1 John 2:1-2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. 

Dear God, I wish I had the kind of relationship with you where I could KNOW if some of the thoughts I have are of you or not. I woke up this morning with a sad, maybe you could even call it an alarming, thought about a relative. It was a new interpretation of something they told me a couple of weeks ago. Was our conversation a secret message that they needed help and I missed it? My wife says you tend to speak to me in my dreams. Is that what you did this morning? Were you nudging me?

Look at all of the question marks in that last sentence. This is what I’m talking about when it comes to wishing I could hear directly from you in audible, unmistakable words. I’m assuming that you don’t give us that ability on a regular basis because we can’t handle it (yes, I believe there are people who have the gift of prophesy which would be hearing directly from you, but even that isn’t 24/7, and they don’t have 100% accuracy in how they interpret what you say in their lives), but I wish there was a way that made things more obvious for me. 

I say all of this in relation to this verse because I fear something happened to this person where they made a mistake that needs your redemption, but they don’t know how to seek it or ask for it. So that is my prayer right now. Father, I pray that a couple of people about whom I am thinking right now will embrace the sacrifice you made, let go of their sins, receive your forgiveness, live in your redemption and freedom, and embrace your commands. I pray that your power would flow through them and that you would transform them into people who are worshippers of you, letting go of their burdens and embracing the yoke that you have for them to carry. And I pray the same thing for myself. I am sorry for the hundreds of times I fail you in my thoughts and in my words–in what I have done and what I have failed to do. Thank you for your death and resurrection through Jesus Christ, my Lord. I will worship you as best I can. 

By the power that his shed and resurrected blood I pray,

Amen