Praying Through God's Word: 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1:1-2:5

We thank You, Lord, that our faith is "not based on human wisdom." Our faith comes from Your power at work in us (1 Corinthians 2:5). Our faith is nothing without Your power. Without Your wisdom, we are fools. How do we receive Your power and Your wisdom? - We receive Your power and Your wisdom when we receive Jesus Christ, the Saviour, who has been crucified for us. He is Your power and Your wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:23-24).

1 Corinthians 2:6-3:23

Help us, Lord, never to forget that the Saviour is always much more important than the servant. We serve You. You save us. Save and serve - what a difference there is between the two! Your salvation comes first. First, You save us. Then, we serve You. Help us never to forget this. When we start thinking, "You save us, because we serve You", take us back to the Cross of Christ. Teach us that we serve You because You have saved us.

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Lord, You've called us to be "servants of Christ." May we be "found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:1-4). Pleasing You - may this be the big thing in our lives. Nothing else matters more than this. We can try to keep people happy. What will that achieve if we've forgotten that the most important thing is pleasing You? Lord, let there be less of self and more of You in our lives.

1 Corinthians 5:1-6:11

Help us, Lord, to keep our eyes on Jesus - "Christ, our Passover Lamb, who has been sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:6-7). Help us never to forget that Your great blessings have come to us through Jesus, our great Saviour - "you were washed ... sanctified ... justified in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11). Help us, Lord, as we think of Jesus, our great Saviour, to say, from our hearts, "To God be the glory! Great things He has done."

1 Corinthians 6:12-7:24

Lord, there is one love that is greater than any other love. It's Your love for us. You gave Your Son for us. When we think of Your love, when we see Jesus, crucified for us, help us to open our hearts to Your love. Help us to receive Your love, to rejoice in Your love and be renewed by Your love.

1 Corinthians 7:25-8:13

Lord, there is no better life than the life that is centred on Christ. We may think that we're doing all right when we're living for ourselves - but we're not! You call us out of a self-centred life and into a life of love, a life that is being shaped by Your love, a life that proclaims Your love - "The steadfast love of the Lord endures for ever" (Psalm 136).

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sometimes, Lord, we want to be the centre of attention. We forget that we're not the centre. You're the centre - the centre of our faith, our worship and our life. You're the One who has done all that was needed for us to be saved. Our salvation does not come from ourselves. It comes from You. What can we say about this? - All we can say is this: "To God be the glory! Great things He has done." Help us to stop trying to be the centre of attention - and to start making You the great focus of our attention.

1 Corinthians 10:1-33

We gather together at the Lord's Table. We have been invited by Jesus. We are welcomed by Jesus. We remember Jesus. Help us, Lord, to appreciate, more deeply, the love of Jesus: "the Son of God loved us and gave Himself for us." Help us to leave the old life - "I have been crucified with Christ" - and live the new life - "It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me" (Galatians 2:20).

1 Corinthians 11:1-34

What's it all about? What are we doing when we celebrate the Lord's Supper? Help us, Lord, to look beyond the bread and wine. Help us to see Jesus - in the glory of His love. His body was broken for us. This is not about what we do for Jesus. It's about what He has done for us. It's about thinking and thanking. As we think about Jesus, may we also thank Him for being such a wonderful Saviour.

1 Corinthians 12:1-31

Teach us, Lord, to walk with You, in love. May we be deeply appreciative of Your love for us. May we be radically transformed by Your love for us. Your love does not leave us where it finds us.Your love changes us. It makes us new men and women - people who are learning to love You with the love that You have poured into our hearts.

1 Corinthians 13:1-14:12

Help us, Lord, to look back with thanksgiving and to look forward with faith. Help us to remember the past and to prepare for the future.We're to learn from the past. We're not to live in the past. Learning from the past doesn't mean getting locked in the past. There are things that belong to the past, things that should be left in the past. They're not the most important things. They're things that should be allowed to die. There are, however, things that must never be allowed to die - the love that comes to us from You, the faith that trusts in Jesus, our Saviour; and the hope that arises in our hearts when the Holy Spirit makes His home in us (1 Corinthians 13:13).

1 Corinthians 14:13-40

Help us, Lord, to practise what we preach, to practise what we pray, to practise what we praise. We speak about good preaching, good times of prayer, good songs of praise. What about good living? How much does it really matter, Lord, if our good preaching, praying and praising doesn't lead to good living? teach us, Lord, to look for more than saying and singing the right things. Help us to live the right way - bringing glory to You all through the week, and not only when we're gathered together for worship.

1 Corinthians 15:1-45

We thank You, Lord, that Jesus has risen from the dead. Help us to look forward to our resurrection from the dead. We will be "raised" - "imperishable ... in glory ... in power ... a spiritual body" (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). Help us, here-and-now, to experience the power of Christ's resurrection (Philippians 3:10). Believing the fact of His resurrection, living in the power of His resurrection, and rejoicing in the hope of our resurrection, may we be resurrection people, living the resurrection life. May we have faith in You, the resurrection God.

1 Corinthians 15:46-16:24

Teach us, Lord, to trust You, to love You and to serve You. Help us to think about our trust in You, our love for You and our service for You - Are they growing stronger or getting weaker? May there be less unbelief and more faith in You, less half-heartedness and more love for You, less laziness and more serving You with commitment that keeps on going when we feel like giving up.