So I’m on this new kick of believing everything Jesus tells me. Everything I read in scripture. Everything his spirit says inside of me.
You’d think that after having been raised in the church my entire life, listening to hundreds of sermons, and doing thousands of quiet times, I would have already come to the conclusion that I should probably believe it.
I say I do. So I should.
But I don’t.
I don’t believe in a way that makes me live differently.
I don’t fully believe in grace, so I act out of guilt and shame, hanging my head every time I fall short of the standard I’ve set for myself, or the standard I think God holds me to.
I don’t fully believe in the soverignty of God, so I act as though I’m in control of my life, and I enslave myself to the weight of the outcomes of all my decisions.
I don’t fully believe in the power of the gospel, so I act selfishly, refusing to let Jesus’ love-act inspire generosity and humility in me.
I don’t fully believe.
I think a lot of christians find themselves in this very same place also.
I think we all know, and have to acknowledge at some point, that we don’t REALLY, TRULY believe ALL of what we say we believe.
But what would it look like if we did?
Did you know that Jesus is actually praying for you right now? Can you imagine the power that prayer holds? He IS God and he IS praying for you. Interceding for you.
First of all, we should start believing in the power of prayer, because it really does change things. It really does reach God’s ear. And beyond reaching his ear, it pulls in his heart.
As a child of God, my requests, my cries, my words are valuable to God. He bends down, my hand in his, eyes on my eyes, and he listens to every single word I say. He already knows the question, he already knows the hurt, he already knows whatever it is that I’m going to say, and he listens patiently. Waiting for me to place my cares in his hands and say, “I trust you.”
Man. Why don’t I pray like that? Why don’t I believe like that?
John 17:9
I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.
If you believe in Jesus, you BETTER BELIEVE that he’s praying for you. That he’s talking to your father about you. That you are the topic of their very most important conversations.
And YOU ARE GOD’S. You are HIS. You are entrusted to Jesus. Believe in that.
John 17:10, 22
All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. I have given them the glory you gave me so that they may be one as we are one.
Glory – something that brings praise or fame to someone. something that is a source of great pride.
BELIEVE that you bring Jesus GLORY. By your nature. By existing. Be being (your name here). You bring him fame. You are a source of great pride for him.
He also wants us to be one. He wants us to have each other. To have friendship and relationship. We model after God when we walk in unity.
AND…
BELIEVE that you carry the glory of the Lord. You are drenched in beauty. You are walking in the most dazzling, heavenly splendor. The Father has praised you and given you fame, and he takes pride in you.
John 17:11
Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one, even as we are one.
BELIEVE that you are protected by the power of the name of Jesus. BELIEVE in the power his name holds.
John 17:23
I am in them and they are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world may know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.
BELIEVE that Jesus lives in you and that you are enveloped by Jesus. That when people look at you they get to look right at Jesus. And that when God looks at you, he sees Jesus. He sees perfection. He sees love.
BELIEVE that God loves YOU as much as he loves Jesus. As much as he loves the most perfect human, the most perfect son, the most perfect friend, the most PERFECT.
God is absolutely enthralled by you. He is absolutely in love with you. He protects you. He has clothed you in GLORY. The same heavenly glory Jesus is clothed in.
BELIEVE. Act out of belief. Live a life of belief.
-k
