“May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance” 2Thess.3:5
Heavenly Father, this Scripture reminds me of a line from a favorite hymn. “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Take my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.” If you’re not directing our heart, it too easily drifts in faithless, graceless, aimless, hope-void directions.
Some days we wake up with our hearts running to self-pity—when disappointments in life loom larger than your delight in us. Other days we seem GPS-programmed for the piranha-filled pool of people’s approval. Caring more about who we are in people’s eyes than who we are in Christ always ends poorly.
Some afternoons we lace up our running shoes for a quick jog to a poison-snake inhabited trail of resentment, anger, and blame—where we rehearse the failures of others more than the riches of your grace. On other unguarded-heart-days, we take little side trips into the village of comparison, envy, and discontent. Or we allow the mirage of “what if’s” and “if only’s” to rob us of joy and contentment. All of this is worse than the imagery and metaphors.
So Father, on this June Wednesday, please answer the apostle Paul’s prayer on our behalf. Drive and direct our hearts into your lavish, liberating, life-giving love. And take us deeper into Christ’s perseverance—his finished work for us and ongoing work in us. We’ll gladly be like one of those automatic driving cars. Take the wheel, set the course, and get us to your destination of choice. By the power of your sovereign Spirit, redirect our hearts into every good thing we have in Jesus. Sabotage our every attempt to go anywhere else. So Very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ merciful and mighty name.