This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus.

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. .

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Lord God my Father,

Help me to completely surrender to your way so I may be a servant for you. Allow your Peace to rest well with me so I may be a witness to others as to your power alive in me. Help me to keep my gaze on you and not on the struggles.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 

 Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.

This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.6:15 Or For shoes, put on the readiness to preach the Good News of peace with God. 16In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.6:16 Greek the evil one. 17Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike.6:19 Greek explain the mystery of the Good News; some manuscripts read simply explain the mystery.

Lord God my Father,

You fill me with your Truth, allow me to stay close so I don’t wonder off. Thank you for the transformation so far, help me to keep my heart soft to hear you. You have been so patient with me and I am eternally grateful. Help me to be a good witness to those around me and keep my armor of protection in good order. Fill my thoughts with your desire.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world,

So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.3:6 Some manuscripts read is coming on all who disobey him. 7You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 8But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. 

 He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God.

This letter is from Paul, a prisoner for preaching the Good News about Christ Jesus, 

Lord God my Father,

Free me from myself so I may experience you. Destroy the sin within me so I may know you without boundaries. You designed me to delight in you, I have chosen poorly and desire to be restored to your desire. I am grateful for your Grace which has set me free from the past so I may experience today more as your obedience begins to rest on me. Make me strong and perfect as I am willing.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said. 26But we will be shipwrecked on an island.”

But we want to hear what you believe, for the only thing we know about this movement is that it is denounced everywhere.”

For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense.28:30 Or in his own rented quarters. He welcomed all who visited him, 31boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him

Lord God my Father,

Help me to be at peace with your plan even when I don’t understand. Open my eyes and ears to see and hear you. Use me to proclaim your message well.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault,20:26 Greek I am innocent of the blood of all. 27for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.

When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

“But what shall I write the emperor? For there is no clear charge against him.

Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future. 17And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. I am sending you to the Gentiles 18to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.

Lord God my Father,

Make me faithful and bold to speak of your Truth in this world. Keep me from discouragement and overwhelmed with your Hope. Allow your Truth to bring hope to those around me. Open our eyes so we may see both light and darkness.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

Then, by the will of God, I will be able to come to you with a joyful heart, and we will be an encouragement to each other.33And now may God, who gives us his peace, be with you all. Amen.

 Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. 18Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people. 

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

Lord God my Father,

Replace my will with your perfect will. Keep me in your unity and give me discernment with deception so I may remain with you. Use me to crush Satan with your Love.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

And do you remember God’s reply? He said, “No, I have 7,000 others who have never bowed down to Baal!”

For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. 

Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living.

Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

Lord God my Father,

Keep me strong in your Truth so I may only worship you. Remove in me my desire to have my way and turn me to your plan so I may bring your glory to overwhelm my distorted truth. Keep my heart in your Love so you can use me to destroy evil in how I love others. Clean my desires so I only desire you.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.8:15a Greek you received a spirit of sonship. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”8:15b Abba is an Aramaic term for “father.” 16For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.

Lord God my Father,

I am a sinner, and my thoughts are not on you as I desire. Thank you for placing your holy spirit in me, now help me to give it complete control over my distractions. I wish to give you complete control over me but struggle to. Allow you Peace to overpower me.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.

Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.

So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

Lord God my Father,

I repent for my sin nature, give me strength to overcome it bit by bit. Thank you for your overwhelming love and grace, convert my nature to desire your fruits over mine. Make me your slave, open my eyes to my sinful way and cause me to turn to you. I want to be only under your authority.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes

They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 26That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 

But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6He will judge everyone according to what they have done. 7He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers.

Lord God my Father,

Give me courageous faith and discernment of your Truth. Turn me and protect me from my sinful way. I acknowledge you and accept your plan, keep me close. Use my stubborn way to stay in your desire and not in mine.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen