Jesus, therefore, since I have been JUSTIFIED through FAITH, I have PEACE with God through You, my Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom I have gained ACCESS by faith into this GRACE in which I now stand. And I rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (Rom 5:1-2).

• Jesus, make it clear to me that JUSTIFIED means my record is clean with God; all my past, present, and future sins, mistakes, failures, and misdeeds are cleansed from my record with Him. All I had to do was pray Your prayer and obey the instructions in Romans 10:8-10 and I got a perfect record with God. For it WAS with my heart that I believed and WAS JUSTIFIED, and it WAS with my mouth that I confessed and WAS SAVED (Rom 10:10).


• Jesus, help me always understand that FAITH means I believe that God and His Word, the Bible, are always telling me the truth when they say I am saved and justified with God. I believe that all my past, present, and future sins, mistakes, failures, and misdeeds are cleansed from my record with Him.


• Jesus, help me base my life on the fact that PEACE means there are no barriers, conflicts, issues, or problems between me and God. Because I am saved and justified, that gave me a perfect record with God; everything is settled between me and Him.


• Jesus, help me to take advantage of the fact that I now have ACCESS. That means I can talk to God, ask Him for those things presented in the Bible, and receive all the provisions, blessings, miracles, and power that He has to offer.


• Jesus, help me accept the fact that GRACE means that the only way I can receive anything from God is as a gift. It means that the only reason God will give me anything beyond salvation is because I have been born again as His child. I believe God gave me my clean record with Him through grace.


• Jesus, teach me that when I call You, my “LORD JESUS CHRIST,” it means I have accepted You on three major levels. You are now my Lord; that means that I am now trusting You with my new life. I have accepted You as Jesus, meaning You are now my Savior. I have accepted You as Christ; that means You are now my Messiah and King. I have prayed Your prayer and obeyed Your Words in Romans 10:8-10 because I have made You my Lord, Savior, and King. Teach me that the only reason justification, salvation, faith, peace, access, and grace are made available to me is because You died on the cross for my sins and then rose from the dead through the power of God.

Jesus, now that You have given me justification, salvation, faith, peace, access, and grace, I am now ready to also rejoice in my sufferings, because I know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope (Rom 5:3-4). Help me understand that I can’t have a victory, a success, or win if there is no challenge, battle, struggle, or competition. People, circumstances, and goals are going to challenge, resist, block, and persecute me whether I have you or not. I believe I will win over them, if I use the provisions of God. But, I will have to be willing to face the challenges, engage in the battles, get involved in the struggles, and compete in the competition.

Jesus, suffering produces major spiritual qualities; but, help me not be a person who doesn’t want to pay the price, do what it takes, and accept that if there is no pain there is no gain. Help me not be a person who suffers because I just let life batter me around. Help me suffer because I meet life head on. Help me not be a person who suffers because I am always the victim; help me suffer, but, empower me to always be the victor. If I rejoice in my sufferings, because I know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope, then the power of God that is coming into my life will work.

Jesus, suffering is a part of life: You said in John 16:33 (NIV) “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Help me not be a person who has trouble alone, without power, without peace, and without victory. Help me face trouble with You, with Your power, and with Your victorious living. Help me understand that You aren’t offering a trouble-less life; You would have to take me out of this world to do that; and, You will take me out very soon; but, not just yet.

Jesus, help me understand that hope does not disappoint me, because God has poured out HIS LOVE into my heart by the Holy Spirit, Whom He has given me (Rom 5:5). Teach me that I can suffer without love or I can suffer with God’s love pouring into my heart. Show me that it is too painful to suffer and not feel loved. If I feel picked on, unlucky, unloved, alone, and always defeated, I get depressed, discouraged, hopeless, and helpless. But, as life’s troubles come my way, if I have God’s love pouring into my heart, I feel strong, encouraged, filled with faith, and confident that You will empower me to win.