Praying God's great and precious promises: Righteousness

Today, the great and precious promise is RIGHTEOUSNESS which to me is a word that I struggle with ever relating to myself. It is a word where if I even associate that word with me, I start hearing the voices in my head say “who do YOU think you are to call yourself righteous?”  Do any of you struggle with that? 😊 Biblically, speaking, we are supposed to be growing to be like our Lord; growing to be more and more like Jesus who is righteous. The bible defines righteousness as observing divine laws, keeping the commands of God; a way of thinking, feeling and acting that is comformed to the will of God which encompasses integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting; living a holy life.

There are days I know I fall short of being more like Jesus.  On those days, instead of listening to the negative voices in my head, to the lies of the enemy, I silence them, get up and go after being acceptable to God; being righteous.  If you reread the scripture above, it states “blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness.” Hunger and thirst is another way of saying “strongly desire” for righteousness.  I can say I strongly desire for righteousness; I strongly desire to be acceptable to God; I strongly desire to keep God’s commands and in so desiring this the last part of this scripture states “for they shall be filled.”  The promise is more than God just bestowing righteousness on us.  God says that they which hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled.  Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness?
 
Father, thank You for Your great and precious promises.  Today, I thank You for the promise of RIGHTEOUSNESS. Lord, as I look into this word I can narrow it down to You wanting each of us to strongly desire a right way of living and a right way of acting; to be a person that is acceptable to You.  Father, I hold up my family to you, I hold up my loved ones to You and ask that if each of us is not hungering and thirsting for righteousness that You place that strong desire deep in our hearts.  Stir each of us up, Lord!  Stir up my spouse, stir up my children and stir me up, Lord.  Remove any veils from our eyes where the enemy has blinded us and lied to us about being able to live a holy life.  Help us be aware what our hands do, what our tongue speaks, what our ears hear, where our feet walk and what our mind thinks.   Place people in my spouse’s path, in my children’s path, in my path to encourage us to live a holy life, a life acceptable to You.  Let us remember any voice against this way of living is not a voice I want my spouse, my children or myself to listen to.  Remind us during the times the enemy wants to laugh and tease us for desiring to live a holy life that the devil is a liar, he is a thief, he is a murderer, and a distorter.  The devil will not be the voice my family and loved ones listen to.  Thank You, Lord, that Your voice is louder than the enemy’s voice.  Thank You that greater is You in us than he of this world.  So today, I declare I hunger and thirst after righteousness; I strongly desire it and I am wholeheartedly pursuing a life acceptable to You.  I receive Your promise to fill me with righteousness. Thank You that my spouse, my children, and my loved ones have this same hunger and thirst in them for righteousness and You are giving them this promise as well.  In Jesus’ name Amen