The Week in Prayer

I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.

~Isaiah 5:1-2 (NIV)

God, you've done so much for me! You've saved me from the pit of hell, rescued me from my sin and a life of captivity. You've loved me more than I could ever imagine and blessed me beyond measure. I pray that when you look at my life, you don't see only bad fruit. I don't want my life to be something that looks good on the outside - has had every opportunity to be something beautiful because of the care you've taken - but yields only bad fruit. It doesn't matter what my life looks like on the outside if all I'm producing is poisonous and bitter.

Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land. They have harps and lyres at their banquets, tambourines and flutes and wine,but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands. Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; their men of rank will die of hunger and their masses will be parched with thirst.

~Isaiah 5:8, 12-13

Lord, forgive me for being focused on the material until I don't see you or the needs of others around me. I've sought prosperity by the standards of this world, and look where it's gotten me. I've substituted things for a relationship with you, and for living my life for you. Forgive me for not having any regard for your deeds, and for not respecting the work of your hands.

When we are focused on Christ, when our eyes are solely on Him, we are able to notice Him everywhere. He's integrated into our lives.

~Keri Wyatt Kent, Breathe

Lord, I pray that I may keep my eyes on you and that I will notice you in my life every day.

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.

~Isaiah 5:21

Lord, I confess that I often rely on my own strength and wisdom. Forgive me for being so smug and self-confident that I put my faith in my own abilities, because I have none. I pray for a heart that will turn to you and you alone.

If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.

~Isaiah 7:9

Lord, help me to stand firm in my faith...to be strong in you. The enemy wants to knock me down, but I praise you because you are greater than he. As I battle this world daily, give me strength to stand and to proclaim your name in all I say and do.

Amen.