A Prayer

Our Father,

You are such a good God to us. You have made us into a different kind of people. You have changed us from the children of the devil into being Your children. And that is amazing to consider. We are Your children. But that wasn’t enough for You. You wanted to bless us with more. So, You have changed not just who we are but also what we are. We who were once dead are now alive. We who were once slaves are now free. And these aren't some metaphors for airy notions that had nothing to do with our reality. No, we really are alive. We really are free. And this only because of the Gospel that You created and established in Jesus.

Father, these things are breathtaking. What blessings! But there is a problem, Father. The problem is that we have the hardest time believing that these things are true.

All too often our expectations are based on who and what we once were and not who and what we now are. Too much of our lives is spent as if You were not our Father, that we are on our own to figure out life and make it work. Too much of our lives is spent as if we need to limit our expectations of ourselves since we're just like the rest of humanity, the rest of humanity that does not enjoy life from You. In this, we are believing Satan’s lies instead of Your truth.

Forgive us, Father. Our unbelief is so insulting. You give us good gifts, and we act as You've given us nothing. Teach our hearts about the riches of Your grace to us in Jesus and make us believe it.

We ask for these things so that we will live in a way that reveals Your beauty, so that we will live in a way that will make the world to be astonished at You. Help us. Change us. For the sake of the glory of Your name. Amen.