Prayer for MEEKNESS - fruit of the Spirit

For today’s post we will continue to look at the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5: 22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is ……..MEEKNESS, temperance: against such there is no law.

MEEKNESS is a fruit of the Spirit that tends to be quite misunderstood by many.

What is Meeknes? According to the strong’s concordance the Greek word for Meekness is Praotes which means gentleness or humility. A furthur look at Humility denotes a lowliness of mind, an inwrought  grace of the soul that allows one to think of himself no more highly than he ought to think (New Ungers Bible Dictionary). The word gentleness, expresses a spirit of willingness and obedience and a lack of resistence to God’s dealings with us (New Ungers Bible Dictionary).

Most people associate meekness with weakness,and tend not to admire people who are meek. I prefer to agree with those who describe meekness as strength under control.

Meekness is a very important characteristics for christians.  Jesus addresses the issue of meekness in his teachings of the sermon on the Mount known as the Beatitudes. He said “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth”  So in order for us to inherit the earth that Christ has placed us in we need to have an attitude of meekness. The bible gives us examples of people who were meek,Jesus Christ was our greatest example, and at no time could he be mistaken as weak. At all times He had His strenth under control. Moses was another example of a person who was Meek, He delivered the Children of Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness millions of complaining people, there was nothing weak about him.  Numbers 12: 3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)  
   Having an attitude of meekness, is saying that we are dependent on someone other than ourselves and we do not get upset about things as we have the confidence that God is working things out on our behalf. In today’s society it would seem like agression is the way to go, bulldozing our way through people to get what we want, being loud and argumentative. Unfortunately as christians we cannot go with the world’standard.
Is it easy to be humble, and to think of others more highly than ourselves, to express a spirit of willingness and obedience and a lack of resistence to God’s  dealings- No but it is doable, why? God does not ask us to do what is impossible, that is His Job.

So here is our prayer for our Children: Father I thank you for my Children. I thank you that you want the best for them at all times. Father I thank you that you are the greatest example for us to follow, and that there is no temptation common to man for which you have not given us a way of escape. I pray that the spirit of Meekness will be manifested in my children. Help them to realize that by being meek they are showiing their confidence and dependence on you. As I pray for their meekness, help me as their mother to also be an example of meekness before them, In Jesus’s name Amen.

In His Service,

Vilma

Prayer for Faith/Faithfullness Fruit of the Spirit

The fruit of the Spirit is…………FAITH, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Faith was previously addressed in my blog post on August 22, 2011.  I will include some of the information that was presented in that post, Just in case you prefer not go to the archives to find it.

The Greek word for Faith is “pistis”, which is translated as belief, trust, reliable and faithful.  The fundamental idea of Faith in the scripture is steadfastness and faithfulness.

Hebrews 11:1 now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (NIV).

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (KJV).

Faith is extremely important for Christians.  The bible says in Hebrews 11:6- And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (NIV).

 Put another way we cannot please God by our works, we can only please Him if we Trust/ believe in Him and in what He has done for us.  How would you feel if some person who you have always being kind and helpful to over the years, one day decides that they no longer believe or trust in your ability to help them?  Remember you have always been there for them, always come through for them.  I believe that this would make very unhappy, I know I would not be pleased.  This is what happens when we do not trust or believe the things that God promises to do for us, even when we know what His track record is. 
I often hear people saying things like “you have no faith” or he or she has more faith than I do.  However I would like to disagree with statements like this.  Here is my reasoning:
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

The measure refers to a specific unit of measurement or amount.  If the Bible said a measure of Faith, then I could agree with you because it could mean that the amount of faith given differed according to what was used to measure it- a spoon, a cup, a glass or a bucket.  So why do some people seem to have more than the next person.  I would say that the more one exercises his Faith the more his Faith grows.  

In addition to having trust and a belief in God, we need our children to exhibit a character of faithfulness, and loyalty in their everyday life.  They need to exhibit faithfulness to God, to their family, in their church, on their job, in their school. As we pray for our children to exhibit the characteristic of FAITH, we need to make sure that we are an example to them of what it means to be faithfull.

Father, I thank you for my child/children.  I pray that they will develop trust, belief and loyalty in You and in your Word and as they grow in their trust, belief and loyalty for you this will be translated into a life of faithfulness in everything they say and do.  In Jesus’ Name Amen.

In His Service,

Prayer for Goodness - fruit of the Spirit

But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, GOODNESS, faith ……of such there is no law.  

GOODNESS is the next portion of the fruit of the Spirit that we will look at in today’s post.  To fully understand what we are asking for when we pray for our children to exhibit goodness as a part of their everyday lives, let us look more closely on what Goodness means.
  The Strong’s concordance Greek translation of GOODNESS is agathosune {ag-ath-o-soo'-nay} which means virtue or beneficence.  We can further define the word virtue as a benefit, a quality, an asset, or a plus.  The word beneficence on the other hand (from an ethical point of view) usually means “to do no harm”.  

Why should we strive to be good, or to do no harm to others?  Why should we strive to do the right thing and to do it for the right reason?  According to Pastor Melvin Newland, “One of our problems with goodness is the same problem we have with love.  The word "good" is used in so many ways, just as we use the word "love."  I do agree with this statement.  The word good does seem to be used indiscriminately and sometimes glibly and takes on the meaning of its context.

Our Standard for what Goodness is should be patterned after Jesus- that is the type of goodness that we should strive to exhibit.  The Bible tells us that Jesus went around doing good- He did no Harm

Acts:10: 38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Jesus went around doing good.  We also can, and should go around doing God.  He did not choose to do good to those who could reciprocate; neither did he do so just for those who followed Him or Loved Him.  He did good whenever there was a need.  A key point to notice is that Jesus was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power as well as the fact that God was with Him.
The act of goodness should originate from the heart; it is not an act to draw attention to us.  Again this may be difficult to achieve, however it’s attainable.  This same power that Jesus Christ had while He was on earth is the same power that He left with us when He returned to heaven.  He also left the Holy Spirit with us and we too can get this anointing upon us.

Father I thank you for (insert name/names).  I pray for the spirit of goodness to be exhibited in their life.  I pray that they will seek to always do good and not evil to others.  Father I pray that they will not just do good things to be seen but will do good things as a prompt from their hearts.  As I pray for this attribute to be exhibited in (insert name/names) I pray that I myself will become an example of goodness to them.  In Jesus’ name. Amen

Prayer for Kindness/Gentlenss- Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5: 22: But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, KINDNESS, goodness……….against such things there is no law (NIV).
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, GENTLENESS, goodness, faith……..against such there is no law (KJV).

Today we will focus on “Kindness” or “Gentleness which is another aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. The word gentleness in the Greek is translated  usefulness, moral excellence(in character or demeanor) good, kindness. God wants us as christians to exhibit a character and demeanor that reflects moral excellence.  Showing Kindness is a tangible way of expressing the love of God to others. This Kindness or Gentleness that we are asked to demonstarte is not just for those who treat us right but even to our enemies or people who mistreat us. This is certainly not an easy thing to do, but again it is possible. God does not require impossible things from us. We can look at this as a process, that we need to continue in daily, and we will find that it gets easier each time. Gentleness or Kindness does not mean that we are weak or a push over as some may think. No it is a necessary fruit that we need to bear. We need to exhibit a moral character, in our home, at our jobs, in school, at the supermarket, driving on the street, yes and even when you feel like you are being backed in a corner. We have been given this gift, we need to use it, not put it away.

Father, I thank you for my children. I thank you for the gift of the fruit of the Spirit that you have graciously given to them. I thank you that included in this is Kindness/ Gentleness. I pray that they will exhibit this aspect of the fruit in their every day life. Help them not to react to situations but to think things through carefully then make the right decisions. Help them not to show kindness only to those who are kind to them but instead they will be kind and compassionate to everyone. As I paray for this for my children, help me to also exhibit kindness and gentleness towards them and others, setting a physical example for them to follow. In Jesus name, Amen.

In His Service,

Vilma