A prayer based on 3 John.

<aside> 🙏🏻 Lord God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, We worship you. We add our praise now to the angels and all Your heavenly host. We join with the sun, moon and shining stars, the waters above, the great sea creatures, the mountains and all hills, the fruit trees and all cedars, the wild animals and all cattle, the small creatures and flying birds, in praising You our LORD, for Your name alone is exalted. Great are You and most worthy of our praise for You have made us and You continue to do good to all that You have made.

We praise You that You care about each of us. About our whole person. Our physical bodies. Our life circumstances. And our souls.

We praise You that You especially care about the state of our souls. Though by nature our souls are unhealthy because of our sin. Our souls are sick because we haven’t loved You with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Because we have failed to live lives that glorify You. Yet You have done something to make them healthy again, by sending Your Son to be the Saviour of the world.

Thank You Lord Jesus, that You came to earth. That You lived the life we could and have never lived. That You went to the cross and took upon Yourself all our sin, everything that makes us unhealthy. Thank You Lord Jesus, that You took the punishment of hell we deserve. That You rose from the dead as proof that this penalty had been paid in full. And thank You Lord Jesus that You will make our sick souls healthy if we turn from our sins and trust in You. What love You have shown to us who are so undeserving.

By Your Spirit, we pray that You will help us to trust in You, to remain faithful to You, and to live in such a way that shows that we are following You. Forgive us for all those moments in recent days when we have shown a lack of faith in You and our walk has not been worthy of what You have done for us. And strengthen us to serve You by serving Your people with our time and our energy and our resources. Give us a great concern not just for the state of our own souls, but also the souls of others. May we rejoice when we hear of others who are walking in the truth. May our hearts ache for those who have yet to put their trust in Jesus, and for those who once professed faith but have now backslidden. Help us to play our part in getting the good news out into this local community and beyond. Help us to recognise other faithful local churches and gospel workers doing this, not as rivals but as brothers and sisters who we are co-labourers with. And cause us not to neglect spending time with Jesus in His Word. As we gaze upon Him, as Scripture reveals Him to us, Holy Spirit makes us more and more like Him, we pray. For the glory of God alone.

Amen.

</aside>