A Prayer for Moving On
By: Gwen Smith
“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” – Philippians 3:13b
It spoke to me as I strolled down the check out aisle of Marshalls that day. The wall art that was featured on an impulse-buy rack.
Amen! I thought.
The message? Simple: “Don’t Stumble On Things That Are Behind You.”
My mind reeled, and I thought hard about this seemingly simple directive that points to a habit that trips so many of us up: looking back. Allowing the past to deter and diminish our future.
The Apostle Paul had a difficult past to contend with. His early years were spent tormenting Chris followers. Then he met Jesus and everything changed for him. He chose to move forward as the new man he’d become.
Instead of wallowing in the muck of condemnation, he stepped into the grace of Christ with determination.
Are you struggling with this? Let me ask you a few direct questions {in love}. Do you really think that living in the past and letting it loom large in your now is helping you? Is it empowering you to grow in strength, dignity and joy? Is it fueling you toward the prize that awaits you in Christ? No? Then be done with it in Jesus’ name. Spend a few moments in prayer and write about this in your journal.
Holy Lord, Thank You for grace. Please help me move beyond the hurdles that trip me up and give me the strength and wisdom to look up and see the hope I run toward in Christ.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Editor’s Note: Content taken from the Girlfriends in God devotional, Is Your Past Still Tripping You Up, written by Gwen Smith. You can read that piece in full here. All rights reserved.
www.crosswalk.com
A Prayer for Moving On
By: Gwen Smith
“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” – Philippians 3:13b
It spoke to me as I strolled down the check out aisle of Marshalls that day. The wall art that was featured on an impulse-buy rack.
Amen! I thought.
The message? Simple: “Don’t Stumble On Things That Are Behind You.”
My mind reeled, and I thought hard about this seemingly simple directive that points to a habit that trips so many of us up: looking back. Allowing the past to deter and diminish our future.
The Apostle Paul had a difficult past to contend with. His early years were spent tormenting Chris followers. Then he met Jesus and everything changed for him. He chose to move forward as the new man he’d become.
Instead of wallowing in the muck of condemnation, he stepped into the grace of Christ with determination.
Are you struggling with this? Let me ask you a few direct questions {in love}. Do you really think that living in the past and letting it loom large in your now is helping you? Is it empowering you to grow in strength, dignity and joy? Is it fueling you toward the prize that awaits you in Christ? No? Then be done with it in Jesus’ name. Spend a few moments in prayer and write about this in your journal.
Holy Lord, Thank You for grace. Please help me move beyond the hurdles that trip me up and give me the strength and wisdom to look up and see the hope I run toward in Christ.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Editor’s Note: Content taken from the Girlfriends in God devotional, Is Your Past Still Tripping You Up, written by Gwen Smith. You can read that piece in full here. All rights reserved.
www.christianity.com
lord, I come to you, draw near to me, I need You now. Let my heart be changed and renewed, by the wonderful grace that I’ve found within You. Lord, You have revealed all my weaknesses that have be stripped away, by Your unfailing love.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Bless me with inner peace so that my thoughts can be clear and focused Click To Tweet
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Constantly reminded of the past
Father, my past is trying to consume my present. I am constantly reminded of it. It replays in my mind daily, like a broken record.
Today, as I am moving on from the past, Oh Lord, bless me with inner peace. so that my thoughts can be clear and focused.
Teach me to forgive myself as well as others who have done me wrong, just as You forgave the world.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Isiah 43:18-19 Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
All the hurt, all the pain and all the suffering: I release it, in Jesus’ name! Click To Tweet
You may also be interested in these articles:
- Prayer: For increase in the Fruit of the Spirit
- Praying In Times of Fear and Anxiety
- Prayer: All Things Work Together for Good
Releasing the past
All the hurt, all the pain and all the suffering: I release it!
Every grudge, the uneasy thoughts and all the negativity, I rebuke it!
All the fear, all the doubt and lack of faith, I curse it out!
Every chain that binds me to my past shall be broken and I am set free. In Jesus’ Holy name I pray, Amen!
Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
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