Prayers

God, I want to speak purposefully. I want my words to be seasoned with the saltiness of YOUR Word. I want my actions to be purposeful in impacting and blessing others. I don't want to be mediocre in the way I walk or in the relationships I form. I admit it, Father....I'm a chicken. A chicken doesn't force spiritual conversation on people if she doesn't know how they feel about You. A purposeful person prays over every encounter and seeks to show You to a watching world. I want to speak purposefully.

Sweet Father I want my prayer to be an extension of my breathing. I don't want to sit down to pray and feel like it's a new conversation--I want to have sweet moments of intense prayer with You as if it's as natural as eating or breathing. I want to be an intercessor for others and a spiritual prayer warrior for my husband. I am ashamed at how quickly I forget to fall on my face for my husband! I don't want to pray off the top of my head--I want to be intentional in my intimate moments with You. I want to know when to speak and hear Your voice in silence. Help me to pray purposefully.

Abba, I want to work purposefully. Give me eternal vision while I'm working--both at school and at home. Sometimes I don't see the eternal significance of grading math papers, answering spelling questions, corralling petty squabbles, or handing back penmanship papers for a "redo." It's sometimes hard to see eternal significance even while I'm at home washing the same dish for the hundredth time, packing that lunch for the husband yet again, fighting my way through a grocery store aisle yet again, or vacuuming the floor after the dogs track in debris. But, You GAVE me those jobs! I know they have significance....even if I don't see it. The floor I vacuum to bless my husband and honor his home allows him rest after a long day.....the food I pack saves him money and gives him nourishment to do his best work. It all is eternal, help me to work as diligently in my housework and paper grading as I would were I on a mission field.

I just want to be purposeful, Father. In my work, my words, my prayers, my actions, my love.....I want to live with Your goal in mind. Help me to get my eyes off of the unimportant, the easy road, or the lazy path and seek to live every moment with a purpose in mind. I don't want mediocre actions, words, prayers, friendships, or work--I want to be an abiding woman who sees Your work in every encounter (even in the grocery store).

Help me to pray first and speak second. Remind me to love with the goal of showing YOUR love. Make my work focused and eternally oriented. Teach me to live purposefully. Change my heart, oh God. May I be like You.