“Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry. I know how bad I’ve been my sins are staring me down. You’re the One I have violated, and you’ve seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. I’ve been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. What you are after is the truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.” [Psalm 51:1-6, The Message]
Holy Spirit help me to: “enter through faith into what You have always wanted me to do—set me right, make me fit for You—I then will have it all together with You because of Jesus. And that’s not all: I throw open the doors to You and discover at the same moment that You have already thrown open the doors to me. I find myself standing where I have always hoped to be standing—out in the wide open spaces of Your grace and glory, standing tall and shouting praise. I know there is more to come: I continue to shout out praise
even when I am hemmed in with troubles, because I know how troubles can develop passionate patience in me, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping me alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, I’ll never be left feeling short changed. Quite the contrary—I can not round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into my life through You, Holy Spirit. [Romans 5:1-5]
Teach me, Holy Spirit to breathe in all the wisdom I can handle and then exhale the understanding to others. Let me realize that life is not a sprint but a very long journey and that I will face troubles, I will face heartache, but I am not alone and I need to trust that the end of the journey is worth all that I must walk through to become the person You need me to be. I know I must be put through the fire if I am to be refined into something more and with more to show at the end than where I started. Let me know that You walk beside me and help me to hear Your voice when I need to be encouraged. Help me to follow the examples of the disciples and others who learned to encourage themselves by worshiping you in prayer, songs, and digging into Your word.
Therefore, as one chosen by God, holy and dearly loved, let me clothe myself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Holy Spirit help all of us to bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances we may have against one another. Teach us to forgive as the Lord forgave us. Over all these virtues, help us to put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, since as members of one body we are called to peace. Let us be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly as we teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in our hearts to God. And whatever we do, whether in word or deed, help us to do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Amen. Colossians 3:12-17