Morning Prayer - Your Perfect Yes To The Father

My God,

How often I am like King Ahaz—fearful, hesitant, and full of excuses. I dare not ask you for great signs; perhaps I even weary you and others with my small faith and my calculations.

But you, in your immense love, do not wait for my perfection. You give signs even when I do not ask for them, when I do not expect them.

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

You are Immanuel, God with us. This is the sign above all signs, which dispels my need for testing and fear.

Your Will, Not My Sacrifices

Father, for so long you have taught us that you do not desire merely our rituals and sacrifices. Neither the blood of bulls and goats, nor my carefully prepared offerings move you if they are not accompanied by a heart that loves you.

You teach me that you have opened my ears so that I might hear your voice, not just blindly follow the rules.

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)

And you, Jesus, are the complete answer to this longing for mercy and acknowledgment. You are the one of whom the scroll is written; you are the living Word who came to dwell among us.

“Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll.”” (Psalm 40:7)

Behold, I Come to Do Your Will

Your ‘yes’ to the Father’s will changed everything. You not only came, but you delighted in doing the Father’s will.

It was your food, your very life. Grant that your law may also be written in my inmost being, that I too may find joy in doing your will.

“I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”” (Psalm 40:8)

By this will, by the offering of your body, the impossible has happened. All my empty, repetitive sacrifices have been set aside, and something new and eternal has been established.

Make all things new in me, Lord, on the foundation of what you have already done for me.

“And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10)

What, then, am I to do today in light of this staggering truth? I too, following your example, desire to proclaim your righteousness. Not with grand words, which I do not possess, but with a life that quietly tells of your faithfulness and power.