There is a house in our neighbourhood that I go past most mornings when I am out walking. I have followed with interest the removing of old bricks from the front of this home. There are some new bricks that are stacked there ready to be put in place. Work crews have been there early each morning. The thing that I find puzzling is that there does not appear to be much progress. The supplies are available. Necessary tools are abundant. Workers are on site, but I cannot see much evidence of what has been accomplished. I keep expecting that I will see that the work has gone ahead and that the front of this home has been completed. But, not yet! If we are honest, this seemingly stalled work project can be how we might appear at times. Yes, God is working to complete what He has stated in us, but is it evident to passers by? We can be reassured that God’s work in us continues even when the results may seem slow and hard to recognize. Consider with me Philippians 1:6 where this hopeful truth is expressed, “being confident of this, that He (God) who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” As we pray for each other through the seemingly slow and arduous duration of this pandemic, we can remember that God has begun a good work in each of us that He intends to complete. How will our prayerful willingness for God to do His work, in His way, and in his time sustain us when we find it hard to witness evidence of God’s transformation in us or others? Our prayers can draw our attention to God and restore our confidence that He is going to complete what He has started in us His followers. Please plan to join us again this week for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER today, Wednesday, May 26th at 1 pm.
Our Loving God of Mercy thank You that You are determined to complete the good work that you have begun in each of us. If we have been working for some time and there is little to show for what we have done, we admit that we become discouraged. Sometimes we become discouraged to recognize how much more needs to be completed of Your good work in us. Sometimes we are embarrassed when an issue that we have tried to confront for some time still hasn’t changed.. We know how You want us to be and what You want us to say and still we find ourselves choosing the opposite. We are not here for this time of prayer to make excuses. We are here to again affirm that we do want to see Your good work in us go ahead. We think of how we will be different and every relationship will be different if characterized by Your love. We are asking for the kind of love described in Your Word that will abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. We are not asking for wise insight just to bless us, but to bless and benefit those around us too. We want the steady completion of Your work in us to go ahead. We, in these moments, pray for each other. We ask that this extended time of the pandemic will have been a time for careful reflection. We pray that all of us will continue to respond to the urgings of Your Holy Spirit to be the people You are calling us to be. It is not that we need to prove who we are to someone else. It is how You see us that matters God. You know where our foundations are weak and need repair. We want to be firmly grounded in You. God, You know when we might be inclined to choose cheap and inferior building materials for our lives. Thank You that You want to choose what will be best and lasting. If we are thinking to try to cover up damage and flaws in us, please instead deal with what needs to be repaired. We are wanting to trust that Your good work in us will proceed. When we would be inclined to take short cuts or to get fed up that it is taking so long, draw us back to Your best plans for us. God, perhaps we need to be reminded of work in us that You have shown us before is necessary. Could today be the day that we will cooperate with the way that Your Spirit wants to work in us? When we do notice Your advancement of good work in each other, please help us to acknowledge that. Guard us against envy for what You are doing to complete Your work in someone else. What do You want us to see and hear and remember as You are doing Your work in us. God, we want to be confident in You. When we try to be confident in ourselves and our inconsistent efforts, we falter. Instead, we pray that we will accurately recognize that it is only as You are carrying on to completion Your good work in us that progress will be made. Whatever it takes God for You to complete Your good work in us, please may that be. We trust You that the completion of Your good work in us will be seen as Your work and that others will invite Your good work of transformation in them as well. In the NAME of Jesus and for His sake. AMEN.