I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 You shall have no other gods before me.

Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? 37 And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.

Please read Revelation 2 and 3.

Lord Jesus Christ, Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the One who is and who was and who is the come, the Almighty,

Speak to us today through Your words to the seven churches. Give us ears to hear what Your Spirit has to say to us.

When you spoke to the seven churches, You made it clear you want us to love You with our all. You seek a people who will be wholly devoted to You. You demand undivided allegiance to You and You alone.

Just as the Israelites were to offer the best of the flock, unblemished lambs, we are to offer You our best.

Just as the Israelites were to offer the firstfruits of the harvest, we are to offer You our firstfruits.

Just as the Israelites were to offer offerings without leaven, we are to offer You offerings without leaven.

How often do we compromise in what we offer you?

How are we sacrificing to any god, other than You alone?

Show us how our offerings to You are blemished, second best, leftovers and laden with leaven.

We are to offer to You our whole selves.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

How often do we compromise in what we offer you?

How are we sacrificing to any god, other than You alone?

Show us how our offerings to You are blemished, second best, leftovers and laden with leaven.

As we read Your Word, may Your Holy Spirit come and open us up and show us where we are sacrificing to other gods but You.

As we read Your Word, may Your Holy Spirit come and open us up and show us where we are not loving You with all our heart.

As we read Your Word, may Your Holy Spirit come and open us up and show us where we are not loving You with all our soul.

As we read Your Word, may Your Holy Spirit come and open us up and show us where we are not loving You with all our mind.

As we read Your Word, may Your Holy Spirit come and open us up and show us where are not single-eyed for You.

As we read Your Word, may Your Holy Spirit come and open us up and show us where are we are trying to serve God and mammon.

As we read Your Word, may Your Holy Spirit come and open us up and show us where are not wholly devoted to You.

Where are we not offering ourselves wholly to You?

How are we sacrificing to any god, other than You alone?

We confess there are times we have been doctrinally correct, but we have lost our first Love.
Forgive us, Lord Jesus Christ.
May our love for You be pure.

We confess there are times we have become fearful and lack pure persevering faith.
Forgive us, Lord Jesus Christ.
May our faith be pure.

We confess there are times we have allowed leaven to creep in and have not been pure in doctrine and practice.
Forgive us, Lord Jesus Christ.
May our doctrine and practice be pure.

We confess there are times we have allowed leaven to corrupt the teaching of the pure Gospel.
Forgive us, Lord Jesus Christ.
May our teaching be pure.

We confess there are times we have turned lively fellowship with You into dead and dry religion.
Forgive us, Lord Jesus Christ.
May our religion be pure.

We confess there are times we have lacked faith to persevere through trials and we have denied Your name.
Forgive us, Lord Jesus Christ.
May our faith be pure.

We confess there are times we have become lukewarm and we have lost our flaming devotion for You.
Forgive us, Lord Jesus Christ.
May our devotion for you be pure.

And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

Father, Son and Spirit, You are pure and holy. Show us where we are not pure and holy. Show us where we have been sacrificing to any god, other than You alone. Holy Spirit, work within us so we might have a desire to be pure and holy. Holy Spirit, impart to us Christ's resurrection power so we might purify ourselves and be holy as He is holy, so we might no longer sacrifice to any god, other than the Lord alone, but we would sacrifice to the Lord alone. Amen.

As His Spirit leads you, come before Him now and confess to Him where You have been been holy, where you have been offering to any god, other than the Lord alone. Ask Him to make You holy. (Please keep in mind this is a public forum, so please use discretion as you pray here.)

Here is another prayer to prepare us to receive God's Word as we will soon be contemplating Jesus' words to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3.

I Corinthians 6:14-18; 7:1, 7b-12:

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

7:7b he [Titus] told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. 8 For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. 10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. 12 So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God.

O God, You are our God.
Because You have made us Your sons and daughters
we can ask You to send Your Holy Spirit to work in us godly sorrow
when we do not treat you as our Father.

Be merciful and kind to us, bring us Your good gift of godly sorrow, which is life-giving. Protect us from worldly sorrow which only produces death.

O God, You are our God.
Because You have recreated us to be yoked to You alone
we can ask You to send Your Holy Spirit to work in us godly sorrow
when we do choose to be yoked to idols.

Be merciful and kind to us, bring us Your good gift of godly sorrow, which is life-giving. Protect us from worldly sorrow which only produces death.

O God, You are our God.
Because You have made us righteous by Christ's blood
we can ask You to send Your Holy Spirit to work in us godly sorrow
when we have communion with lawlessness.

Be merciful and kind to us, bring us Your good gift of godly sorrow, which is life-giving. Protect us from worldly sorrow which only produces death.

O God, You are our God.
Because You have put Your Light in us
we can ask You to send Your Holy Spirit to work in us godly sorrow
when we have fellowship with darkness.

Be merciful and kind to us, bring us Your good gift of godly sorrow, which is life-giving. Protect us from worldly sorrow which only produces death.

O God, You are our God.
Because You have called us to come out of the world and be separate from the world
we can ask You to send Your Holy Spirit to work in us godly sorrow
when we go back into he world and not live lives separate from the world.

Be merciful and kind to us, bring us Your good gift of godly sorrow, which is life-giving. Protect us from worldly sorrow which only produces death.

O God, You are our God.
Because You have called us not to touch what is unclean
we can ask You to send Your Holy Spirit to work in us godly sorrow
when we play the harlot and touch what is not unclean.

Be merciful and kind to us, bring us Your good gift of godly sorrow, which is life-giving. Protect us from worldly sorrow which only produces death.

O God, You are our God.
Because You have called us to cleanse ourselves from every defilement
we can ask You to send Your Holy Spirit to work in us godly sorrow
when we lead ourselves into temptation and end up being defiled.

Be merciful and kind to us, bring us Your good gift of godly sorrow, which is life-giving. Protect us from worldly sorrow which only produces death.

O God, You are our God.
Because You have called us to be holy and put Your Holy Spirit in us
we can ask You to send Your Holy Spirit to work in us godly sorrow
when we grieve and quench Your Spirit and are not holy.

Be merciful and kind to us, bring us Your good gift of godly sorrow, which is life-giving. Protect us from worldly sorrow which only produces death.

O, God, we have sinned against You.
O, God, be merciful and kind to us, bring us Your good gift of godly sorrow.

You are our God. You have made us Your sons and daughters. We confess we do not treat you as our Father. Forgive us, O Lord.

You are our God. You have recreated us to be yoked to You alone. We confess we choose to yoke ourselves to idols. Forgive us, O Lord.

You are our God. You have made us righteous by Christ's blood. We confess we choose to have communion with lawlessness. Forgive us, O Lord.

You are our God. You have put Your Light in us. We confess we choose to have fellowship with darkness. Forgive us, O Lord.

You are our God. You have called us to come out of the world to be separate from the world. We confess we go back into the world and do not live lives separate from the world. Forgive us, O Lord.

You are our God. You have called us not to touch what is unclean. We confess we play the harlot and touch what is unclean. Forgive us, O Lord.

You are our God. You have called us to cleanse ourselves from every defilement. We confess we lead ourselves into temptation and end up defiled. Forgive us, O Lord.

You are our God. You are have called us to be holy and put Your Holy Spirit in us. We confess we grieve and quench Your Spirit and are not holy. Forgive us, O Lord.

O God, You are our God. You are our Father. Be merciful and kind to us for Your Son Jesus' sake.

Be merciful and kind to us, continue to bring to us Your good gift of godly sorrow so we might be angry about our sin.

Be merciful and kind to us, continue to bring to us Your good gift of godly sorrow so we might desire to be rid of our sin.

Be merciful and kind to us, continue to bring to us Your good gift of godly sorrow so we might desire to be holy as You are holy.

Be merciful and kind to us, continue to bring to us Your good gift of godly sorrow so we might confess our sins.

Be merciful and kind to us, continue to bring to us Your good gift of godly sorrow so we might repent of our sins.

Be merciful and kind to us, continue to bring to us Your good gift of godly sorrow so we might receive your forgiveness and cleansing.

Be merciful and kind to us, continue to bring to us Your good gift of godly sorrow so we might have restored fellowship with You.

Be merciful and kind to us, continue to bring to us Your good gift of godly sorrow so we might not grieve or quench You.

Be merciful and kind to us, continue to bring to us Your good gift of godly sorrow so we might put off our sin.

Be merciful and kind to us, continue to bring to us Your good gift of godly sorrow so we might put on Christ.

Be merciful and kind to us, continue to bring to us Your good gift of godly sorrow so we might be holy as You are holy.

Be merciful and kind to us, continue to bring us Your good gift of godly sorrow so our lives might bring You praise, honor and glory because that is why You have chosen us and made us Your children.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. 9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea. 12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Holy God,

How often we take comfort and solace that Jesus in our midst, as well we should,

but how often do we see Jesus the way John saw Him in Revelation?

Father, Son and Spirit,

When we overlook Your perfect holiness, it is too easy for us to overlook our sin. Do we see You as John did?

Please open our eyes and give us a vision of You like the vision John had . . .

the Alpha and the Omega,
the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come,
the Almighty,
Your loud voice like a trumpet,
to see You in the midst of the lampstands, in our midst of the Church, Your Church,
like the Son of Man,
clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around Your chest,
hairs of Your head white like wool, as white as snow,
eyes are like a flame of fire,
feet are like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace,
voice is like the roar of many waters,
to see a sharp two-edged sword coming from Your mouth,
Your face like the sun shining in full strength.

Show us Your glory . . .

it is only then we will see our sin, our sinfulness and vileness:

Yes, if we were to see you like this, so long as we are no longer trusting our own righteousness but are covered with the perfect righteousness of Christ by grace through faith, You would also lay Your right hand on us, like You did John, and tell us, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades."

Yes, Your death saves us from the second death, but not only that, but Your death frees us from sin so we might now be dead to sin but alive to Christ today and forevermore! We have been buried with Christ so we might walk in newness of life. You gave Your Son's life to redeem us, so our lives are not our own. You own us. We are Your people. We are to be a holy people, a people set apart for You, blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom [we are to] shine as lights in the world (Phil. 2:15), even as Jesus Christ shines in the midst of His Church today.

Grant us a greater vision of Your holiness so we might have ears to hear what Your Spirit has to say to us, to the living stones of Your Church, Your dwelling place.

Open our eyes to see Him, so we might see our sin and confess our sin, so You might sanctify our hearts and minds and wills to receive Him and His Word to us.

Open our ears to hear what the Spirit has to say to us. Open our hearts and minds and wills to receive and obey the voice of Jesus Christ in our midst, so we might not grieve or quench Your Spirit, so You might be glorified in and through us. You have created us for Your glory. You have called us of the world to be a holy people, to bring You glory and to declare and proclaim Your praise. May Your Church be a praise in the earth and bring glory to You as You have intended.