A Prayer to Invest in Your Own Spiritual Growth - Your Daily Prayer - March 31
A Prayer to Invest in Your Own Spiritual Growth
By Keri Eichberger
Bible Reading:
"And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." - Hebrews 12:1-2
Read or Listen Below:
Every year I want to grow in faith. Because quite frankly, every year seems to get harder, making me more aware of my need for an increased trust in God. And as the ladies in my bible study, who could literally all be my mom, reminded me with sweet smiles of wisdom this morning when I voiced my recurring struggles, “That’s life.” And so, maybe even a little selfishly, to avoid any additional discomfort, I continually strive to grow spiritually to handle better the blows that are sure to keep coming. Listen, I’ve been around long enough to know, and I’ve been through enough firsthand to live this truth: The hard days are much more manageable with a grasp of God’s unconditional love and an understanding of his almighty control and care that watch over every aspect of our lives.
How about you? Would you like to strengthen your faith, too? I have a feeling you absolutely would. You have dealt with some tough stuff, know more may come, and would love the confidence that your trust in God is so grand that fear and uncertainty of the future have very little hold on you. I sure feel this. And I’ve asked myself how? How can I see to it that I make God my mighty go-to without a thought, seek him first always, and lean harder on him without regress, once and for all? Of course, if someone asked for my advice, I would first suggest increasing prayer time, reading and memorizing more scripture, and meeting regularly with other believers to study the bible and share life. But what if you’ve been checking all these boxes religiously yet still want to grow in such a way that leads to steps forward in faith strengthening?
I’ve contemplated this a lot lately. The good news is that I do think there’s a solid answer. The maybe not-so-good news for those of us who want results fast is that it’s not a quick fix. Yes, like most traits of great value, it takes time, patience, and perseverance. My answer to our increased growth is this…
Stay faithful.
Invest in the Lord. But stay faithful and keep going. Keep praying, praising, reading, and getting to know him. Keep faithfully doing life with him by your side. Continue running the race of faith with your eyes fixed on Jesus. Jesus, our Savior, initiator, pioneer, and perfecter of our faith. Who will, in time, increase and strengthen our faith. Stay faithful, knowing that with every opportunity taken—to surrender to him, to place your faith in Him, to see his face shining through every struggle, and look back and take notice of how he was always loving, leading, guiding, and showing up—our faith has the fresh ground to grow. It's a process. I have a son who is hungry for Godly wisdom and growth, and I more or less keep reminding him that it’s a process. A hard-earned but well worth the process. I remind him that wisdom is collected and growth is established as we keep living with and dedicated to the Lord.
Friend, keep investing your time, attention, and resources in him as his holy word instructs. And stay the course. Stay faithful. It will pay off. He will honor your obedience. He will strengthen and help you. Because he repeatedly promised he would and because he is always faithful.
Let’s Pray:
Faithful God, You have been so good to me. I want nothing more than to increasingly put all of my faith and trust in you in every single area of my life. But sometimes, I fall short. When life gets tough, my faith can feel like a yo-yo. I hold on, I let go, over and over. I know you are sovereign and that you are so good. And that placing my complete trust in you is where I find peace and joy through the hard. I long to trust you better. Help me to be encouraged, knowing you are perfecting my faith from one surrender to the next, one prayer, one praise, one act of service to the next. I am so thankful for your help, your strength, and for growing my confidence in your love and good control. You are so faithful, and I praise you forever. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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