Father God, I surrender myself to You again today. I am Your servant, and You are my Master. I acknowledge all that I am and everything I have belongs to You. The longing of my heart, though well beyond my reach, is for every moment of this day to be a white-hot passionate pursuit of a straight path toward intimacy with You. I want my life to be centered, anchored, and rooted in You. I want everything I see, think, say, and do today to bring You glory, to be honoring and pleasing to You. If at any moment today my attention, my direction, or my focus turns even the slightest bit to the right or the left, please, Father, like the needle of a compass turns back to true north, turn my focus back toward You.

Father, I affirm that a central thread of my purpose in life is to join with You in blessing others, including those who are not like me, don’t like me, won’t thank me, and can’t repay me. Make this day an adventure of obedience, and open my eyes to see what You see around me today. I am more concerned about missing an opportunity to bless others today than I am about looking foolish or being misunderstood or taken advantage of or putting myself at risk. I know life is not about preserving my comfort zone or eliminating danger. Lead me to the life-shaping experiences that will open the wellspring of passion in my life. Help me take the initiative today in crossing boundaries and overcoming barriers to show Your mercy by serving others. In Jesus’ name, amen.

This prayer opens us to this year’s Lenten theme at Grace, which you may follow in the posts below: