Theme of the Week: Recharging Your Heart Through Prayer
Bible Verse: “That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers” Hebrews 2:11b ESV
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 2:11-13
Dear Jesus, I’ve thought, said, and done a lot of things in my life of which I am truly ashamed. I’ve been painfully shamed, and I’ve shamed people I dearly love. Shame is a pillaging thief, one that robs us of dignity, freedom, and joy.
So when I hear you tell me that you’re not ashamed of me—that you’re not ashamed to call me your brother—it humbles and gladdens me like nothing else.
You’re the only answer for the paralyzing power of shame, Lord Jesus. How I praise you for doing everything necessary to deal with the ways I’ve been both an agent and a victim of sin—sin that has led to multiple layers of shame. You’re the only one who can make me holy, the only one who can “set me apart” for the redeeming and restoring purposes of the one I now know as Abba, Father.
In fact, I only dare cry out “Abba, Father” because you first cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps. 22:1). You took the full guilt and the real shame of my sin on the cross. I really do believe this. I really want to experience it more fully.
And now you sing to me of the Father’s love. You declare his praises to my heart every time I hear the gospel, every time I gather with my brothers and sisters to worship the Triune God, every time I take the bread and cup of Holy Communion, every time I read the Scriptures, every time I listen to your voice in creation proclaiming the majesty and mercy of God.
Jesus, you’re not ashamed of me. This is the theology I defend; make it the doxology in which I delight. I pray in your most compassionate name. Amen.
From Everyday Prayers: 365 Days to a Gospel-Centered Faith. Copyright ©2011 by Scotty Smith. Used by permission of Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, MI. bakerpublishinggroup.com
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