For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift – not from works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
My words…
Praise
I recently read a paraphrase of Scripture by a scholar who used the word “favor” in place of “grace,” which compelled me to view grace in a different light. When I am in need of something, but I’m too lazy to get off the couch, I call out to the nearest family member, “Will you do me a favor?” Because I am loved, someone usually responds. I do nothing to deserve that favor; I just sit there and wait. The one who comes to my aid does all the work. All I do is say, “Thank you.” Now, here is the amazing part: You stretched out Your arms toward the world and opened Your heart and said, “I am going to do you all a favor.” Never has such a favor been given before or since. You sent Your only Son to earth to live away from Your presence, with fleshly limitations, on a mission to die. Then You gave me a part of Yourself to carry around in my inner temple, guiding me to live and grow like Your Son. I didn’t ask for this favor. I certainly didn’t earn it. I never could.
Prayer for me
I don’t share with others what I have experienced living in Your favor. The fact that I am no evangelist is a lame excuse. Anyone can share exciting, life-changing news with others. Then, why don’t I? Is someone fretful and worried? I can show them peace. Is someone desperate or discouraged? I can show them hope. Grant me the opportunity and the words. Give me the strength and courage to be a beacon on a mountain and not a candle under a basket.
Forgive me
Forgive me when I sin in the light of Your favor. Do you look on me with loving frustration? Probably. I’m sorry for that.
Prayer for others
I pray for those who have rejected Your favor. “Thanks, but no thanks,” they say. I pray something will happen to their spirits – a pricking, a searing, a longing for something beyond their own senses.
Thank You
From what I have learned about You through the decades, one trait stands out: You are delighted by gratitude. I could never repay You for the favor you have bestowed on me. It is a chasing after the wind. But I can thank you. I thank you with my words, with my actions, with my thoughts, with my motivations, and with my intentions. I thank you over and over again and will continue until my last breath. And then I will thank you into the hereafter.
More praise
There was a point in my life when I ask You, “Will You do me a favor? Will you save me?” I didn’t know at the time but I know now: Your answer was, “My precious child, I already have.”
