Psalm 27:1 (NIV) Of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid? Jesus, help me stand for Your principles, some people can take my job away from me. If I share my faith with someone, they can take their friendship away from me. If I pray in certain places, they can kick me out. If I bring my Bible with me, some people can mistreat me. But, make me where they can’t do anything to me that would keep me from obeying God and His Word.

Jesus, help me not have a fear of what people might be able to do to me, if I don’t yield to their demands. They might be able to take my job, my money, my reputation, my friends, my possessions, or my wellbeing away from me. Me being a Christian and living and teaching a righteous life can make some people mad. Mark 16:15 (NIV) He (Jesus) said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Help me teach Your principles everywhere I go and be willing for it to create resistance. Let it make me pleasing in God’s sight.

Psalm 27:2 (NIV) When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, THEY will stumble and fall. Jesus, help me not support people’s lifestyles that are wrong, bad, or evil, even though it will be more likely they won’t be my friend. Help me not agree with people’s statements that are wrong, bad, or evil, even though I would have less trouble with them if I did. Help me not see people living lives that are against the Bible and leave them alone, even though I will get a lot more persecution. Help me talk like You talked, and teach like You taught, even though I will make enemies.

Jesus, there are those who hate righteousness; they will accuse me of thinking I am better than them. There are people who like sinning; and, when I refuse to join them, they will be greatly offended. There are those who enjoy pulling me down and keeping me down. I want to be set free from my problems with spirituality more than I want to please people. I want it more than I want to get along with my friends. It is one of the main priorities of my life.

Psalm 27:3 (NIV) Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. Jesus, help me not wait until I get persecuted to be empowered to handle resistance. Give me God’s power now; I need His help making this commitment now. Give me God’s power to make this kind of determination so I will be ready to win over social pressure.

Jesus, when I prayed and God helped me decide to embrace righteousness, it made me very different from a lot of people. You are making me willing to yield to God’s power to resist and work around the wrong, bad, and evil people in the crowd so I can help the good people in the crowd. Make me willing to allow God to empower me to stay on track no matter how unpopular my Biblical principles may be to those who don’t want to change.

John 16:8 (NIV) When He (the Holy Spirit) comes, He will convict the world of GUILT in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. Jesus, teach me that every adult has a conscience; and, the Holy Spirit speaks to every conscience. He takes the Old Testament laws of God and puts them in everyone’s conscience. But, help me see that the type one people yield to the Holy Spirit’s conviction and the type two people resist it. Those who yield try to be good people; those who resist will forgive themselves, justify their wrong, bad, and evil, and will get friends to tell them that it wasn’t their fault.

Jesus, show me that the people who persecute me are people who are resisting the conviction of the Holy Spirit. These people fall into three different categories:

• WRONG: Jesus, show me that there are people who would like to yield to the Holy Spirit’s conviction in their conscience but they don’t know how to get Your help; these are people who do wrong. Teach me that when I tell them the good news from You, they accept You and are born again.


• BAD: Jesus, show me that there are people who know about You and Your salvation; but, they are still desiring to live in sin. They don’t want to go very deep into sin; they just want to enjoy the pleasures of sin for awhile. These are people who know I am telling them the truth; they just don’t accept my message and repent of their sins.


• EVIL: Jesus, show me that there are those who have made a final decision. They are evil people who will do everything in their power to stop me from helping them or anyone else to accept You as their Lord, Savior, and King.

Psalm 27:4 (NIV) One thing I ASK of the LORD, this is what I SEEK: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple. Just like there is a human determination and just like you can make a human commitment, there is God-determination and God-commitments. One comes from me making up my mind; and, the other comes through prayer.

Jesus, I pray Psalm 27:4; help me dig in with God and find a life that is powerful, successful, and victorious. Help me decide I want this ONE THING more than I want anything else so I can find a life of great freedom and happiness. Let God set me free from the control of difficulties with spirituality, the control of people, the control of social pressure and public opinion. Let Him set me free from powerlessness.

Psalm 27:5-6 (NIV) For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at His tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD. Jesus, I can only think one thought at a time. If I allow my mind to enter into the protection of God, I will be thinking about Him and His power to protect me. If I allow myself to think about defeat, failure, weakness, or inadequacy, then that is like walking outside God’s protection.

Jesus, in the day of trouble, keep me safe in Your dwelling place, hide me in the shelter of Your tabernacle, and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies or problems that surround me; at Your tabernacle will I pray with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to You, LORD.

Psalm 27:7 (NIV) Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. Jesus, teach me that my relationship with God comes as a gift; grace and mercy belong to me because I am His child. When I allowed You to cause me to be born again, I got all the rights and privileges of a child of God. Everything comes to me as a gift from my heavenly Father.

Jesus, teach me that all the things You want to do in my life, I will never be able to deserve. Sooner or later I will need more help and more miracles than I can expect of God. Sooner or later my self-esteem will let me down and I will have to accept the fact that I deserve to be held accountable for some bad things I have done. Help me pray Psalm 27:7 with appreciation and respect.