Prayer of the Day for Apr 12th, 2024
Click The Play Button & Pray Together
Dear Father,
Your love is a paradox that confounds our finite human minds. We struggle to truly comprehend how love and justice can coexist perfectly within You. We see the brokenness of the world, the rampant injustice, the pain, and the suffering. We struggle with our own sinful choices and the lingering shame they can bring. It's tempting to question your goodness and wonder, "If God is truly loving, why does He allow such darkness?"
But then we look to the cross. Your love, so radical, so sacrificial, shines through the darkest night of human history. While we were still lost, still steeped in our rebellion, still utterly undeserving, you gave everything to save us. The magnitude of that love is both overwhelming and unfathomable.
Forgive us, Lord, for taking your grace for granted. Sometimes, the message of the gospel, the story we've heard countless times, can start to lose its impact in the mundanity of daily life. Open our eyes afresh to the wonder of what you have done for us. Reawaken our hearts with gratitude that cannot be contained.
Help us not only to grasp the concept of your love intellectually but also to experience it at the core of who we are. As we reflect on the depth of Your sacrifice, may it lead to deeper repentance. Help us see our sin more clearly, to understand the gravity of our brokenness that required the death of your Son. Give us genuine sorrow for the ways we've grieved You and a renewed determination to live our lives in a way that honors Your immeasurable gift.
Your love also reveals just how precious we are to you. It's easy to let the lies of the world, our own insecurities, and past hurts convince us we're unworthy of true love. Our culture shouts that our value is found in our performance, our achievements, our appearance, or our social influence. Yet, the cross shatters all these illusions. Before we had done a single thing to earn it, you declared Your unwavering, relentless love for us.
Help us internalize that truth and let it rewrite the narrative we wrongly believe about ourselves. When doubts creep in, and shame tries to take root, remind us that we have been fully and eternally accepted because of Christ's sacrifice. May our identity be rooted in this truth alone, and may it give us unshakeable confidence, not in ourselves, but in You.
As we grasp the boundless love You have for us, transform us to become conduits of that same love to others. Just as you loved us while we were entirely unlovely, help us to see others with Your eyes and extend that grace, even to those who don't deserve it. May the love that we have so freely received overflow into the way we treat those closest to us, the strangers on the street, and even our enemies.
Break our hearts for the things that break Yours. Give us compassion for the lost, the hurting, and those trapped in cycles of destruction. Help us to be bold in sharing the hope of the gospel with those who desperately need to know a love that can transform even the hardest heart.
We long to be people known for our extravagant love, a love born out of our awe and gratitude for the ultimate act of love you've already shown us. Let us look more and more like Jesus each day.
To you be the glory, both now and forevermore. Amen.
