I have been thinking of how I can imitate Christ more in my walk with him and as a starting point, I considered how I’m already doing that. I thought of how Christ essentially came to give himself to people that could offer nothing in return. I thought of how I once was dead in my sin and there was nothing I could have given to God or done to merit his saving grace, but he gave everything, namely his own life, to me. And now I have everything.
Because of his kingdom gift of life to us, I thought, “You know, probably the most simple way I can imitate Christ’s sacrificial lifestyle is to pray.” It’s not only the starting point, the initial response, it’s also the constant throughout life with God. And it just makes sense. We have needs, deep and desperate ones, and some seemingly small and insignificant. He has everything, not to mention our best interests at heart, so why shouldn’t I ask him to intervene. He already has a track record of interrupting our lives, i.e. sending his son to us. And whenever he does intervene, it’s always good.
So back to imitating Christ. We can imitate him by simply lifting up prayers on behalf of those around us that, like us, can offer nothing in return. We are gathering twice a month with others to do this very thing. The bonus of coming together to pray is that we also get a bit of community with one another, and we get to worship the God that deeply cares for and loves us! It’s like a ‘buy 1, get 2 free’ deal.
Anyway, hope that encourages you. Join us tomorrow at 7, our place if you’re intrigued. We will spend some time in worship and praying for those that are spiritually lifeless, like we once were. If you're feeling like you're just scraping by yourself with your own spiritual life, I think you will find some rejuvinating benefits in praying for others with others. So if that's you, come too.
Andy
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