I bask

in the grandeur

of Your Light

because I depend

on You

for growth.

Like a plant needs the sun, we need the Light of Christ to grow and reach our full potential.

As we bask in that pure Light and love of Christ through prayer, we can become increasingly aware of areas inside of ourselves that don’t shine quite as brightly as we’d like.

Corinthians 12:10: “But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

So how do avoid discouragement as we grow acutely more aware of our own flaws and weaknesses in comparison to Christ? It helps to shift our focus away from our humanity into God’s Divinity – after all! We’re not supposed to be perfect, and we simply can’t grow without attuning to His strength.

In prayer, we can look at an image of Christ like this one or hold it in our mind’s eye:

As we look at the halo above Christ’s head, we can meditate on the Divine connection it illustrates, along with the way He was able to spark His apostles to have that kind of spiritual connection as well. Lord, while I struggle with discernment on a daily basis, You dwell in perfect communion with Your Heavenly Father! Praise You for Your perfect ability to know His will and live it, while You walked the earth. By the power of Your Spirit, guide my choices today. 

As we focus on the head of Christ, we can meditate on His brilliant mind, which was able to carry perfect wisdom and accomplish in 33 short years more than anyone else will ever accomplish in their lifetime. Lord, there is so much we don’t know in our humanity. You are a font of every kind of wisdom and knowledge beyond what we can fathom. Praise You for Your infinite ways of knowing. By the power of Your spirit, inspire our thoughts with Your brilliance today. 

As we focus on Christ’s throat area, we can meditate on His voice, which communicated perfect love, wisdom, strength, courage and power, which continue to transform our world. Lord so often, we don’t know what to say or how to say it, but Your voice is always honest, authentic, powerful and ultimately loving. Praise You for your clear communication. By the power of Your spirit, preach the gospel through my words and actions today. 

As we focus on Christ’s heart, we can meditate on His great and perfect unconditional love for all of humanity. Lord, so often I struggle to love the difficult people around me, but You show perfect unconditional love for every human being in every moment. Praise You for your perfect mercy and forgiveness for our incredibly flawed humanity. By the power of Your spirit, pour Your love into the world through me today.

You get the idea! Basically, whatever we’re struggling with, we can always shift our focus to the opposite attribute, which is perfected in Christ.

For example when we’re feeling particular weak, we can meditate on Christ’s incredible power and ability to impact humanity or how joyful it must have been for Him to heal the sick and make such a positive impact on others with the simple touch of His hands.

Saint Teresa of Avila wrote:

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world.
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good.
Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

Remember! In spite of your weakness, You are made in the image and likeness of Your Creator, adn YOu are designed to be His hands and feet on earth. THe more you focus on His Divine Strength instead of your human weakness, the more you’ll be able to grow in faith, hope and love.

Do you struggle to focus on Christ’s strength, rather than your own weaknesses? What particular self doubts are you struggling with right now? How does prayer seem to nourish your soul? Comment below, and I’ll be delighted to keep you in my prayers.

Lord, strengthen our prayer lives today. Give us the grace to focus more on Your brilliance, Your love, Your power, Your creativity, Your delight and Your spiritual connection, which can be manifest to each and every one of us through the power of Your Spirit in every moment. Help us to forget about our weaknesses and focus on Your strengths instead. In Jesus name, we pray.

 

written by Nicky Gant for http://www.uniteinprayer.org 12/4/2019