher set themselves apart for You as holy and mature, emotionally predictable, and thorough in their work, yet setting healthy boundaries, free from gossip, negativity, laziness, or disengagement (1 Pet 1:14-16; Mat 5:48). 

Finally, Lord, show us how to honor our leaders (Rom 13:1-7) and pray for them to make pleasing decisions in Your sight. When leaders are out of alignment with You, Lord, let us stay at Your feet, gathering wisdom and acting according to Your good pleasure (Phil 2:12-15).

Thank You, Lord, for Your faithfulness to all Christian teachers. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen. 

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Words of Love Have the Power to Heal

Joy Bennett

Precious LORD, thank You for the gift of speech.  Lord, as we speak each day, we recognize our words hold the power to heal, to love, to encourage.  

But we also face temptations to use our words in destructive ways.  Please help us to be intentional in blessing others with our words.  Let them be governed by gentle honesty and compassion.  Help us use our words to pray well for our students and to point them to ethical and moral behavior through our instruction. 

Let our speech be gracious at all times, giving gifts and building others up. Along with encouragement toward others, we know that our speech must sometimes be seasoned with salt and that can look two different ways: at times, we need to speak savory, deep words.  At other times, our words must fit the metaphor of salt which kills the ground as we provide correction to our students or point out errors to those around us.  Lord God, give us the courage to trust You with the outcome in difficult times like this, knowing that You honor our obedience when we act accordingly. 

Finally, Lord, let us know the best answer to give others when we are asked about our faith. In our hearts, let us honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks us for a reason for the hope that is in us; yet doing it with gentleness and respect. Go before us each day, Lord, and let our words be Your words for Your glory. Amen. (Rom 12:3-8; 1 Thess 5:11; Col 4; 1 Pet 3:15).

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