Every year around this time, I take an extended break away from being social to get in God’s face and get clear about His plans for me in life and for the rest of the year. August is a great time to realign as the Summer is coming to an end, and we’re close enough to the end of the year to want to prepare for it.
These 5 short Prayers are great for realigning and recalibrating yourself to the will of God for your life.
- “Circumcise my heart.” [Deuteronomy 10:16]
Mmm.. this one is so good. You’re essentially asking God to cut away the parts of your heart that are not clean or pleasing to him. Bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred, anger, envy, shame, pain, and the rest get removed when we pray this prayer. Those things clinging to our heart leave the door open for strongholds and setbacks that keep us from the promises God has for us. The circumcision of the heart is a painful process, but it gets all of those things out of the way, so that you can enjoy a better life.
- “Sift me.” [Luke 22:31-32]
Christ warns us that the enemy wants to sift us like wheat, but that we should keep the faith. This lets us know that He is allowing it. And that means it is for your good. I’ve learned to beat it to the punch. Lord, sift me.
The process of sifting is a an uncomfortable one. To sift is to literally take it through a sifter to separate the unnecessary parts and keep what will be used in the baking process. We needn’t be afraid of this process, however, because it’s actually perfecting us and removing the parts of the wheat that will interfere with our end product. God wants you to keep only the things that hold value in your next level. Anything else is just weighing you down and holding you back.
It may feel like your world is falling apart. But really you’re just being removed from all the things you held onto when you didn’t see your value. What He’ll give you next will better reflect your value and actual desires for your life. Allow Him to shake you around a bit and get all that excess off and make you more valuable.
- “Make me new.” [Matthew 9:17]
Specifically, ‘make me new wineskins to hold the new wine you are making for me.’ Whatever new thing you are praying for will require you to be a new person to handle it. The old you can’t or you’d have it already.
New wine in this passage is symbolic of the new blessings you are praying to enter your life. New wine requires new wineskins.
- “I surrender.” [1 Peter 5:6]
So simple, yet profound. It’s all He wants. When you say this, you’re giving yourself over to Him to have His way. And man, is His way beautiful. This prayer may be followed by major shifts in your environement and the severing of some relationships. But trust that He knows best.
Here are 30 other awesome scriptures you can pray to help you surrender.
- “Thank you.” [Luke 17:11-19]
This is a breakthrough prayer all by itself. Don’t even get me started. I’ve prayed the words “thank you” alone, over and over for a half hour and saw massive miracles happen in moments. When you’re in distress, say ‘thank you.’ It changes things. Just don’t be the one who didn’t come back to say thank you.
Disclaimer: The outcome of some of these prayers will be very uncomfortable. Aligning to God’s will is like that. Not everything you’ve picked up before saying these prayers will align with where He is taking you next. Things will begin falling off, away and out of your life to prepare you. Don’t resist it. Don’t cling to anything. Let them.
Try these 5 prayers and see what shifts in your life.
Write them down, and place them somewhere you can see it and pray them frequently, as you prepare for each new level.
Share them with your loved ones to inspire someone else to level up with these prayers too.
