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A Prayer for the Slow of Heart, Like Me

     “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Luke 24:25-27

     Gracious Jesus, of all your post-resurrection appearances (1 Cor. 15:3-7), I treasure the visit you paid disheartened friends on the road to Emmaus the most (Luke 24:13-35). Your meeting with a shattered and shamed Peter was incredibly loving and healing. And the Apostle Paul was marked forever by the visit you paid him—a man who felt so unworthy of even being called an apostle. All of us have enjoyed the fruit of that visitation, through Paul’s life and writings.

     But I especially love how you came along side of the Emmaus-bound men, for I am so much like them. I, too, am foolish and slow of heart. I constantly need you to preach the gospel to my heart by the Holy Spirit. I praise you for your tender forbearance and unlimited patience.

    Lord Jesus, as you dealt with my Emmaus brothers, so deal with me. Continue to reveal yourself as the main character and hero in all the Scriptures. Don’t let me read the writings of Moses without thinking about you—especially the law. May the law of Moses always drive me to you, Jesus. For you have completely fulfilled the demands of the law for us and now you are fulfilling the beauty of the law in us, by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:4) Don’t let me forget this good news, even for a nano-second, lest I lapse into grace-less guilt or performance-based pride.

      And, Lord Jesus, continue to show me how you are fulfilling everything the prophets have spoken—not just the promises about your sufferings on the cross and your resurrection from the dead, but also everything promised about your present work in the world as a redeemer and restorer. All the promises of God find their Yes in you (2 Cor. 1:20).

     May a vision of your present reign and coming kingdom give me an incurable case of “redemptive heartburn,” like the fire you ignited in the hearts of my Emmaus brothers. Continue to open the Scriptures to me, Jesus, until the Day you return to finish making all things new. So very Amen, I pray, in your holy and transforming name.

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