A Prayer about What Makes Life Meaningful

There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.

Ecclesiastes 1:11

Eternal God,

As my daily Bible reading takes me to Ecclesiastes, 

I am reminded of how easily we set our hopes 

on finding meaning in the things of this world.

As we read, “Is there a thing of which it is said, 

‘See, this is new’? 

It has been already 

in the ages before us” (Ecclesiastes 1:10), 

we might be tempted to say, 

“Well, yes, ChatGPT is new, 

and nothing like it ever existed 

in the ages before us,” 

but that would be to discount the awe the world felt 

when the telephone 

or the telegraph 

or the computer 

was discovered. 

Yes, even the latest, greatest technology 

will one day be “old,” 

and even ChatGPT 

cannot make our lives meaningful. 

You have created us to be meaning-making creatures, 

and again and again, 

the author of Ecclesiastes reminds us 

that the only lasting meaning to be found 

is in seeking to know and love you 

and in seeking to know how much you love us. 

You have endowed us with meaning, 

making us your image-bearers, 

and calling us to be ambassadors 

of the good news of the gospel. 

And while it is true that much about our stories 

will not be remembered 25 years after 

we’ve gone to be with you, 

what will last eternally 

is the way we’ve lived 

your calling 

to “be fruitful and multiply” the gospel. 

Help us today to turn our minds 

from the things that so occupy us, 

“toil under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:3), 

“great possessions of herds and flocks” (Ecclesiastes 2:7), 

even the acquisition of “great wisdom” (Ecclesiastes 1:16), 

that we might “hunger and thirst for righteousness,” 

for in it, we shall be satisfied (Matt. 5:6).

In Jesus’ meaning-full name. Amen.

Read Ecclesiastes 1-2.