DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
O Lord, how shall we speak with you, for we are dust and ashes! May your Spirit speak in us, that we may speak to your Spirit. And how shall we draw near to you, for we have no merits? Let the merits of Jesus stand for us, that we may acceptably approach our God, being “accepted in the Beloved.”
Lord, we are full of infirmities, and full of wants, and full of sin; and we come and cast ourselves at your feet. Being nothing, we would ask to receive everything of you; and being altogether undeserving, we would look to your loving-kindness and tender mercy, and expect much from that divine source, through Jesus Christ your Son.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.” (Ephesians 1:5–6)
How marvellous that we, worms, mortals, sinners, should be the objects of divine love! But it is only “in the beloved.” Some Christians seem to be accepted in their own experience, at least, that is their apprehension. If they could but see that all their high joys do not exalt them, and all their low despondencies do not really depress them in their Father’s sight, but that they stand accepted in One who never alters, in One who is always the beloved of God, always perfect, always without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, how much happier they would be, and how much more they would honour the Savior!
Rejoice then, believer, in this: you are accepted “in the beloved.” You look within and say, “There is nothing acceptable here!” But look at Christ, and see if there is not everything acceptable there.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
God hears your prayers, not because you’re good enough (but because Jesus is)
Today we prayed, confessing that our only hope in prayer is that we would be covered in the righteousness of Christ. This is our only hope with which to approach God. This should give us great hope and confidence as we pray — we do not come in our own name, but in the mighty name of Jesus!
A great, refreshing book that has really helped me learn this lesson is A Praying Life by Paul Miller. This book makes clear that our only hope of acceptable prayers is the blood of Jesus.
A Praying Life is a great, encouraging book on Christian prayer. Reading this book has cultivated Scripture-saturated prayers of childlike faith in my life. Miller describes prayer in a way that is thoroughly biblical and incredible desirable.
I hope A Praying Life will help you deepen your prayer life this summer.