Three Prayers Guaranteed to Change Your Character

Three Prayers Guaranteed to Change Your Character Devotional Reading and Podcast

We struggle to become better people. Many are doing their best to get rid of their learned behaviors and hereditary characteristics, yet they never quite make it. Although spiritual transformation requires a lifetime, we make it more complicated. By attempting to change we leave out the most important factor—we cannot change ourselves without God’s help. And that is the issue, we need Divine Intervention to develop a Christ-like character.

Praying is our connection to the Power Source, Jesus Christ who sent the Holy Spirit to lead us through our earthly lives. The intervention of the Holy Spirit orchestrates the change of our hearts. Only those who surrender and obey God’s will can experience a transformation of mind and character.

The three prayers that act as spiritual catalysts for changing our hearts are the human effort required before we can receive the Divine Intervention of the Holy Spirit who changes us.

The Obstacle: “The heart is deceitful above all things And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9. “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, those evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person” (Mark 7:21-23).

The Spiritual transformation of our Character requires Faith, Love, Humility, Obedience, Knowledge, Prayer, Bible Study, and the Holy Spirit.

Faith: “But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” —Hebrews 11:6

Love: “And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). The greatest commandment to love God with everything you have was given in the Old Testament. Leviticus 19:18 states, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD”.

The emancipated Israelites did not have loving hearts. Not only did they fail to love God, but they also hated their neighbors and mistreated their parents. Because we are born sinful, and our backgrounds and life experiences differ, God has not left us to define His Righteous Standards. Study 1 Corinthians, chapter 13 for a description of love and its’ characteristics.

Love, Humility, and Obedience: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” —Micah 6:8

To give us a foundation, in the book of Micah chapter 6, verse 8 describes three character traits, “to do justice—treat others with fairness, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” which describe acceptable and righteous interaction with others and God.

“But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ ” —Jeremiah 7:23

Obedience is surrendering our will to God every day—this is the spiritual meaning of taking up our cross which is mandatory to receive spiritual transformation and eternal life. “Lord, speak to me and reveal Your will. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Knowledge: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” —Matthew 11:28-30

From the pages of the Holy Bible, we learn the righteous traits that God requires and we see them demonstrated in our Role Model, Jesus Christ. Change requires knowledge. What are we striving for? What are God’s expectations of the righteous? The Bible is our first Resource when seeking change. It is God-breathed and written for our edification, to instruct and improve, especially in moral and religious knowledge.

Three Daily Prayers: 1. Prayer of Confession, Repentance, and Surrender, 2. Prayer to Receive Guidance and Power from the Holy Spirit, 3. Prayer for the Strength and Wisdom to fulfill God’s will and purpose for your life.

“Now it happened that at this time He went off to the mountain to pray, and He was spending the whole night in prayer to God.” —Luke 6:12. From this prayer, Jesus received an outpouring of Divine power and He healed every sick person in the multitude of people.

Praying: If we learn nothing else about Christ, we know that praying to God was always His priority. Jesus always kept close communication with His Father for strength and, most importantly, to align with God’s will. Something that many have never thought about, Jesus had to learn obedience. Yes, the Commander of the angel armies had to acquiesce to His earthly parents until He matured and was fully into His Divine purpose on earth.

Put God First! Jesus clarifies that God is first and holds the highest status, even above His [and our] earthly family. “Then one said to Him, ‘Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.’ But He answered and said to the one who told Him, ‘Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’ And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, ‘Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.’ ” —Matthew 12:47-50

Prayer keeps us on the Path of Righteousness. Prayer keeps us from falling into the spiritual warfare of earthly distractions. Prayer keeps us in alignment with God’s will and purpose.

Our deceitful hearts cannot stay focused on Jesus without surrender and intervention from the Holy Spirit. Nor can we have victory over hereditary tendencies and learned behaviors without consistent and fervent praying. Yes, change requires intentional prayers that verbalize our desire to mature into the likeness of Christ.

Prayer: God, we are in the struggle of our lives. We need Your help. Lord, we pray for the forgiveness of our sins. We acknowledge that we cannot change our deceitful and wicked hearts without surrendering and receiving the strength and power of the Holy Spirit. We desire to have the characteristics of Christ. We ask this prayer in the Holy Name of Jesus, Amen.

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