A Beautiful Prayer for the New Year

I read this on one of my friends private blogs who serves in a country in Central Asia. I thought would be good to share - a great prayer for the New Year, to pray all throughout the year!

Great God,

In public and private, in sanctuary and home, may my life be steeped in prayer, filled with the spirit of grace and supplication, each prayer perfumed with the incense of atoning blood.

Help me, defend me, until from praying ground I pass to the realm of unceasing praise. Urged by my need, invited by thy promises, called by thy Spirit, I enter thy presence, worshipping thee with godly fear, awed by thy majesty, greatness, glory, but encouraged by thy love. 

I am all poverty as well as as all guilt, having nothing of my own with which to repay thee, but I bring Jesus to thee in the arms of faith, pleading his righteousness to offset my iniquities, rejoicing that he will weigh down the scales from me, and satisfy thy justice.

I bless thee that great sin draws out great grace, that, although the least sin deserves infinite punishment because done against an infinite God, yet there is mercy for me, for where guilt is most terrible, there thy mercy in Christ is most free and deep. 

Bless me by revealing to me more of his saving merits, by causing thy goodness to pass before me, by speaking peace to my contrite heart; strengthen me to give thee no rest until Christ shall reign supreme within me, in every thought, word, and deed, in a faith that purifies the heart, overcomes the world, works by love, fastens me to thee, and ever clings to the cross.  - From Valley of Vision "Meeting God."

a Small Note on Prayer

I read something in the Tim Keller study on the book of Mark this morning that I thought I would share with you.

Direction in Prayer:

"Jesus' prayer [in the garden] is a model. a) He is honest about his needs and feelings (let this cup pass from me). There is no 'denial' - no effort to say the 'proper Christian thing.' Wonderful spiritual reality. He lets his heart's desire be known. But, b) he shows the goal of prayer is not to bend God's will to ours but to conform our will to God's He is after strength and will to do God's will. Now real prayer will have both honest pouring out of the heart and yet an unwavering spirit of submission. To lack the former makes prayer superficial; to lack the latter makes prayer selfish.

A Great Prayer

I found this while looking through some old journals. I think I'll keep it more handy.

"Give us, O Lord, steadfast hearts that cannot be dragged down by false loves;

give us courageous hearts that cannot be worn down by trouble;

give us righteous hearts that cannot be sidetracked by unholy or unworthy goals.

Give us also, our Lord and God, understanding to know you,

diligence to look for you, wisdom to recognize you,

and a faithfulness that will bring us to see you face to face.

Thomas A Kempis, 14th Century

Having Faith in Prayer

"Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you." Mark 11:22-24

I read these verses today and pondered it a bit and read some commentary by Tim Keller. I learned a lot that really encouraged me. Often we read these verses and think that perhaps if I believe hard enough that what I pray for will be granted. And often when what we pray for isn't granted we attribute it to not having enough faith. But doesn't this put the focus on ourselves rather than on God?

Context is so important! First, Tim Keller makes a good point. Jesus prayed fervently for the "cup" to pass from him in Mark 14:35-36 but was turned down. Does this mean that Jesusdidn't have enough faith? I hardly think so! Second, this passage follows two passages having to do with God judgment on sin. Jesus is encouraging the disciples that though sin in prevalent, He still hear them. And lastly, Mark, in his usual brevity, is making a simple statement about the "endless possibilities" of prayer. "For the one who really trusts God, there is no end to what can be accomplished." He has the power to grant any request we ask.

And He also has the wisdom to not grant what He has the power to grant. As we pray we must trust not only His power to give us what we want but in His wisdom to know what I need or don't need and when. When we pray we aren't just to have faith in God's attribute of power, but in all of His attributes - His sovereignty, His wisdom, His love, His mercy, etc.

"If I refuse to believe that God could turn me down, that is itself a failure on my part to trust that His wisdom might be greater than mine."

God invites us to put faith in ALL of Him and, in doing so, attempt great things for Him and move toward them with confidence.

What encouragement this brings to me! Another lesson on trust to add to my ever growing repertoire!