Discipleship

Praying As If The Aim Is Bigger Than Me

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us… (Psa 67:1)

What a wonderful line from Psalm 67 to incorporate in our prayers! What an immeasurable blessing to be able to pray to the God who not only hears, but is willing to be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us.

Let’s just make sure we don’t overlook the next line.

…that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations. (Psa 67:2)

Yes, God is willing to be gracious to us, bless us, and make his face to shine upon us. But to what end? It’s bigger than me and bigger than you. God acts first and foremost for the sake of his glorious name.

God is gracious to us so that his way might be known on earth. God blesses us so that his saving power might be known among all nations. God makes his face to shine upon us so that his glorious name might be exalted.

Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him! (Psa 67:3-7)

Remember that Jesus, before teaching us to pray for our daily bread and the forgiveness of our debts, taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matt 6:9-10).

By all means, let’s continue to pray…

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us.

…and as we pray those amazing words, let’s use them to remind ourselves: we exist, we are blessed, we have been saved for the sake of his name.

Back to top button