Dear Father in Heaven, Make me a light to this dark world, so that I may shine for Your glory. Help me not to hide my light, but to take every opportunity to diffuse it wherever I go. You are my light, and Your love in my heart is too precious to withhold. Let it shine forth, dear Lord! In Jesus' name, Amen.
I pray that God will give me a deeper desire to witness for Him.
A formal religion, a feeble faith, does not correspond to the truth we profess. It demands living energy and fervency of spirit. It must be heart-felt with us, if we would urge it to the hearts of others. It must be cherished with intense love, if we would have others feel the sacredness and preciousness of its claims. All who would engage in the work of saving souls, must feel their dependence on God {ST, February 24, 1888 par. 9}
I desire to be a shining light for Jesus!
The torch of truth must shine to willing as well as unwilling eyes. When Christ ascended on high, the church was to be the agent, or medium, through which light was to be communicated to the world. "Ye are the light of the world." Every individual Christian is required of God to be a living, shining light in the world. He must wrestle with God in secret prayer; then he will go forth in the spirit of Christ to hold converse with men. Anointed for the mission, he bears with him the atmosphere of paradise. His words will be well-chosen, and his face will reflect the image of his Master. He will be the light of the world, a living epistle known and read by all men. {RH, March 8, 1887 par. 5}
I desire to represent Him, and reflect His character in all I do and say.
When the Spirit of Christ stirs the heart with its marvelous awakening power, there is a sense of deficiency in the soul, that leads to contrition of mind, and humiliation of self, rather than to proud boasting of what has been acquired. . .The soul that is thus touched will never wrap itself about with self-righteousness, or a pretentious garb of holiness; but will hate its selfishness, abhor its self-love, and will seek, through Christ's righteousness, for that purity of heart which is in harmony with the law of God and the character of Christ. He will then reflect the character of Christ, the hope of glory. It will be the greatest mystery to him that Jesus should have made so great a sacrifice to redeem him. {OFC 288.5}
I desire to turn the thoughts of others toward God.
.seek to be ready to turn the thoughts of men, in a suitable and wise manner, to the great themes of the Bible. With tender and fervent spirit urge the claims of God upon the soul. Many, many precious opportunities are allowed to slip by unimproved, because men are persuaded that it is out of season. But who knows what might be the effect of a wise appeal to the conscience, by using the word of God that will accomplish that for which God has given it? {RH, April 24, 1888 par. 4}
I pray for opportunities to speak a word for Jesus.
Those in whose hearts Christ abides by faith, know how to speak a word in season, they know how to pray with the sinner, they know how to present the truth as it is in Jesus. The lessons must be given in such a manner that Christ may receive all the praise. All that we have, all that we are, all that we can do, is God's; it belongs to him; therefore when we give the best, and all there is of us, it is only that which belongs to God. {RH, September 2, 1890 par. 5}
If you truly belong to Christ, you will have opportunities for witnessing for Him. {AH 519.2}
I pray for wisdom to witness for God.
If we would indeed be witnesses for Christ, we must behold him, work as he worked, pray as he prayed. We must fight the fight of faith, clad in the armor of Christ's righteousness. Christ declared that he did nothing of himself, but only that which he saw his Father do. {ST, January 16, 1896 par. 10}
We are to learn from Christ how to work, how to be as he was, self-denying, self-sacrificing. If we have his Spirit, we shall realize the worth of souls, and work for their salvation. Our work is to be done wholly through the grace of Christ. We are to have a continual sense of our weakness and frailty and be led to Jesus in earnest prayer for his wisdom and efficiency. There will be times of despondency, as we realize our unlikeness to Christ; we see ourselves small, weak, and compassed with infirmities; but we are to depend upon Jesus, and commit our ways unto the Lord; and while we trust to him in humility, obedient to his word, heavenly wisdom will be imparted to us that we may do the Master's work. {RH, January 31, 1893 par. 7}
I pray that God will keep my from being hypocritical in any area of my life.
Measuring ourselves by the Bible standard will give us no exalted view of our own goodness or greatness. The truths of the gospel and the teachings of the Holy Spirit, will produce in us brokenness of heart, hatred of sin, and an understanding of self. But wishing for holiness of heart and purity of life will not bring us into possession of these blessings. Mourning over religious delinquencies will never make one acquisition. There are thousands of sluggish hypocritical tears, of sighs and groans, that never bring to the soul one cheering beam of light, one manifestation of Christ's approval. {RH, May 30, 1882 par. 16}
It will cost us something to obtain a Christian experience, and to develop a true and noble character. It requires sacrifice and earnest effort, and this is why so little advancement is made by professing Christians. They do not go to the great source of wisdom, because they shrink from the toil, the cost, the inconvenience. They wish to have righteousness put upon them as a garment. But the white-robed throng of the redeemed ones, are those who have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Christ has presented the matter as it is: "Agonize to enter in at the strait gate; for many shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able." {RH, May 30, 1882 par. 17}
We have each a daily work to do, to correct our natural defects of character, and to cultivate the Christian graces. Only by the accomplishment of this work, can we hope to share in the reward of the righteous. Said Christ, "To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." {RH, May 30, 1882 par. 18}
I pray that I will not place a stumbling block before others.
Shall we not rather do that medical missionary work which is the gospel in practice, living in such a way that the peace of God can rule in our hearts? Shall we not remove every stumblingblock from the feet of unbelievers, ever remembering what is due to a profession of Christianity? Far better give up the name of Christian than make a profession and at the same time indulge appetites which strengthen unholy passions. {RH, May 27, 1902 par. 15}
But there may be an appearance of being united to Christ when no vital union exists. If you have not faith in him as your personal Saviour, you are symbolized by the withered branch, which will be taken away because it is fruitless. An appearance of Christianity and a profession of piety may place you in the church, but it cannot unite you to Christ. There is no virtue in having our names registered on the church books, if we have no vital connection with Jesus. If you have not a union with Christ, you will produce no fruit to his glory. Your unfruitfulness will bear testimony that you are not abiding in Christ, and that your formality is but a stumblingblock to sinners. You must draw life from the True Vine in order to bear fruit. {ST, December 14, 1891 par. 5}
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
