Note: This prayer meditation is first and foremost designed to be listened to, so we encourage you to listen to the audio as you read along.
WEEK 12 – Love God, love people
For the next 10 minutes or so, we are going to turn our attention to God in prayer. He desires to meet with us today. To talk to us. To share His heart with us. Take a few deep breaths and say the following prayer:
God, You are here, now. And I am loved by You.
Now take a moment and pray this simple prayer that can be said in the span of a breath.
Come, Holy Spirit.
As I read the following passage from Mark listen with the expectation that God is moving towards you, to speak to you, through these Spirit-inspired words today.
28 One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?”
29 Jesus answered, “The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. 31 The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”
32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him.33 And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question him any longer.
After Jesus cleanses the temple, the religious leaders have been looking for a way to trap Jesus in His words, posing questions that are intended to expose Him. But this scribe notices something about Jesus, that He answers the others well, and he decides to ask Him a real question.
And Jesus recites the words that would have been in the hearts and minds of all Jewish people for centuries.
Hear, O Isreal – LISTEN. Listen.
There is One God. He is our God.
Love Him. Love Him with your whole heart – all of your affections, all your devotion.
Love Him with all your soul – your life…your breath.
Love Him with all your mind – your understanding – filter everything through the lens of who He is.
Love Him with all your strength – All your capacities, your resources, your gifts and abilities surrendered in service to Him.
And love your neighbor as yourself. You are not above another in dignity, and you are not beneath. All image bearers are loved by God and when we love God, we begin to love what He loves.
But God wants this more than any offering or sacrifice we could ever bring.
But here’s the heart-lifting, hope-inspiring truth for us to rest in. For those who have placed their faith in Jesus, the Spirit of God, the Spirit who lives in us and who will never leave us, enables us to obey, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Let’s pray in response to this truth and open our lives up to the work of the Spirit today.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
You have not left us alone.
There is a deposit of Your love that has made its home in us.
You’ve replaced our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh. Hearts that can hear, hearts that can obey.
We are filled with Your Spirit. Will You fill us again?
We love You because You first loved us.
May our love for You and for our neighbors be a response to Your love for us.
We turn all of our hearts over to You, holding nothing back for ourselves.
Hear the Word of the Lord.
EZEKIEL 36:25-27
25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.
AMEN.
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