Day 86: Ember Faith Prayer Countdown

One of the most foundational truths of the Christian faith is that God is good. We must believe that God is good in order to put our faith in Him and trust Him with our lives. God's goodness is the culmination of His mercy, His grace, His care, and His love and compassion towards us. It is the essence of His character, and since we were originally created in His image and as Christians are instructed to be like Him, goodness should be the essence of our character as well.

There is only one problem...since the fall, we are imperfect and incapable of good. Goodness no longer comes natural to us, as Paul expresses in Romans 7.

 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

                                                                                                Romans 7:18-19 NIV

We are only able to be good because of Christ living in our hearts bestowing His goodness upon us. That is why goodness is a fruit of the spirit. Goodness is akin to love and kindness, but it goes deeper than that. Goodness is more of a condition of the heart out of which we operate with kindness and compassion towards others. It is a combination of honesty, integrity, and compassion, and today, we pray that goodness would become the essence of Ember's character.

Dear Father, goodness seems so unattainable to us sometimes. We try to be good and do good on our own, but we fail terribly. We need Your Holy Spirit to fill us with goodness, to make us like You. Give us pure motives in all that we do. Help us to raise our daughter in the knowledge of Your goodness, and to set an example for her by living a good life. Lord, we pray that you would place deep within Ember, the desire to be good and do good. We pray that she would understand that goodness comes only from You and that she would rely on Your strength to be the good person she was created to be. Lord, You have given us all the tools we need to lead a good life, and we pray that You would remind us of that. May our lives and our daughter's life be reflections of Your ultimate goodness. This we pray as we await the precious gift of a child that You are sending to us!

We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God’s own power, when we learned that he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness. God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.

Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love. If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful.

                                                                                              2 Peter 1:3-8 CEV