A Prayer About Purifying Hope
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:1-3
Most gracious Father, that I can even address you as Father is an incredible gift, one that I do not take for granted. To realize that I haven’t just been adopted into your family, but am someone upon whom you have lavished (not dabbled or dribbled) your love… that leads me cry out, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief!”
But to have the assurance that when Jesus returns I will actually be made like him, in all his beauty, purity and love… Father, that’s more than I can wrap my little heart around. “Thank you!” seems such a paltry, insufficient response, but I do say “Thank you!”
Father, teach much more about the purifying effect your lavish love and this great hope you’ve given me. Because of the finished work of Jesus, I know that there’s nothing I can do to make me love you more than you already do, and I know there’s nothing I can do to make you love me less. But what does it mean to be pure? What does purity and holiness of heart look like? Deconstruct my false notions, and replace them with an understanding of the beauty of holiness.
Father, as you know, I grew up with many distorted notions of holiness, largely confusing holiness with a rigid life of rules keeping and a disciplined life of spiritual exercises… Father, I don’t want to be less disciplined, but so much more loving, so much more like Jesus.
Maybe Kierkegaard was right when he said that “purity of heart is to will one thing.” If that is the case, Father, may that one thing in my life be your glory. May the gospel of your grace so capture and change my heart that the one thing I want and will above everything else is for your glory to be revealed in my heart… by my words… in my relationships… in my weakness… through my repentance… in my church family… in my community… among the nations of the world…
Until that blessed Day when I see Jesus face to face, and will be made completely like him, I will rest in your lavish love and live by this profound hope. So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ name.