May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and Christ’s perseverance. 2 Thess. 3:5 (NIV)
Heavenly Father, this Scripture reminds me of a line from one of my favorite hymns: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Take my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.” If you’re not directing my heart, it too easily drifts in in faithless, graceless, loveless directions.
Some days I wake up with my heart running to self-pity—when my disappointments loom larger than your delights. Some days the GPS of my heart seems programmed for people’s approval—when my insecurities are more real than the gospel. Some days I lace up my running shoes for a quick jog to unforgiveness and resentment—where I rehearse the failures of others, more so than the riches of your grace.
Still other “unguarded heart days” I can take little side trips into envying what other people are and have; or I allow the “what if’s” and “if only’s” to rob me of joy and contentment; and maybe worse, I go swimming in the toxic pool of self-righteousness—forgetting how much I need the gospel, as I judge, criticize, and label others.
So Father, please answer the apostle Paul’s prayer on my behalf. Drive and direct my heart into your lavish, liberating, life-giving love. And take me deeper into Christ’s perseverance—his work for me and in me. I’ll gladly be like one of those automatic driving cars—take the wheel, set the course, and get me safely there. By the power of your sovereign Spirit, redirect my heart into every good thing you have for us in Jesus. Sabotage my every attempt to go anywhere else. So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ merciful and mighty name.
