Episode 61: John 7:37-39
Transcription
Before we pray today, I want to remind you about my book: Yes, Father: A Daughter’s Journey to Forgiveness. I’d love to read a review someone left for the book that encompasses so much of what I hope for everyone who reads it.
This book shares what it truly is to love, even when you have to dig deep. The author’s journey through childhood memories emphasize how complicated a family truly can be, the different ties we make, and the way we can grow despite it all. I really enjoyed how she moved chronologically back and forth through her life, glimpses telling a much larger picture. In her growth she moves, too, from sibling squabbles to lasting relationships, from heartbreak to a deep reflection on what it is to love someone who may not love you back. There is also self-love and growth in her faith as she takes the harder path of caretaker. It’s a beautiful look on a life.
As someone who has been a caretaker, this was spot-on in how difficult things can be; anyone who has been a caretaker will find a friend in these pages, someone else who knows what it is to give and give even when the well seems dry. As someone who’s wrestled with faith, I found a friend here, too, as even those who stand firm in their faith must ask questions when the going gets hard.
I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to everyone, no matter what path of life you’re on. We’re all on a journey; sometimes it’s a good reminder that others are, too.
That really blessed me. Thank you to whoever wrote that.
You can pick up your copy today by going to my website www.ja-sellers.com
Now on to the prayer!
Before we pray today, I just want to share my deep thanks with those of you who have purchased my book and let me know how it impacted you. If you haven’t done so, please do. I want to hear from you. I’m so grateful for all that this book is accomplishing and what God is doing. For everyone else, just know that this resource is available to you, a deeply personal look into caregiving and relationships. If you would like to get a copy, you can head over to my website, www.ja-sellers.com, and find a link there for either ebook or paperback. Now, let’s pray.
Today’s verse is John 7:37-39
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Let’s pray together.
Jesus, I am thirsty. Help me come to You. My way seems blocked, fraught with danger, scattered with the pitfalls of this life. I am weary and it is hard to put one foot in front of the other. My attention is captured by all the distractions along the way. The enemy tries to block my way and wound me so I cannot move. All of these things keep me from drinking from the source of life. But that is what I want, so please be the Overcomer, my Helper, my Strength, my Defender, my Guide, my Healer.
Help me to understand Your words. I need Your wisdom to truly believe and know what You meant in Your Word. I want to picture Jesus in all His simple, yet commanding presence. I yearn to be a part of the invitation, to see with the crowd, the wonder and the freshness of such an invitation. To understand the richness of how He combined the things they knew with the things that were to come. Impart to me that wisdom, that stamina of learning, and help me to see with Your eyes.
Jesus, I want to accept Your invitation. I want to be quenched from the parched ways of life. I need a revival in my soul, a renewal of the union between us. I need to be close to You. I need to dwell where You are, in my heart, and let it be cleansed of all that would separate us. Please come and please bring refreshing. Bring a purpose and a knowledge of the holy. I don’t want anything to come between me and union with You. So help me, dear Jesus. You are the only one who can.
And let this restoration of our unity bring that glorious river into my soul. Let it thunder with the rushing of the waters, pouring out of my heart, visible to all, available to all. I need never fear to lose the source of this life. Your vitality is my strength and the beginning and end of whatever I need. So may it be a force of good and love and be freely given around me, not held close in selfishness and fear. Make me generous and giving, hopeful for how life will unfold, with You at my side. Let me be joyful, abounding in the prosperity of life, knit together by Your love and Your Spirit.
Oh, precious Holy Spirit, come and fill me! Let Your power and Your wonder overflow, seeping through my every pore, every inch of me. I want to be saturated with Your presence, overwhelmed by Your great love, and enabled to act by Your gifts. I know the beauty of who You are, help me to share it with the world. Help me not take it for granted. Help me not be afraid of it. Help me partner with You to be a minister of reconciliation, of renewal, of hope. Your wisdom and counsel are divine, may they be on my tongue. Your compassion and mercy are forever, may they be my first response. Your power and Your freedom are everlasting, may they guide the steps of all my days.
Thank You, Father, for the gift of Your Spirit, for the gift of Your Son, for unity with You. May the Godhead be my first and final joy, and may I respond in humility and abandonment to You. I ask for Your help to live as one with rivers of living water flowing out of me. Through the belief in Your Son, His forgiveness of my sins, and with the empowerment of Holy Spirit. I am so grateful we have all of You, and that You teach us unity and relationship by Your example. Help us to live in the harmony that You exemplify. Praise You for You have glorified Jesus, You have baptized us in Your Spirit, and You have renewed relationship that we could not accomplish on our own.
Thank You, Father. Prepare us and bless us today. Protect us against all that would harm us. Help us to live in the reality of forgiveness and resurrection, in the abundance and union of the Spirit. Teach us to confess where we go wrong so we can go right back into that relationship with You and be wrapped in it, guarded by it, and endlessly giving it to others.
I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
