A Prayer About Freedom
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. Galatians 5:13
Dear Jesus, we praise you for becoming the ultimate slave to sin on the cross that we might enjoy the ultimate freedom of living as beloved sons and daughters of the living God. Help us to realize that this freedom is a calling, not simply an avocation, part-time joy, or hobby. Help us to be seriously joyful is safeguarding the freedoms we have been given in the gospel.
May we not simply be disappointed, but disgusted when we fall back into the slavery of performance-based living. May we not simply regret, but repent when we fall back into slavery to the approval of people. May we not simply be saddened, but scandalized when we fall back into any form of religious legalism or moralism.
Help us to stand in, wallow in, marinate in, be saturated with, be inundated with, be immersed in that we might be transformed by the freedom for which we have been set free. Indeed, we don’t want to hoard, memorialize, or squander our freedom on simply being anti-legalists or anti-religious. Free us to be pro-servanthood and pro-gospel-loving. Free us to offer the beauty and bounty of who you really are, Jesus, to our family, friends, neighborhood and the nations. This we ask today, in light of the Day you will return to finally and fully set us completely free! Amen