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A Prayer for Greater Gospel Passion and Freedom

I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. Phil. 3:12-15

Gracious Jesus, by your grace, you free us from the “paralysis of analysis”—an unhealthy, navel-gazing preoccupation with ourselves. But when you free us from something, it always leads to freedom for something. As I pray through this Scripture, I’m drawn to the way Paul examined his life wearing the lens of the gospel. Grant me that same freedom, I ask.

I don’t know how old Paul was when he was when he wrote these words—maybe in his sixties or seventies—but it’s obvious that with an increase in age came an increase in gospel astonishment, passion and delight. He never grew bored exploring the unsearchable riches of Jesus, and he never seemed to tire of wrestling with the kingdom implications of the gospel.

Jesus, make me that kind of man. Give me this kind of maturity in the gospel. I’m thankful that it’s your grasp of us and not our grasp of you that defines this way of life. How I praise you for your holy and loving hands.

Sometimes I lift my hands in awe and gratitude for the way you love me. Sometimes I shake my fists at heaven like a pouting child; clench them in anger, like a vengeful brat; and wring them in anxious unbelief, like a hapless orphan. But I live and I will die secure in your palms and written upon your heart. Hallelujah!

Jesus, I praise you that as with Paul, you’ve given me a prize to win, not a wage to earn. I never earned my way into a relationship with you, and I don’t maintain a relationship with you by my efforts either. What do I want for the rest of my days, if I could write the script? Paul’s words say it the best: I want to know you, Lord Jesus, more intimately than ever. This is the one thing I want more than anything else. Intensify my hunger and fuel my hope for the knowledge of God.

And I want to experience more of the power of your resurrection, for I have no power in myself to obey the gospel and love others as you love me. I want to enter more fully into the fellowship of sharing in your sufferings—living out the birth pangs of new-creation life, as our broken world groans for its release from the bondage to decay—a release that is sure to come (Rom. 8:18-25). Our labors in you are not in vain, Jesus, none of them are (Phil. 3:10-11). The gospel is bearing fruit throughout the world, and it will continue doing so until the Day you return to finish making all things new. A very Hallelujah to that!

This is what I want, Jesus. Keep freeing me from the things that don’t matter “squat” in the big picture. Keep freeing me for the very things that bring you great pleasure and glory. So very Amen I pray, in your most gracious and glorious name.

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