Friday, March 29, 2013

Good Friday Prayer

Isenheim Altarpiece by Mathis Grunewald
"But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:7-14

Dear Lord, we want You. I want to treasure You above all other things. I pray that Ethan and I would have such a clear vision of You and such a love for You that our regrets and laments from the past would fade, our worries and desires for the future would diminish, and that we would be left with Jesus only as the affection of our hearts. Let us not live for ourselves but for Jesus who died and rose again, and who lives in glory. Amen.