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A Prayer Praising Jesus for His Pursuing Love

     Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:19-20

     Dear Lord Jesus, every day we have the privilege of living the hymn, “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go,” for you love us tenaciously and you pursue us constantly.  As hard as it is to imagine, you desire fellowship with us, not occasionally, but continually. It’s even harder to imagine that you actually enjoy being with us. We believe, help our unbelief.

     In the gospel we enjoy eternal union with you, but for various reasons, we tend to flow in and out of vital communion with you. The sad thing is, sometimes we don’t recognize our heart-drift for a quite a while… days, even months later. It’s usually the people around us that first recognize our being out of fellowship with you, for rich fellowship with you changes the way we relate to everyone.

      Jesus, there’s no greater rebuke than to hear you knock on the door of our hearts, yet that knock comes like a kiss. Nothing is more convicting than to hear your voice on the other side of that door, yet your voice is that of a Bridegroom wooing his beloved bride. It’s because you love us that you confront us and discipline us. All of your rebukes are life-giving and when you discipline us… though painful, it’s for our good and our freedom. It’s your kindness that leads us to repentance.

     Jesus, right now… early in this new year… early in this new day, I hear your knock and your voice in the gospel, and by faith, I rise to greet you. Come in and let us feast together, today and all year long. You are the Bread we need the most. You give the water that alone quenches our thirst. May this be a year in which fellowship and intimacy with you is taken to a whole new level—to a degree of satisfaction and joy that will make all other competing feasts seem like banquets in the grave.

     “Being with you, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but you are the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26). Until the Day when daily fellowship meals are replaced with a Wedding Feast, may I hear your knock on the outside of the door way less often. So very Amen, I pray, in your irrepressibly loving name.

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