ACTS - A Way to Pray

1 Samuel 16: 5-7

And (Samuel) consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Adoration:

God, you are the God who sees. You see us fully and completely. You see in ways that we can't see. I am amazed by the power of Your sight.

Confession:

I confess that I get confused by the way this world works, by the appearance of things and of people. Even though I say I want to follow You and Your ways, I react from my own sight without pausing to ask what You see. I confess that I am much to quick to focus on the things that I see and my own feelings about it rather than to pause for insight that You can give.

Thanksgiving:

If I didn't trust Your loving heart, God, I would have to run and hide knowing that You see and know the inner workings of my heart, that You judge based on the inner me rather than the me that can be dressed up. Thank you that You see what I try to hide and choose to love anyway.

Supplication:

I'm so burdened for Your Church today, God. We are losing our witness in the world, because our focus is on what we see today. Our perspective is based on how these things, these people, these situations affect us and our lives. God, help us to remember that You sit on a victorious throne. You have killed sin and death for good. You raised Jesus back to life. Because He lives, we live too. The offenses of this world hold no power over us unless we give it to them. Open our eyes, God. Help us to get over ourselves and help us to view all people with the love and grace so freely given to us. I believe that we are going to answer for the ways that we readily received grace and forgiveness for the inner yuck of our own, personal lives but then stood offended, bitter, and unforgiving toward the appearance of someone else's life. Help us to want Your sight.

Have you ever judged a person or situation based on the outer appearance only to find out later that there was something much deeper, much more hidden going on? How can we live with this awareness so that we live from a place of victory rather than a place of offense?

Weekend Prayer - God, thank you for prayer. Thank you for giving us the ability to communicate with You. We've had another great week of practicing this beautiful gift through the words of Scripture. I pray that we will take these words into our weekend and that You'll use them to teach us further about who You are and what You can do. Give us opportunity to share these lessons with others. Amen.