Do you like to be in charge of your own life?
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.” Matthew 16: 24
Precious Father,
How stunning that you,
our heavenly, hallowed, (holy) Father,
the perfectly right and just judge
of the universe you created,
invite us to call you “Abba,”
best translated in English as “Daddy.”
You are a good Father,
Perfectly tender,
Perfectly strong,
Perfectly wise,
Perfectly loving.
You embodied your love in your Son,
who, just before he died on a cross for our sins,
told his disciples, in essence,
“You must let me lead your life.
You must release your white-knuckled grip
on the steering wheel of your life.”
When we do, we will discover that all along,
it was an illusion,
that you always had the wheel,
that you were and are
taking us on a ride
that may not seem safe to us,
but is definitely good for us,
because it is part of your perfect journey
of drawing us closer to you,
of leading us to vistas of unspeakable glory,
of transporting us to landscapes of our lives
we never would have visited on our own.
Today we name the areas of our lives
where we need you to unfurl our fingers,
to hold our hands gently yet firmly,
that we may not try to grip the wheel again.
[Name some areas you desperately want to control.]
Help us, Lord,
to follow your beloved Son
into the way of suffering,
the way of glory.
In his precious name we pray. Amen.
Read Matthew 16:21-26.
