Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, Lord, and grant us your salvation. Ps. 85:6-7
Dear heavenly Father, I begin this day thankful for the honesty and candor of your Word; for when you diagnosis a problem, you always resource your children with more grace. Today I’m thinking about my longing for renewed joy, and even greater joy than I’ve ever known. I join the chorus of the Psalmist, who cried, “Revive us again.”
When I hear the apostle Paul ask believers in Galatia, “What has happened to all your joy?” (Gal. 4:15), I’m not sure how I’d answer. Is my “inner-Older-Brother”(Lk.15) rearing his ugly head? Has a spirit of entitlement, self-pity, or envy slipped in unaware? Is it simply because I’ve been trying to get by with too little sleep? Am I hoarding hurts or harboring resentments? Am I angry with you, and don’t want to admit it? I’m not sure where my heart began to leak joy, but I don’t want to get used to this condition. Show me, Lord.
Father, since your joy is my strength (Neh. 8:10), cause my heart muscle to beat afresh with the joy that fills the courts of heaven. Holy Spirit, since joy is one of the fruit you grow in the lives of God’s children, please weed, prune, and fertilize my heart for a bumper-crop. Lord Jesus, since you are praying for the fullness of your joy to be in us (John 17:13), I will live with anticipation and hope, for your prayers never fail.
Jesus, though I’ve never seen you, I do love you; and I love you because you first loved me and gave yourself for us on the cross. Fill me afresh with the inexpressible and glorious joy that comes from living in union and communion with you (1 Pet. 1:8-9). So very Amen I pray, in your tender and triumphant name.