Many of you who read this blog know that I have a book releasing October 1 of this year with B&H publishing called “GOSPEL: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary.”
The anchor of the book is a little tool I’ve developed over the last few years to help saturate myself in the gospel daily.
There’s nothing magical about this prayer. It’s not an incantation to get God to do good things for you. Incidentally, it’s also not my attempt to replace the Lord’s Prayer. This prayer is simply a tool to help you train your mind in the patterns of the Gospel. The point is not the prayer; the point is thinking in line with the Gospel.
The gospel prayer has four parts. The 1st two parts lead us inward, helping us to renew our minds in God’s acceptance of us and the value of that acceptance to us:
(1) “In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make You love me more, and nothing I have done, or could do, that would make You love me less.”
(2) “Your presence and approval are all I need today for everlasting joy.”
Part 3 of the prayer has us consider what responding to the grace of the gospel looks like. Understanding God’s generosity toward us should lead us to radical generosity toward others.
(3) “As You have been to me, so I will be to others.”
Part 4 of the prayer helps us see our world through the lens of the gospel. If the cross really does reveal God’s compassion for sinners and His resurrection His power to save them, then our prayers on their behalf should be audacious and bold:
(4) “As I pray, I’ll measure Your compassion by the cross and Your power the by the resurrection.”
I’ve prayed this prayer every day now for the last few years. You know what? It’s finally starting to sink in. I hope you have some way, if not this, of saturating your mind in the revolutionary, turn-religion-upside-down, fight-the-latent-idolatry-and-works-righteousness-within-you truth of the gospel.
