i) Praise God for the Lord Jesus, our Saviour, who died to save us and rose to guarantee our salvation. Give thanks to Him for dying and rising again to make faith possible and for His example of trust in God.
ii) Thank Christ for His willingness to endure the cross. Pray that we would see the joy Jesus experienced and how it thrilled His heart to save us and for this to increase our love for Him.
iii) Pray for those who have yet to begin the race. Ask Jesus, the author of faith to give them the faith they need to believe and trust in Him and be saved.
iv) Pray for those coming to the end of their race - who are on their last laps. Ask Jesus the perfector and finisher of the faith to help them to finish strong and by His Spirit give them the strength to persevere to the end.
v) Pray that the example of those who have gone before us would encourage us to persevere. Pray that knowing that they finished the race marked out for them would assure us that with God’s help, we will too.
vi) Ask for the help of the Holy Spirit to throw off anything that would stop us from crossing the finish line - both the things that distract us and the sins that entangle us.
vii) Pray we would keep looking to Jesus for direction and assistance in the Christian life and that we would not grow weary of following Him.