Mercy Road Daily Prayer & Bible Reading ~ Tuesday, April 17, 2012

~ Read Leviticus 21-22

Lord God,

You are holy, infinite, and perfect in your being. You are pure, unchangeable, boundless, eternal, most loving, gracious, and wise. You are sovereign, righteous, merciful, and just. You are good, forgiving, and true. You, my God, are incomprehensible, and you call me to worship and serve you.

You call me to be holy. You call me to be righteous. You call me to be merciful and just. You call me to demonstrate your grace and speak your truth to everyone I meet. You call me to have faith, and follow you, if only I knew how.

Though I know I should imitate Christ in his obedience, sacrifice, and love, the harder I try, the worse I seem to do. It's discouraging and frustrating, Lord, because I don't really know how to do what you call me to do. I'm uncertain how worship and serve. I don't really know how to live for your glory and honor, when everything I do is tainted by my sin.

That's not to say that everything I do is wicked and evil, but simply that nothing I do is entirely pure. When I try to worship and praise you, Lord, my mind wanders to all the things I need to get done, or all the things I wish you would do. When I try to serve you and others, I wonder if my actions are noticed, or if they really matter. When I try to love my neighbor as I love myself, and do good to those who hurt me, I often do it just to prove that I'm better, holier, and closer to you than they are. When I try to love and obey you, Lord, with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind, I find I'm so wrapped up in myself, I sometimes do the right things for the wrong reasons, or simply do the wrong things all together.

It seems the harder I try to imitate Christ, the worse I am doing so. I just can't do it without your power and strength, so I need you to do it through me. If you want me to be holy, Lord, then you must make me holy. If you want me to honor you, you must do so through me, by your Spirit. That's the only way, Lord, I won't disgrace you, and distract from your glory, is if you do it through me, and make me holy.

Forgive me, Lord, when I profane your holy name, not just with my words, but with the actions that I take; for, every time I claim to follow Christ, yet misrepresent your truth, or fail to demonstrate your grace to others, I profane your holy name. Every time I over emphasize one aspect of my faith as if it's more important than another, I profane your holy name. Whenever I assume negative things about someone, when I don't like what they've done or said, I profane your holy name. When I misrepresent the truth or talk about someone behind their back, when I see another person's brokenness and fail to recognize my own, when I think that I'm better, stronger, more talented, faithful, or wiser than someone else, I profane your holy name. Every time my pride, envy, and self-righteousness come out, I profane your holy name.

Forgive me, Lord, and help me to glorify you. Help me to represent Christ in everything I think, say, and do, through the power of your Spirit, by his grace, and for his glory, I pray, Amen!