This prayer for strength is based on the Scripture passage of Hebrews 12:1,2.  It helps us draw on the example of those around us who persevered with faith despite obstacles.  It can be used for group prayer or personal prayer.

Prayer for Strength

Dear Heavenly Father we come before you today asking for strength.  Many of us here are weary in the journey that is the Christian life.  We seek from you strength for the journey.  We confess our weakness, and our need for your strength.  Some of us here today, may feel full of energy for the race of faith.  I pray that you would sustain that energy, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  I pray that you would send the Holy Spirit today, to come upon us, and to fill us with life-giving power to live for you.

We thank you that you have surrounded us with such a great cloud of witnesses.  We thank you for the Old Testaments saints found in Hebrews chapter 11.  We thank you for the faithfulness demonstrated in Able, in Abraham, in Moses, in Rahab, and in Ruth.  They stand about us encouraging us, as we run the race of faith.  They withstood many hardships, but they stood by faith, having not yet received the promised Messiah.  We today are at an advantage.  Jesus, the Messiah has come, and has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes and hearts and gives us the power to run the race of faith.

I pray dear Lord that you would help us to throw off everything that hinders and the sins that so easily entangle us.  Dear Lord, there are are so many things, even good things that can be a hindrance to our Christian life.  I pray that you would show us these hindrances and give us the power to turn away from them.  I confess dear Lord that there are many sins that so easily entangles us.  I pray that you would help us to identify these sins, and to keep us from even placing ourselves in a place where we are likely to succumb to the temptation.  I pray that you would give us a heart that despises these sins, and a heart that clings to you.

I pray that you would give us perseverance as we patiently run the race marked out for us.  I pray that we would not become inpatient with our trial and tribulations.  I pray that they would not cause us to give up.  I pray that we would not focus our eyes on the other participants in the race of faith.  How is easy is it oh Lord, for us to fall into despair as we see others, who we perceive as doing a better job of running the race of faith?  How easy is it oh Lord, for us to swell with pride as we see other Christians who are struggling, and who we perceive as running the race of faith slower than we are?  I pray that we would neither despair nor become proud as we compare ourselves to others.  In fact, Lord, I pray that we would not compare ourselves to others, and that we would not fix our eyes on others.

Rather Lord, I pray that we would fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.  If we are focusing our eyes on you dear Jesus, we will not compare ourselves to others.  We will fall neither into despair, as we realize that the God of the universe loves us so much that he was willing to die for us, nor will be swell with pride because we will recognize that even our faith in Jesus came from Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith.

We thank you Lord Jesus that for the joy set before you, you endured the cross, scorning its shame, and that you sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  We cannot begin to thank you for the pain and suffering that you endured for the sake of your people.  We do pray that as we become weary in our race, that we will think of you and think of your love for us, as you hung there on the cross.  I pray that this great love that you have for us with be our motivation to get back up, and continue running the race, with our eyes focused on you, standing at the finish line beckoning us to come home.  We pray these things in your name.  Amen.

Copyright Rob Langston 2011