Bible Reading: Luke 18:1-8, Isaiah 62:6-7
“And give him no rest, until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth” (Isaiah 62:7)
In times like these, and in all times, we ought to pray. But pray for what? Where ought they to be directed?
Lost in today’s Christianity is the true meaning of prayer. We ask God for good gifts, His sustenance and blessing upon our success at school, within our ministries, and amongst our relationships. We thank God when He indeed does bless us in these cases out of His benevolence. God is our friend and comforter, yes. But God is also our Chief Commander, who is sovereign over the realms of all good and evil. He holds the success of His kingdom and glory in His own hands.
God cares most about His own glory. However contradictory it may seem, this is not egotistical. Instead, it is His fullest expression of love for His glory is the best and most excellent thing we can enjoy. To the end of His glory were we redeemed and given life. To the end of His glory is our primary purpose here and now. His glory is made manifest when we turn from treasuring God’s creation to treasuring God Himself. His glory is made manifest when His unfathomable grace works in hidden ways to draw the nations to treasure Christ as supreme, above all else. To this end ought to be our fullest devotion — that God’s infinite worth and beauty be treasured amongst all peoples, for this gives utmost supremacy and glory to God. So, to this end ought to be our prayers.
What we pray for reveals what is in our hearts. Do we yearn for God’s glory to be made manifest? This is what God’s heart yearns for. Christ prayed, “Father the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you” (John 17:1). If our hearts yearn for other things, our hearts are not in sync with God’s.
In these moments of Easter, what is the fervent prayer of our hearts? Do we pray for God to be all the more glorified in our lives, namely that we would treasure and love God more fully and deeply? Are we fervently resolved to cry out to God day and night that His glory would be made known amongst all peoples in this crucial time? With retreat a few days away, are we praying for a more glorious vision of God and the cross? Are we genuinely praying that God would be exalted amongst us, revered and feared, and that alone?
O, for a higher vision of His glory! Pray that God would grant us to see God’s own heart and what He prays for. Pray that our teen lives would be completely saturated with a high view of God and His glory and that we may live in holiness and trembling and fear, worshipping Him in His glory forever.
Lord, teach us to pray. Teach us to pray for what You pray for, namely Your glory. Who can understand, O God? Your ways are inscrutable to us. We cannot fathom them. We are like dumb sheep who go astray, not knowing You truth or Your ways. Have mercy on us. Draw us closer to You and reveal Your heart’s contents to us. In Jesus’ name, amen.
