Sunday, October 21, 2018

A Prayer

Father,

You have been so good to us. Being the God of deep mercy and amazing grace, You have saved us from the trespasses and sins that dominated our lives. Now, we find ourselves joined to Jesus our Savior, enjoying tremendous blessings. And later, it only gets better, much better. How good You are, Father!

But it didn't have to be like this. We could still be separated from Christ, alienated from the great privileges of being one of Your people. We could still be among those who are excluded from Your awesome promises. We could still be without You, left to face all the terrors of living in a fallen, evil world alone. And later, it would only get worse, much worse.

Father, we are a blessed people. We don't always see that, but it is true, more true than we know. We are grateful that You have acted to do all this for us.

We have a request. We ask that You would continue Your good work in our lives by Your Spirit so that we would see reality more clearly. Grant to us the ability to see better how good You have been to us. Seeing these blessings more and more clearly will change our lives. It will free us from the anxieties that we all too often give in to. It will re-orient our plans and transform our priorities. It will make us live more like what we are: Your loved children.

We ask for these things, Father, so that our changed lives would point to You and to what a breathtaking God You are. We look forward to how You will grant us these things since we pray according to Your will and through Christ our Lord, Amen.