Episode 70: 1 John 2:8
Transcription
Before we get into our prayer today, I wanted to let you know some exciting news. My book, Yes, Father: A Daughter’s Journey to Forgiveness will be on sale on Amazon through December so that you get the best option while Christmas shopping. I pray you will consider what caregivers or friends you can gift this book to. Please don’t hesitate to go to my website www.thejulihernandez.com while doing your online shopping and let me know if you decide to buy and who you bought it for. I would love to pray for them. That’s a great way to find out more about the book and who it’s for.
https://books2read.com/yesfather
And don’t forget while you’re getting the book for someone else, to leave a review. That way more people can find the story that I hope was a blessing to you. Now, on to our prayer.
Today’s verse is 1 John 2:8
Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
Let’s pray together.
Jesus, we walk in the darkness. We are passing into the deep gloom of winter. We have cold burrowing into our bones. The outward teeth of ice and isolation surround us. We are floundering and full of grinding grief. Sickness prevails and haunts us. Disaster and division penetrate our faltering shields. What help is there in a broken world so desperately intent on drowning itself in untruth and hatred? Our enemy is strong.
What we need is truth. We need a solid foundation to stand on, to plant our feet and dig our trench to fight. Please reveal to us that truth. Help us to know which way is forward. We cannot see without You. We need the dizziness of a post-modern, humanistic, self-protective world to be healed. Do not let us freeze this winter. Thaw us with the truth and let it warm our hearts.
Fill us with hope. In the bitterest cold and the blackest night, hope shines as our beacon, kindling warmth and strength within us. Let it obliterate the fear inherent in our natures. Hope combats fear. Hope isn’t afraid. It’s what allows us to keep going even when we are bombarded on every side. Even when we are divided. Even when we are persecuted. Even when we are weary. Hope takes a stand and says that despair shall.not.win. And we only get that from You.
We want our flame of hope to be a beacon . . . Your hope available to all. We want to fight against selfishness and timidity, against being afraid of what others might think. We want to think less of ourselves and more of You, Jesus. It does not matter if other people approve of us. Only Your opinion counts. With that, we cannot fail.
But we live in the midst of the dark. We are only but halfway through. There may be a light shining, the truest light, but we do not have it fully yet. Our patience is stretched to the full boundaries of despair and fear. Waiting is hard. Waiting tempts us to give up, to run away, to give in to despair. Since we spend our whole lives waiting, we need something tangible to hold on to. We need some kind of direction through the mire of life. Hope is that direction. It is what we can grasp as tightly as we need.
Jesus, light of the world, we pray for Your coming. We know You already came. We are grateful. We know that Your presence among us is the greatest gift we have ever known. We know Your sacrifice even if we cannot grasp it fully. But we pray for You to come again. We pray that in this season of waiting and anticipation, of straining our eyes against the dark and fearing attack from the shadows, we are protected by the light of hope You send, by the surety that we are Yours. We will be healed fully and completely and totally of everything that ails us. It is only a matter of time. Help us not to be obsessed with the days and the times, but with You and what Your will is. Give us endurance, powerful and unbreakable, able to withstand any forceful blow or any timid despair.
Let us speak the truth, this unshakeable truth, evidenced by Your glory and essence. Let us believe it, because it is etched inside of our spirits, written in Your blood. Declare it with me, friends. The dark is passing away. The true light is already shining. So we proclaim it and live it and exult in it and trust in it. Despite it all, we wait in hope.
Jesus, gentle and kind Savior, we pray this in Your name. Amen.
