5 Things to Pray for That Will Enrich Your Walk With God

Audio:

#1 Undivided Heart

The New Year has just dawned. Over the next few days, the focus will be on five things to pray for
that will enrich your walk with God. The first matter to pray for is an undivided loyalty to Jesus.
The insincere art of being double-minded is practised by being jammed between two
contradictory allegiances and trying to be loyal to both at the same time; it’s pretty much an
impossibility. It results in uncertainty in your thoughts and actions. And these conflicting choices
you’re faced with will always put you in conflict with yourself; you’ll be torn by inner conflict not
knowing what to do. And, most times, you’ll opt for the road of least resistance or what’s most
convenient. Jesus taught His disciples they can’t have divided loyalties. “No one can serve two
masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24). That’s what divided hearts do; you’re eventually compelled to choose one of these loves over the other. This inevitably results in compromise.

Now to avoid this, you need to show an exclusive loyalty to God, expressing your confidence in
Him to help you to have an undivided heart. So you must set aside any other competing loyalty
and choose to be loyal to God alone. There will always be a conflict of loyalty that rages in your
heart; that of loyalty to God or that of pursuing another competing loyalty. And there will always
inevitably be a strong pull towards worldliness and sin. A divided heart has conflicting loves.
For this reason, King David asks God to give him an undivided heart. “Teach me Your way, Lord,
and I will live by Your truth. Give me an undivided mind to fear Your name” (Psalm 86:11). This is a
great prayer to pray. For whenever you compromise your exclusive allegiance to God, you disclose a divided loyalty. And contrasting loyalties are mutually exclusive. However, having an undivided
heart resolves the problem. This is displayed in being single-minded in your loyalty to God.
Emu music is a ministry that brings Christ-centred music to the church. They composed a thought-provoking song entitled “Give me an undivided heart”. The lyrics express this desire in a prayer, focussing on three areas of life. Firstly, “Give me an undivided heart, That I might fear Your name; Teach me to walk in righteous paths, And follow in Your ways; For You are gracious and forgiving;
Hear, O Lord, and answer me”. Let’s ask God for a heart that longs to follow Him and His ways;
let’s guard against following ways that displease God. However, if you displease God, then confess it quickly, for God promises to pardon and restore you.

Secondly, “Give me an undivided mind, That I might love Your word; Help me to hunger for Your
voice…Undivided, I want to live for You; Single minded, All that I say, all that I do; Sanctify me,
Take me and make me new; That I might live for Christ, my Lord”. In your thinking, you need to
dwell on God and His word. You must not be lured aside to contemplate sinful ways and words.
Rather, aim to be pure in thought.

Finally, “Give me an undivided love, For all that You desire; Make me a living sacrifice, Ignite in me
Your fire; For You O Lord are God eternal, All my ways are known to You”. It’s so easy to
compromise your love for God by loving other gods, whatever they may be; for anything that
usurps God’s place of primacy causes a divided love. Pray that God will help you to love Him with
an undivided love.

God disapproves those who are double-minded, those whose hearts are torn between an
exclusive allegiance to Him and sin, promoted by the devil. God’s desire is that those who follow
Him have an undivided heart, mind and love.

Join me in prayer: Dear Lord, give me an undivided heart and mind that I may love You exclusively
and follow in Your ways, Amen.

#2 Protection

Our vulnerability to threats in life often make us feel like a sitting duck waiting to be picked off. Yet when you recognise your vulnerability, it will result in you asking God for His protection; for who else is powerful enough to protect you from the threats faced in life. The greatest threats posed to your life need to be combatted – and God is more than able to protect you.
Firstly, ask for God’s protection from the evil one. Jesus taught His disciples to pray like this: “And
do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13). He poses a real
threat to our faith in Jesus.

Secondly, ask for God’s protection from sin. After King David succumbed to sin, the Lord graciously restored him when he confessed his sin. And this is the lesson he learnt: “ 6 …let everyone who is faithful pray to You immediately. When great floodwaters come, they will not reach him. 7 You are my hiding place; You protect me from trouble. You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance”
(Psalm 32:7).

Thirdly, ask for protection from wicked people. King David asked God to “ 8 Protect me as the pupil of your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings 9 from the wicked who treat me violently, my deadly enemies who surround me” (Psalm 17:8-9). You too may fall foul of the harmful ways of wicked people; maybe they’re just wicked, but maybe they oppose you just because you belong to the Lord. Let’s entrust ourselves to God’s safe-keeping for He is a refuge for the righteous. “The
Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of distress; He cares for those who take refuge in Him” (Nahum
1:7).

Fourthly, ask for God’s protection from the threat of death. While death at some stage of life is
unavoidable, nevertheless, God guards us from premature death. For “all my days were written in
Your book and planned before a single one of them began” (Psalm 139:16). He also promises us
victory over death, giving us life forever; for not even death itself will separate us from His love.
This is captured in the Apostle Paul’s memorable words, “ 37 …we are more than conquerors through
[Jesus] who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor
things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).
Whatever happens in our life is in our heavenly Father's hand. He guards us by His grace. We are secure in His hand. So, “ 24 to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen” (Jude 24-25).

Join me in prayer: Dear Lord, I am deeply grateful for Your protection. Help me to see Your hand in my life guarding me from harm and danger, keeping me secure in Your everlasting love, Amen

#3 Perseverance

Our vulnerability to threats in life often make us feel like a sitting duck waiting to be picked off. Yet when you recognize your vulnerability, it will result in you asking God for His protection; for who else is powerful enough to protect you from the threats faced in life. The greatest threats posed to your life need to be combatted – and God is more than able to protect you.
Firstly, ask for God’s protection from the evil one. Jesus taught His disciples to pray like this: “And
do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13). He poses a real
threat to our faith in Jesus.

Fourthly, ask for God’s protection from the threat of death. While death at some stage of life is
unavoidable, nevertheless, God guards us from premature death. For “all my days were written in
Your book and planned before a single one of them began” (Psalm 139:16). He also promises us
victory over death, giving us life forever; for not even death itself will separate us from His love.
This is captured in the Apostle Paul’s memorable words, “ 37 …we are more than conquerors through [Jesus] who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39). Whatever happens in our life is in our heavenly Father's hand. He guards us by His grace. We are secure in His hand. So, “ 24 to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen” (Jude 24-25).

Join me in prayer: Dear Lord, I am deeply grateful for Your protection. Help me to see Your hand in my life guarding me from harm and danger, keeping me secure in Your everlasting love, Amen

#4 Provision

The Apostle Paul requested prayer for himself so that “ 1 the word of the Lord may spread
rapidly… 2 and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people… 3 …the Lord is faithful; He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:1-3). What confidence! And surely this is true for you now too. Further, he expressed his confidence in God’s protection, despite no one else standing in solidarity with him while in court for his faith: “ 17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that I might fully preach the word and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil work and will bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:16-18). Ask God to protect you from the wiles of the evil one so that he doesn’t ensnare you in his wicked ways and lead you astray, away from the Lord. Secondly, ask for God’s protection from sin. After King David succumbed to sin, the Lord graciously restored him when he confessed his sin. And this is the lesson he learnt: “ 6 …let everyone who is faithful pray to You immediately. When great floodwaters come, they will not reach him. 7 You are my hiding place; You protect me from trouble. You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7).

Fourthly, ask for God’s protection from the threat of death. While death at some stage of life is
unavoidable, nevertheless, God guards us from premature death. For “all my days were written in
Your book and planned before a single one of them began” (Psalm 139:16). He also promises us
victory over death, giving us life forever; for not even death itself will separate us from His love.
This is captured in the Apostle Paul’s memorable words, “ 37 …we are more than conquerors through [Jesus] who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39). Whatever happens in our life is in our heavenly Father's hand. He guards us by His grace. We are secure in His hand. So, “ 24 to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen” (Jude 24-25). Join me in prayer: Dear Lord, I am deeply grateful for Your protection. Help me to see Your hand in my life guarding me from harm and danger, keeping me secure in Your everlasting love, Amen.

#5 Pardon

You will certainly face temptation of one kind or another: it’s unavoidable. It’s just how you deal
with temptation that will make the difference. The obvious solution is to avoid temptation like the
plague, but that’s easier said than done. For, because of your sinful nature, of which there’s still a
fair residue in your life, the appeal of temptation sometimes almost seems irresistible – yet it isn’t!

So, despite succumbing to temptation and plunging into sin of various kinds, nevertheless, God is
gracious, and He promises to pardon your sin. And this offer is based on His character. Moses
engages with God in conversation and pleads with God saying, “ 18 The Lord is slow to anger and
abounding in faithful love, forgiving iniquity and rebellion… 19 Please pardon the iniquity of this
people, in keeping with the greatness of Your faithful love, just as You have forgiven them from
Egypt until now.” 20 The Lord responded, “I have pardoned them as you requested” (Numbers 14:18-
20).

Another who experienced God’s forgiveness was King David; he transgressed against the Lord. He
says, “For You, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive, abounding in faithful love to all who call on
You” (Psalm 86:5). God is more willing to forgive than you are to ask for forgiveness. Yet when you
approach the holy God contritely, He shows compassion and pardons sin. And when He pardons
your offences, He wipes the slate clean. The prophet Isaiah speaks God’s word saying, “Come, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool” (Isaiah 1:18). To illustrate the completeness of pardon, the
Psalmist expresses it like this: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our
transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). When God forgives sin, it’s gone!
Yet the pardoning of your sin came at great price to God. For “In [Jesus] we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace…”
(Ephesians 1:7). Sin demands punishment; and if God is to act justly, He must punish sin by death. And, amazingly, it’s the death of the blameless Jesus that secures your pardon.
Thank God for His boundless grace that pardons your sin. And it’s a most useful practise to adopt
to confess your sins to God daily. The Apostle John remind us, “If we confess our sins, [God] is
faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John
1:9). When we gather as God’s people each Lord’s Day, we corporately confess our sins saying,
“Almighty and most merciful Father, we have strayed from Your ways like lost sheep; we have
followed instead the plans and desires of our own hearts; we have offended against Your holy
laws; we have failed to do what we ought to have done, and we have done what we ought not to
have done; And in our sinful natures there is nothing good. O Lord, look in mercy on us, pitiable
sinners, and according to Your world-wide promise in Jesus Christ our Lord, spare all who are truly penitent and forgive all who are sincerely contrite. Merciful Lord, grant, for our Saviour Christ’s sake, that from now on we may live self-controlled, upright and godly lives, to the glory of Your Holy Name. Amen”. Don’t be slow to confess your sin to find pardon. So pray for God’s forgiveness often.

Finally, if God has pardoned your sins, then He expects you to pardon the by-comparison-lesser-
sins of one another. So the Apostle Paul instructs the believers to “…be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ’ (Ephesians 4:32). Your willingness to pardon one another shows the extent to which you’ve grasped the pardon God has granted you for your offences against Him.

Join me in prayer: Dear Lord, I’m deeply grateful for Your grace that pardons my sins because of
Jesus’ death. To You alone I confess my sin. Now help me to extend pardon to those who’ve
offended me, Amen