September 10, 2022 - Philemon 1:4-7

“I always thank my God when I pray for you, Philemon, because I keep hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ. Your love has given me much joy and comfort, my brother, for your kindness has often refreshed the hearts of God’s people.” Philemon 1:4-7 NLT

Lord, we can easily see how much of a blessing Philemon was to Paul as we read Paul’s letter. It is expressed in Paul’s prayer here for Philemon. Teach us how to be a blessing to others the same way Philemon was to Paul. Jesus, we want to serve and love people like you did. We want our attitude and actions to make others feel valued. We want to bring joy and comfort to people, especially when they are going through a hard season. Lord, show us the people in our lives that we need to lift up their arms and help support them. Open our eyes to what their real needs are. Show us how to honor them and carry their burdens. Let it be said of us that people know of us because of our great faith and our love for all your people.

Lord, we pray as well that you would increase our generosity. Show us how to put it into action. We praise you for all that you have blessed us with. Open our eyes to how you want us to use our blessings. We believe that you have blessed us so that we can be a blessing. Help us learn how to honor you by having a great balance of what is for us to keep and what is for us to bless others with. Not just financially, but in every area of our lives. We want our love for others to always be higher than our love of ourselves. Open our eyes to see where this is not a reality in our lives and show us how to correct it where needed. Lord, let our lives be a witness of your great love.

In Jesus name, amen.