“When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean” (Matthew 8:1-2).

“Lord, if you choose,” is the way to pray.  Maybe the Lord knows something we do not and will not heal.  The Lord is Lord and He will do nothing that will thwart the Father’s plans.  Too many seem to think that all they need do is ask and Jesus will grant whatever we ask.  But the reality is, the Lord is always the Lord and we are the sinners who are making a humble request.  Humility is always in order.

Lord, I do often treat You like some cosmic Santa Claus.  If You give me what I want, You are good.  If You do not, I do not like You.  Strip that sinful heart away so that in good times and bad time, I praise You.  You are the One who must author and finish my faith.  You know what I need even before I ask.  Lead me to live into the life You are calling me to live so that I may learn how to be faithful.

Lord Jesus, You have healed whom You have healed, but You did not heal all the people.  We sinners do not understand this.  But You are Lord.  Help me always approach You in humility, just as I am, to follow Your lead.  Guide me today and when I pray, turn my heart to willing submission so that whatever Your answer, I praise You.  Lead me, Lord Jesus, so that I may learn from You how to be faithful.  Amen.

“When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:28 – 29).

“He was teaching as One who has authority.”  This is one of the greatest understatements you will ever encounter.  So many are amazed at Jesus and then go on their way and live the life they have chosen.  Why not listen to the One who has all authority?  In Him is life!  Of course He teaches with authority.  He is the only One on earth who has ever taught with absolute authority because He is the only One who actually knows for sure what He is talking about.

Lord, I have learned and I know many things, but I do not know all things.  You do.  Help me to listen to You knowing that You know all things.  Guide me in the way of everlasting life so that I may trust and be guided by You in all things.  You know the beginning from the end.  Why do I listen to others when You are instructing me in how to live?  Open my ears to hear and obey You as You speak words of truth.

Come, Holy Spirit, and direct me in the ways You know I need to go this day.   Open my heart to receive and my ears to hear as You guide me step by step.  Let me see the appointments You have for me this day and guide me to fulfill them.  As I walk through this day, may I be guided by You alone, doing what is pleasing to the Father.  Guide me in the grace of Jesus I pray.  Amen.

“And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell – and its collapse was great” (Matthew 7:26-27).

The winds of this world are constantly blowing.  We are tossed about by the waves of constant flux.  A positive spin is put on it and we call it change.  Sometimes we even call it progress.  Come to the One who does not change.  Come to the One who is the foundation of all that exists.  Build your life upon Him and although the winds will still blow and the flux will still be around you, you will have the constancy of the One who never changes.

Lord, why do I hesitate to live a life built upon You?  I say I want this and in the next moment I go back.  I am like one of the early church fathers whose prayer, “Lord, make me chaste,” discovered later in life that all the while He was really saying, “but not yet.”  Take away my hesitance and lead me fully into the life You give through grace.  Help me to walk with You at all times and in all places.

Lord Jesus, You are the solid rock upon whom I can build my life.  Help me today to be more concerned with what You want than what those around me are saying.  Guide me to live into this life You have given me so that I may learn how to be faithful in even small things.  In all that You have in store for me, lead me to have an open heart and a willingness to be obedient to all that You will lead me through.  Amen.

“And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:25).

The world is constantly drowning us with its pablum.  The fickle whirlwinds of this world are always blowing against stability.  Many fall because they build their lives on temporal things.  When you build your life upon Christ, the solid rock, you are building upon the One who brought all things into being.  In Him, Who changes not, you have hope.  The world cannot give you hope because it is always changing.

Lord, I know the world is always changing and yet it never changes.  We are led around in circles that go nowhere.  Help us, Lord, to understand that You have come bringing true hope and life.  In many ways, parts of what you ask us to do are so foreign, yet, when we have applied what You have taught us, we find that we are more content and at peace.  Take away the hindrances that keep us from building our life upon You.

Lord Jesus, You have come so that we may have life and have it abundantly.  Guide me today to see that in You alone is there hope.  You have come and will lead me.  Help me, beginning this day, to begin and end each day You give me in You.  Open my mind to receive what You will teach me.  Through the Holy Spirit, bring me to those appointments You have arranged.  Help me to learn how to be a willing and obedient servant.  Amen.

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24).

Upon what are you building your life?  Many of us build without thinking or considering the cost.  They build in dangerous places.  They build upon their feelings or the under the direction of others.  But you, upon what are you building your life.  What you believe will come through in what you do.  Belief is the action of that in which you have faith.  Act upon these words and build your life upon Christ.

Lord, You know where I am true to Your call and where I am faking it.  Guide me so that I seek Your righteousness and live these words that You are giving me.  Where I fall short, by Your grace, lead me into the righteousness You have prepared for me.  Lead me by Your grace to seek You in all things.  Help me to be a person who does what You say and lives with You as the foundation.

LORD God, You are the Creator and through You all things have their being.  Lead me always in my innermost being, help me to be clear of the garbage of this age so that I may be true to You.  I will sin, but I know that sin is forgiven under Your grace.  Help me so that what the world sees me doing is driven by You who leads me from the inside out.  Guide me to walk with You humbly today and every day until that day comes when I meet You face to face.  Amen.

“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:23)

Here is the place of judgement.  There are those who walk with the Lord knowing Him, and those who, no matter what they are doing, do not know Him.  They will be separated, one from the other.  Heaven is filled with those who live outside of themselves and for others.  Hell is filled with those who live for themselves.  We have a little of both in this age, but there is the place of separation at the end of our days.

Lord, You know the direction I am heading.  I say I want to walk after You.  Help my words be the truth.  Then, let Your Word direct me so that I am not just one who hears the word, but one who actively cooperates with the Holy Spirit and does what You are saying.  You have made things very easy: listen to You, follow the narrow way, seek to do what is right in every situation and depend upon Your grace to complete all things.

Lord Jesus, what a mess we have made of things.  I too say and do many things that are not genuine and true.  Help me, Lord, to learn how to be more honest with myself this day.  Guide me in Your goodness to know that in You is all hope.  In You alone is my eternal future.  Help me to practice the law, learn how to love my neighbor, and humbly walk with You all the days of my life.  Amen.

“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’” (Matthew 7:22)

Many do not see the Lord or think of him as someone real.  To them, He is just an idea.  People like this go through the motions, but they are so into themselves that they cannot see anyone but themselves.  They are not your friend either.  Sadly, too few die to self, take Jesus’ hand, and walk with Him.  It is not about performing miracles but walking with the Lord that matters.  Walk with the Lord.

Lord, there are times when all I can do is fake it.  Help me to come into a place of intentionality where I first engage with You and then I engage with my neighbor.  Help me to see that this is not some action, but a life that is to be lived in relationship.  Let Your truth permeate who I am and what I do.  Lord, You call for us all to be genuine and true to You and one another.

The hardest person for us to be truthful with is ourselves.  Lord Jesus, You are the truth and You have come to reveal all truth.  Open my heart.  I am afraid and I do not want to see the truth but open it up so that I can live in reality.  Help me to relate with You and others in truth.  Guide me in Your goodness so that I may humbly walk with You all the days of my life.  Be the One who leads me, Lord.  Amen.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter” (Matthew 7:21).

Many are baptized.  Many go to church.  Many do what they do for their own reasons.  We are not called to live for ourselves, but to put on the mind of Christ and live according to the Father’s will.  Yes, we are saved through faith by grace, but that grace does not free us to do as we please.  We are called to be renewed into the likeness of Christ and become children of the heavenly Father.

Lord, help me to see that fine line between freedom and the law.  I know You give all the grace that is needed, but You also call us to live in accordance with the law You have given.  Let the separation between these two positions be clear and apparent.  Open my eyes to see so that I may learn how to walk the narrow path that You have set before me.  I need to learn how to be faithful.

Lord Jesus, You were faithful in all things, even unto Your death on the cross.  Guide me to pick up my cross and follow You wherever You lead.  Help me now and always to live into the life You have given me through the baptism You provided me.  Lead me according to the Father’s will so that I may come to be with You in heaven.  You know all that is needed.  Thank You for providing for my salvation through Your precious death on the cross and glorious resurrection.  Amen.

“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  So then, you will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:19-20).

If you end up being good for nothing, what would you expect?  We act in a way that fits who we are and what we are after.  Should it be otherwise?  Even in the world, many of us have a hard time with folk that do nothing.  Do not be led by the broad ways of this world, but by the narrow way of the Lord.  He calls for us to follow Him and He tells us that the fields are ripe for the harvest.  Go then into the field and bear fruit befitting the kingdom of heaven.

Lord, help me to understand this clearly, not doing what I do for my own sake, but for Your sake.  Turn my heart so that it longs to be about the Father’s business.  Through all that comes my way, let me see the opportunities to do what is right.  Guide me in the way of righteousness, bearing the fruit for which I was created.  Let me dwell deeply rooted in You.

Holy Spirit, You know where those places in my heart where I am hindered.  I know the Father will prune the unproductive branches.  Guide me, whether being pruned or at work, so that in all I do, I may be faithful to the tasks You are giving me.  Lead me to be a vine that bears good fruit.  Guide me in all I do this day so that I may look for those places where You have assignments for me.  Amen.

“So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:17-18).

At the end of this age, it will be very apparent who has produced what.  We have many examples of those who have gone before, both good and bad.  Nothing remains a secret, for the track behind us tells others who we are.  You have before you the narrow way of everlasting life.  Jesus has called you by name and tells you that either you will be one who produces good fruit or else one who produces bad fruit.

Lord God, You have established the order of things.  We may argue in our speculations, but things will be as You have determined them to be.  Lead those who are on the journey of becoming like Christ to focus upon walking the path You have set before us.  Let us not be distracted by this world’s incessant measuring of results, but instead put all our energy into following You each day.

Lord Jesus, You say to each of us, “Come, follow me.”  Lead me this day so that You are the center of of my attention.  You will grow in me what You will grow in me.  You will produce from my life what You will produce.  You are the author and finisher of my faith.  Help me to keep my eyes upon You, my Lord and Savior.  Help me to make each step forward one that is taken with Your guidance.  Amen.