Meditating on God’s love will fill you to the fullness of God.
Below is a prayer and meditation guide for practicing the loving presence of God.
I’ve written about God’s love for a year now, and it has changed my life, especially my prayer life. I regularly begin prayer times now by reciting several aspects of God’s love that I’ve written about, such as the kindness or mercy or forgiveness of his love, and that sets the stage for believing and feeling it.
The phrase that helps me most is simple: “I thank you, Lord, that you are with me in _____ (benevolent love, serving love, patient love, for instance).” And then I might meditate and elaborate on that quality for a sentence or two.
Then I do it again with another quality of God’s love.
In this 47-Day Immersion in God’s love, I will summarize all the qualities covered over the last year and link to the original article. You can read each prayer verbatim if you like, or read it and then pray your own words. The last paragraph in each day is a relevant Scripture personalized as a prayer.
This 47-Day Immersion will last seven weeks. Each week you can download a PDF for that week, and at the end of the series you will be able to download a PDF for the entire series.
Deeply understanding God’s love is more than just a means to have warm feelings, as beneficial as that is. It is the path to being filled to all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:19 invites us “to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” Eph 3:19). Think about the scope and potential effect on your life of those words: “filled with all the fullness of God.” That’s what we all want and need. That is the ultimate.
That is why you want to meditate and pray over these qualities of God’s love.
Day 1
I thank you, O God, that you are with me in INFINITE, MASSIVE LOVE.
Your love is higher than the heavens, greater than the ocean, without measure or limit.
Your love surpasses knowledge, filling me with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:19 personalized)
Day 2
I thank you, O God, that you are with me in MERCIFUL LOVE.
You saved me and forgave me when I was your enemy.
I was a child of wrath, like the rest of mankind, but you, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which you loved me, even when I was dead in trespasses, made me alive together with Christ—by grace I have been saved. (Ephesians 2:3–5 personalized)
Day 3
I thank you, O God, that you are with me in LOVE THAT CAN BE FELT AND PERCEIVED.
Your love is more than an idea; it is an experience in the Holy Spirit.
Your love has been poured into my heart through the Holy Spirit who has been given to me. (Romans 5:5 personalized)
Day 4
I thank you, O God, that you are with me in UNWAVERING, CONSTANT, CONTINUOUS LOVE.
Your love for me does not rise and fall based on the level of my obedience to your commands.
You showed your love for me in that while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me. (Romans 5:8 personalized)
Day 5
I thank you, O God, that you are with me in BENEVOLENT LOVE.
In love, you constantly desire and seek my good.
Because I love God, all things work together for my good. (Romans 8:28 personalized)
Day 6
I thank you, O God, that you are with me in BENEFICENT LOVE.
You not only desire my good, you actively bring about my good even when I don’t deserve it.
You make your sun rise on me whether I have done evil or good, and you send rain on me whether I have been just or unjust. (Matthew 5:45 personalized)
Day 7
I thank you, O God, that you are with me in INSEPARABLE LOVE.
Your love will never leave me if I will keep following Jesus. I am secure in your love.
I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from your love in Christ Jesus my Lord. (Romans 8:38–39 personalized)
Download PDF of week one
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)