- February 27, 2012
- 2 Comments
Prayer of Dedication and Submission
O God of such truth as sweeps away all lies,
of such grace as shrivels all excuses,
come now to find us
for we have lost our selvess
in a shuffle of disguises
and the rattle of empty words.
Let your Spirit move mercifully
to recreate us from
the chaos of our lives.
We have been careless
of our days,
our loves,
our gifts,
our chances…
Our prayer is to change, O God,
not out of despair of self
but for love of you,
and for the selves we long to become
before we simply waste away.
Let your mercy move in and through us now…
Amen.
- Ted Loder
Take a moment with me to pray this prayer – for your ministry, your family, your neighborhood. I love this prayer for 3 reasons:
1. It acknowledges the falsity we usually muddle and muck around in. In a confession of pretense and false piety this prayer locates us in our lives so that we can be present to God and ourselves.
2. We are led in this prayer to surrender from first to last. Even the petition elements are “take control, God – be God here and now with me”.
3. There is a redemptive vision for how we grow and change as Christians – not ‘despair of self, but for love of you’ and the life we long to have in Christ. There is a renunciation of trying and straining (through effort in prayer) to change and be earnest…and a simple expression of trust in the love of God and a his mercy.
Simply, I cannot pray this prayer as a mechanism to consolidate the kingdom of me. It subverts my self-absorbed religion. It trains me to trust in God’s love and mercy. I need more prayers like this.
Categorized: Prayer, Uncategorized Tags:
Repenting for the Kingdom
Matt 3:2 And saying, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens
has drawn near. 7:21 Not every one who says to Me, Lord, Lord,
will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he who does
the will of My Father who is in the heavens.
1 Cor 11:3 But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man…
The repentance called for in [Matthew 3] is for the kingdom.
You must repent because you are not in the kingdom, because
you are not under God’s authority. You must repent because you
have not yet submitted to the authority of Christ or come
under His kingship. Although you may not feel that you are
sinful, as long as you are not in the kingdom, you are a
rebellious one. As long as you have nothing to do with the
kingship of Christ, you are in rebellion and must repent.
Repent of not being in the kingdom!
The genuine Christians of today are saved, yet many of them
still are not in the kingdom. Thus, even these Christians must
repent. As long as you are not under the kingship of Christ,
you must repent. If you are not actually in the kingdom of the
heavens, not under the heavenly ruling, you must
repent….Repent of your rebellion! Repent of not being in the
kingdom and of not being under the kingship and authority of
Christ!
Do not think that Matthew is only for unbelievers, outsiders,
or Gentiles. I do not know what kind of gospel you have heard,
but I do know that you need to hear the Gospel of Matthew, the
Gospel of the kingdom that requires you to repent of not being
under the kingship of Christ. We all must repent to the Lord
and say, “Lord, forgive me. Even today I am still in
rebellion. I am not under Your Lordship, Your authority, Your
heavenly ruling. Lord, I confess that I have been ruled only
by myself. Lord, grant me a true repentance for my rebellion,
for my not being under Your authority.”
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible
and Words of Ministry, from Witness Lee, Life-study of
Matthew, 1986, pp. 101-102. Both are published by Living
Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. (Repeat 2/16/99)
This is powerful and moving! Thanks for sharing.