For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:15-16
Gracious Father, during the course of an average day, any of a number of negative voices clamor for my attention… and most of the time they fuel my fears. There are the voices of my past, sometimes yammering loudly… sometimes just nickel-and-diming my peace away with the refrain, “You’ll never really amount to much.” “You don’t have a clue, do you?” “Everybody’s so much smarter than you.” Have you noticed how everybody looks away when they see you coming?”
Then there’s the voices of my present, quite often hijacked by our defeated enemy, Satan. His incessant ploy is to tempt me… seduce me… then condemn me. Sometimes he shouts, more often he whispers, but he’s always conniving and condemning. “You deserve much better than this…Can you believe they’re treating you like this?”… “You’re such a joke. If people really knew what you’re like… And you call yourself a Christian?… Where’s your God now?”
Then there’s the voices of my future, usually fertilizing fear with suggestions like, “You’re not as sharp as you used to be, are you? You’ll probably be forgotten, won’t you? You’re probably end up all alone, right?”
But Father, then there’s the voice of the Holy Spirit. How I praise you for that One voice which transcends and trumps every other voice—the gossiper of the gospel… the herald of healing… the bearer of beauty… the messenger of mercy… the singer of sanity… the cantor of Christ… God the Holy Spirit witnessing to our spirits, with the authority of heaven, that we are your bought, belonging and beloved children.
Abba, Father, may the Spirit of sonship… your Spirit, continue to free me from all of my slavish fears—past, present and future… and may he free me for a life of the glorious freedom of the children of God. May the Spirit speak so loudly as to drown out all the other voices vying for my attention… may he persistently pipe in the liberating lyric and the invigorating music of the gospel.
God the Holy Spirit, as I begin this day I hear you saying to me, loud and clear, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ… in fact, there’s nothing but irrepressible love and more grace.” (Rom 8:1). “Jesus is your righteousness, holiness and redemption… he is the Savior, you are not. Go love others the way he loves you.” (1 Cor. 1:30).
That’s more than enough to get this day underway… So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ more than sufficient name.