Prayer To Live As The Masterpiece God Has Created Me To Be

 God’s Masterpiece – That’s Who I Am

As this new year rolls out I’ve been reflecting on some of the basics that have given me life and hope through the years.

My own life and the work of Partners in Hope is founded on this verse from the Bible that describes our value and what gives our life meaning and purpose.

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.  Ephesians 2:10

Every day that we wake up God has good things planned for us to do.  For years I had no self-worth and struggled to find a reason to get going in the morning  I remember waking up so many times so upset that I was waking up and hadn’t died in the night.  I spent so many years of my life in such negative places. 

In speaking with a friend just the other night I was remembering some of the hard times as a young person, some of the stupid choices I made, their hard consequences, and the goodness of God to carry me through it all to a place where I could hear His voice of hope and truth.  Another translation of the same verse in Ephesians says it this way:

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

This speaks to me of course of God’s hand on my life.  That’s very personal.  It also speaks to me of the care and thought and creativity that God has put into my life – and yours.  Someone’s handiwork takes time and effort and thought and skill.  We have all of that woven into our being from the Living God. 

Still another translation of this verse says this:

God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. This is why he sent Christ to make us what we are.

I heard about God from the time I was very small but too many things in my heart were broken to really “hear.”  I will never forget how when I was 19 years old, coming off a planned suicide attempt, that I really heard in my heart that God loved me – loved me so much that He had sent Jesus to do what was necessary so my heart could actually be filled with love rather than despair.  A light got turned on in my heart and mind that day that has never gone out since. 

Have I had hard times since then – I certainly have.  Have I lost my way in the healing journey – I did and in my twisted thinking that I couldn’t do enough to hold onto this love from God I still got to the point of another suicide attempt some years later.  I still needed to learn that my life and your’s are God’s idea. 

He gives us all we need so we can live in goodness and do the wonderful things that He has prepared for us to do each and every day. He invites us to receive all we need today - not try to produce it.  We can’t hope to produce enough but God is willing and able to provide every good thing we need today. 

Wherever you are in your journey of experiencing the wonderful life God created You to live, I encourage you to open your heart to more because God has more and He’s willing to share it with you today.

Heavenly Father, you are such a good good father.  We often don’t know that for some time because so many other things twist and cloud truth in our hearts.  Thank you today for being God, our creator.  Thank you for the very personal way You gave thought, creativity, and love to bringing each one of us into being.  Thank you for preparing in advance all that we would need so we could be meaningfully involved in good things today that bless others and give us deep satisfaction. 

Help us to let go of every other negative thought that says things are too hard or there’s no reason behind everything that’s going on.  Come and fill our hearts with Your comfort and hope today, we pray.  We’ve been hurt by various things that have been said to us or happened to us that broke our hearts along the way. 

Come and fill us with Your healing today.  Take our hurts away and fill us with peace and hope.  You said we’d have trouble in this world but that You had overcome the world and with You living in us that means that we can overcome every difficult thing in our lives, in Your power.

When what we think is different from what You say, God, we know that You are right and we are wrong and so we want to discard every wrong thought we’ve been having about ourselves and our journey of life.  Help us to let go of the grudges and bitter things, the fears and insecurities that have come as a result of the unfair things that have happened to us.  Who you say we are is all that matters and that gives us a foundation for positive living.

As we move into 2021 we want to trust You for our best days with You, living as Your masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good work that you prepared in advance for us to do.