Consumed by Love

John 15:12 – This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Merciful God, we stand in awe of your bountiful grace and mercy. You possess complete knowledge of who we are; all of our faults, all of our flaws and the times we lapse into sinful thoughts and behaviors. You are keenly aware of our dishonest motives and intentions that sometime hide behind our good deeds. And you hear our secret thoughts and musings that are far short of anything resembling righteousness.

Father God, You know all about us and love us anyway. You extend mercy when we are guilty, grace when we don’t deserve it and forgiveness in the face of our blatant acts of rebellion against You. Lord, we are overwhelmed with Your loving kindness. As the songwriter said: “We don’t serve you as we should. We don’t deserve all of Your good; so many many things are not as they should be, but God is so good to me.” Merciful God, You are so good to us; our hearts say, “thank You.”

As we go through the day, we pray for spiritual strength and wisdom to share with others the love You extend toward us. Please cause us to display kinder and gentler hearts; patient and forbearing dispositions; and empathetic consideration to all whom we encounter. Lord, we pray for grace to bless others with the favor we receive from You. Please make us good and faithful stewards of Your manifold blessings.  In Jesus Name we pray. Amen.