A prayer based on 1 Peter 2:4-12.

<aside> 🙏🏻 We praise You our God and Father, for Your love and mercy. for Your kindness and compassion. for Your stunning grace that You have shown to people who are so undeserving of it. That though we might feel like we are an ordinary bunch of people, that is far from the truth, because by believing in Jesus, we are the most privileged people on earth. Though we once belonged to Satan, though we once were in darkness, that is not the case anymore. Because of Your unbelievable generosity You have made us a chosen people. A treasured possession of Yours. People You have handpicked personally, not because we’re important or there is something about us that endears us to You, but because You chose to love us. Not only that, You have made us a royal priesthood. We are Your children. We have access to You, the Almighty King of the universe. We can come into Your presence with confidence to worship You. We can meet and speak with You wherever and whenever we like. This is truly amazing. And the blessings don’t stop there. You have made us into a holy nation. You have set us apart from the rest of the world to be a people who belong to You, who are to reflect Your character and display Your glory. How special we are to You. And all this is because of Your Son, the Lord Jesus.

We thank You that He is the living Stone. The One rejected by men as Herod wanted to kill Him; as the religious leaders hated Him; as Pilate washed his hands of Him; as the crowds shouted crucify Him; as the soldiers mocked Him; as He was hung exposed on the cross. We thank You that though He was rejected by men, He was chosen by You and precious to You. That this rejection He faced was part of Your eternal plan that He willingly chose to follow, so that we might be saved. And we are grateful for the assurance we can have that we have been rescued, because You raised Him from the dead and have made Him our cornerstone and capstone.

Thank You Lord Jesus that You died, so that through Your death all who trust in You, will never be put to shame and condemned to hell.

Gracious Father, loving Saviour, you have been so good to us. We were sinners on the fast track to hell and there was nothing we could do about it. But now that death sentence has been removed, and we have this great hope and future of heaven. How we should declare Your praises! How we should live as people who have received this mercy! How we should abstain from sinful desires! How we should live such good lives! But we confess before You now, that so often we don’t. We fail to tell people how wonderful You are. We give into temptation and do not resist the urges of our sinful nature. We don’t live as citizens of heaven, but instead following the attitudes and actions of those who are still rebelling against You and rejecting Your Word. Continue to show us mercy we pray. Forgive us our sins. Purify us from all evil and wickedness.

And Holy Spirit, work in us in such a way, that we can’t but tell others of how wonderful our Lord is. Give us the boldness we need to speak to others of what Jesus has done for us and can do for them. Both to one another and to those who are still dead in their sins and without hope in this world. Help us to fight against and to go to war with sin. We feel the battle we are in daily, and we need Your enabling if we are to stand firm and not fall. So, strengthen us with all the power we need to live lives that show that Christ is precious to us. To look for opportunities to do good to people so that they would give God the glory and come to know His Son before He return.

Amen.

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