Jesus, as I spend more and more time with You, help me not lose my respect and appreciation for you. Help me not act like Your disciples are acting here: By this time it was late in the day, so His disciples came to Him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But He answered, “You give them something to eat.” They said to Him, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat (Mark 6:35-37)?” Help me see things from Your perspective of righteousness; help me be open to the way You think. I think in terms of what it will cost me; You think in terms of what people need.

Jesus, Your disciples TOLD You, Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat: Help me realize I will never know what righteousness is, if I come to You and start telling You what I want You to do. Since the breastplate of righteousness only comes through a long lasting package of respect and faith, help me have those attitudes. Help me not start out letting You teach me righteousness; and then somewhere along the way, start feeling like I have learned enough, that it is time for me to start taking the initiative. As usual, Jesus, You will refuse to accept my advice. Not only will You refuse to do what I want You to do, You will tell me what to do. Help me obey You, when You do.

Jesus, when You give me instructions that are way over my head like, you give them something to eat, help me respect You and have faith to just go do it. If I have already started trying to advise You, when You give me my next assignment, I will argue with You. I will say things like, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” Help me not get to this place in my relationship with You.

Your disciples were probably not really asking this question of You. They were probably telling You that Your instructions were ridiculous. They were basically saying that what You were suggesting could not be done. Their mind and reasoning were being presented as being superior to You. Help me never get to that place of disrespect and unbelief. Help me to continue to walk with You, so respect and faith will keep showing up more and more.

Jesus, make me like Peter in Matthew 17:27 (NIV) where You told him: “But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for My tax and yours.” Give me this kind of relationship with You.

Help me not argue; help me just go and do what I am told; let me obey. Let there be no argument and no mention of how strange the command is. Let each time be where I don’t indicate that this doesn’t make any sense. Let it make perfect sense to me. Let me see a lot stranger things than this happen as a natural course of events. Let me understand and base my life the fact that if You say do it, then the wise thing is to go do it. Remind me that, if I argue, the size of my faith will be discussed. Reveal to me that exposure to Your life and ministry help me learn to obey immediately. That puts me in the place where I am ready to “do what it takes” to put my breastplate of righteousness on.

Jesus, since immediate obedience is a major part of the process of getting my breastplate of righteousness on, help me immediately obey. Show me that it is the same thing as hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Teach me that immediate obedience is, in fact, the ACT of me hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Make me so hungry and so thirsty for righteousness that I immediately start spending more and more time with You. Show me that the more time I spend with You, the more I will obey immediately without arguing. Let that be the process of me putting my breastplate of righteousness on.

Jesus, help me to do my part; empower me to seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, then help me believe that You will do YOUR PART: and all these things will be given to me as well (Mat 6:33). Help me do this first part; and THEN, You WILL do the second part. Once I start doing this, I will stop trying to serve two masters. I will serve You, the Lord of righteousness; and, You will care of my money issues.

Jesus, I accept the fact that I can’t serve two masters. Either I will hate the one and love the other, or I will be devoted to the one and despise the other. I cannot serve both God and Money. Help me not worry about my life, what I will eat or drink; or about my body, what I will wear. Teach me that life is more important than food, and the body is more important than clothes (Mat 6:24-25). Give me a total dependency on You and Your leadership into righteousness. Then I won’t provide for myself by going out and making sure I get what I want and need; that leads to unrighteousness. I will consult You and do what You tell me to do. As this happens, I will start wearing my breastplate of righteousness on a regular basis.