God, today I come before you with a different
prayer. I have asked you to deliver me. I have
asked you to change my circumstances. I have
asked you to remove the opposition, open the
doors, silence the battle, and bring me out of
the fire. But today my prayer is deeper. God,
before you bring me out of the fire, accomplish
in me everything you intended through it. Do
not allow me to survive this season and remain
unchanged. If there is something in me that cannot
accompany me into my purpose, reveal it. If there
is pride in me, humble me. If there is anger
in me, heal me. If there is bitterness hiding
beneath my pain, remove it. If there is an appetite
attempting to govern me, teach me self -control.
If there is a habit weakening my spiritual life,
give me the strength to break it. If there is
a relationship influencing me away from your
purpose, Give me discernment. If there is a seed
I have been watering that will eventually produce
destruction, expose it before it becomes a harvest.
God, refine me. Refine my thoughts. Refine my
desires. Refine my relationships. Refine my reactions.
Refine my decisions. Refine my words. Refine
what I do publicly and refine who I am when nobody
is watching. Teach me discipline. Teach me to
tell myself no when saying yes would threaten
what you have entrusted to me. Teach me to walk
away from temporary pleasure when it threatens
permanent purpose. Teach me to control my emotions
before my emotions control my decisions. Teach
me when to speak and teach me when to remain
silent. Teach me to recognize that not everything
I can do is something I should do. Holy Spirit,
help me. I cannot produce this life by my own
strength. Produce your fruit within me. Give
me love. Give me patience. Give me gentleness.
Give me faithfulness. And give me self -control.
Strengthen me where I am weak. Convict me where
I am compromising. Correct me where I am drifting.
Wake me where I have become comfortable. And
give me the courage to obey you when obedience
requires separation, sacrifice, restraint, or
change. God, protect the vision you have placed
within me. But even more, refine the person carrying
the vision. Do not allow my gift to take me somewhere
my character cannot sustain me. Do not allow
greater influence to magnify weaknesses I refuse
to confront. Do not allow an uncontrolled appetite
to destroy years of obedience. Do not allow one
undisciplined moment to damage my family, my
calling, my testimony, or the people connected
to my purpose. Prepare me before you promote
me. Strengthen me before you enlarge me. Develop
my character before you increase my influence.
And if this fire is part of that preparation,
then I surrender to your refining work. I will
not waste the fire. I will not waste the valley.
I will not waste the waiting. I will not waste
the correction. I will not waste what you are
revealing about me. What needs to leave, let
it leave. What needs to die, let it die. What
needs to grow, let it grow. What needs to heal,
heal it. What needs to change, change it. And
what needs to remain, strengthen it. Because
I understand now, maybe your intervention was
not only about what was happening around me.
Maybe your intervention was also about me. Maybe
you were protecting me from becoming someone
who could destroy what you were preparing to
entrust to me. Maybe the closed door was protection.
Maybe the delay was preparation. Maybe the exposure
was mercy. Maybe the correction was love. Maybe
the fire was refinement. So today, I declare,
I will come out different. I will come out wiser.
I will come out more disciplined. I will come
out more discerning. I will come out with stronger
boundaries. I will come out with greater self
-control. I will come out more dependent upon
the Holy Spirit. I will come out with cleaner
motives. deeper obedience, and stronger character.
I will not simply testify, God brought me out
of the fire. I will testify, look at what God
brought out of me through the fire. The fire
will not cancel my purpose. The valley will not
destroy the vision. The process will not be wasted.
God is working. God is shaping me. God is correcting
me. God is protecting me. God is preparing me.
I am being refined, not for destruction, not
for rejection, not without purpose. I am being
refined for a purpose. And when the time comes
for me to carry what you have prepared for me,
may my character be ready for what my prayers
have been asking you to release. In the name
of Jesus Christ, amen.