Read Ephesians 4:1-3; Proverbs 10:11-12; John 13:34-35; 1 John 2:9-11; Jude 1:24-25

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3)

Lord, we realize that this is straight talk from You: "Preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." It doesn't win votes, but it gets attention. It doesn't promise that we'll get our way, but it teaches truth. Your way is the best way...forbid that we ever go any other way. We've tried those ways. They're all dead-end streets or, if not that, they lead into dangerous swamps.

So we pray that You will give Your people a sense of recommitment to this matter of unity and harmony and confidentiality and purity and love and tolerance and patience through Your words, gentleness, humility, in the bond of peace. May we model that unity, Lord. May we model it when we're at home, when we're in our neighbourhoods, when we're at our workplaces, when we're behind the steering wheel of our cars, when we're doing business, when we're at the grocery store, when we're meeting new friends, and any other time we're given the opportunity to impact another life. Give us great harmony, Lord. As You grow us up, grow us deep. May our roots deepen as our fruit ripens.

Now unto Him who is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever.

In the name of Your dear Son. Amen. 

Excerpted from The Prayers of Charles R. Swindoll, Volume 1, Copyright 2010 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.