{from Monday, November 24, 2008}
"We do not present our supplication before you on the ground of our righteousness, but on the ground of your great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord listen and act and do not delay."(Daniel 9:18b-19a)
Daniel is praying on behalf of the people of Israel - in all their sinfulness. He's "coming clean" with God, acknowledging all the ways they've not followed God's will. He's being brutally honest. And from that baseline of sin, he pleads for God's mercy. Then he states quite plainly that it's all because of God's grace that he can pray - and it's nothing to do with their own goodness.
This may seem quite obvious. God is great. We are not. But I think we sometimes forget it. We're not called to wallow in self-deprecation, of course. But to have an honest assessment of one's reality, hopefully bathed in humility, opens one up to the amazing power of God's healing forgiveness.
PRAYER: Help me to intercede more for the people you've entrusted to my shepherding care, Lord. And keep my feet on the ground, too, as I fall upon Your mercy, not my illusion of righteousness. AMEN.
This may seem quite obvious. God is great. We are not. But I think we sometimes forget it. We're not called to wallow in self-deprecation, of course. But to have an honest assessment of one's reality, hopefully bathed in humility, opens one up to the amazing power of God's healing forgiveness.
PRAYER: Help me to intercede more for the people you've entrusted to my shepherding care, Lord. And keep my feet on the ground, too, as I fall upon Your mercy, not my illusion of righteousness. AMEN.
No comments:
Post a Comment