A Prayer about Letting Jesus Lead
A Prayer about Letting Jesus Lead
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.” Matthew 16: 24
Precious Father,
How stunning that you,
our heavenly, hallowed, (holy) Father,
the perfectly right and just judge
of the universe you created,
invite us to call you “Abba,”
best translated in English as “Daddy.”
You are a good Father,
Perfectly tender,
Perfectly strong,
Perfectly wise,
Perfectly loving.
You embodied your love in your Son,
who, just before he died on a cross for our sins,
told his disciples, in essence,
“You must let me lead your life.
You must release your white-knuckled grip
on the steering wheel of your life.”
When we do, we will discover that all along,
it was an illusion,
that you always had the wheel,
that you were and are
taking us on a ride
that may not seem safe to us,
but is definitely good for us,
because it is part of your perfect journey
of drawing us closer to you,
of leading us to vistas of unspeakable glory,
of transporting us to landscapes of our lives
we never would have visited on our own.
Today we name the areas of our lives
where we need you to unfurl our fingers,
to hold our hands gently yet firmly,
that we may not try to grip the wheel again.
[Name some areas you desperately want to control.]
Help us, Lord,
to follow your beloved Son
into the way of suffering,
the way of glory.
In his precious name we pray. Amen.
Read Matthew 16:21-26.
Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage
author, life and legacy coach, speaker
Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage is the author of Preparing for Glory: Biblical Answers to 40 Questions on Living and Dying in Hope of Heaven.
(affiliate link)
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17
Lord,
We believe; help our unbelief.
We believe you have already come into our midst
in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
We believe you are a mighty one
who has already saved us from our sins
through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
But in the next line of this magnificent verse,
we stutter and stumble.
We think that maybe you will rejoice in us
some day in the future
when we are more holy,
that you will love us
some day in the future
when we never sin again,
that you will exult in us with loud singing
some day in the future
when we’ve finally earned our way to heaven.
But that’s not what Scripture tells us.
The gospel good news
for all who trust in Jesus
is that right this minute,
you are rejoicing over us,
right this minute
you are quieting us with your love,
right this minute
and you are exulting over us with loud singing.
You saved us.
You love us.
You delight in us.
You sing extra-loud over us,
like the five-year-old who loves to sing
at the top of his lungs
because he’s so happy.
Help us today to sit quietly
and listen for the sound
of your delight in us,
and may that delight
change the way we live and love
today and every day.
In Jesus’ saving name. Amen.
Read Zephaniah 3:14-20.
Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage
author, life and legacy coach, speaker
Elizabeth Reynolds Turnage is the author of Preparing for Glory: Biblical Answers to 40 Questions on Living and Dying in Hope of Heaven.
(affiliate link)
