A prayer based on Luke 23:26-43.
Our God,
We want to acknowledge before you the truth about who we are.
We are sinners.
We are guilty before You.
We have done what is wrong in your sight in so many ways.
We have failed to love You with all our hearts and love our neighbours as ourselves.
We have broken Your laws, ignored Your commands, and fallen short of Your glory.
We have no excuses, nothing we can say to justify our thoughts, words, and deeds.
Our mouths are shut before You.
And we recognise that Your judgment is what we deserve.
It is right that we weep for ourselves.
For the day is coming when You will unleash Your wrath upon the world.
Yet astonishingly we can have hope.
Hope of paradise.
Hope of being back in the garden, like Eden, only better.
Hope of a future in unspoilt beauty, an existence free of sin and death, and rest from all life’s problems.
Hope of being with You.
And this hope isn’t wishful thinking.
It is assured.
It is guaranteed.
It is definite.
Because it has been promised by Your Son whose words are trustworthy and true.
Lord, we marvel at how this can be.
We are amazed by the mercy You are willing to show to us.
That we can have so much joy, not just in the future, but even now in this life, if our faith in Jesus Christ.
We thank You that He was the Messiah.
The Chosen One.
The King of the Jews.
The Saviour.
We thank You that He stubbornly refused to save Himself when He was dying on the cross, because He was dying to save others.
To save sinners like us.
We thank You that He took upon Himself all our sin, and that He went through all the pain and agony and mocking and sneering and punishment that we deserve, so that we never have to.
So, that He can give us what we don’t deserve.
Paradise not punish.
How wonderful it is to know that Jesus will remember us at the end of our lives on this earth or when He comes again.
And that He will welcome us into His kingdom.
Holy Spirit, strengthen our faith and hope in our Saviour each day.
Help us to grasp further the love of Christ who would do all this for us.
And to live our lives in such a way that show that this is our future.
Amen.
(Photo: Freely)