Lord, You know my heart’s intimacies and foibles. It is with much difficulty that You overcome my resistance to obedience. The more spiritual the obligation and privilege, the more reluctance trips me up. Truly, where I have allowed neglect to take root, weeds of corruption choke out the life-giving planting of Your Spirit. Keep my heart ever close to the power of Your gracious influence. Left to my own, nothing good would be accomplished. My soul is eager to frame many excuses that dismiss me of the wonderful opportunities to serve in Your Name. Warm up the frigid apathy that hides within my heart’s corners, Lord. Thaw the frozen tundra of the soul where hardness of heart begins. It is Your Spirit who thaws. Your Spirit raises the temperature of zeal one degree of faith at a time. Where there was once averseness, let there now be zealous devotion. I implore You, Lord God, to manifest Your Holy Word with vivid accuracy in my life. Take me on a journey that recognizes the holy gift of total obedience. In this holy obedience unto death, Your love was the conquering power of the world’s sins, Jesus. Whatever spoil I hope to gain from my personal corruption will be merely an obstacle to the grand victory You have secured for those whose faith rests entirely on You. When sudden passions lead me into temptation Lord, turn me around so that I can obediently follow You on the path of escape. I am an impatient follower, Lord. Remind me that each step of obedience gets me closer to the final destination. It is one step at a time that gets me from where I am to where I one day hope to be. Disobedience is the muck that keeps me from moving forward. Thanks be to God that His mighty arm pulls me out of that muck. His Holy Spirit moves me in the power of grace. I praise You with a full heart, my Lord and Savior. Under the beauty of the Word in Philippians 1:6 and the authority of Christ, I pray.

 And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 
Philippians 1:6, ESV