Today’s Bible reading is Psalm 67. It’s a great reminder to pray with an aim that is larger than ourselves.
May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us… (Psa 67:1)
That’s a wonderful line to personalize and incorporate into your own prayers today.
God, please be gracious to me and bless me
and make your face to shine upon me…
The ability to pray to a God who actually cares about us is an immeasurable blessing.
Just make sure you don’t overlook the next line where the proper aim of the asking becomes clear.
…that your way may be known on earth,
your saving power among all nations. (Psa 67:2)
Yes, God is willing to be gracious to us, bless us, and make his face to shine upon us. But what’s the ultimate aim? It’s larger than you and me. God acts first and foremost for the sake of his glorious name.
God is gracious to us so that his way might be known on earth. God blesses us so that his saving power might be known among all nations. God makes his face to shine upon us so that his glorious name might be exalted.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us;
let all the ends of the earth fear him! (Psa 67:3-7)
Remember that Jesus–before he taught us to pray for our daily bread and the forgiveness of our debts–taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matt 6:9-10).
By all means, let’s continue to pray…
May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us.
…and as we pray those amazing words, let’s use them to remind ourselves where we really ought to be aiming. We exist, we are blessed, we have been saved for the sake of his gloriously awesome name.