PRAYING TO MAKE CHOICES AS JESUS DID

We are nearing the end of Week 5 of Lent. In fact, Sunday is Palm Sunday and we then begin to mark the days we call Holy Week – thinking about the events as Jesus came to Jerusalem riding on a donkey, His various actions in the early days of the week and then His trial and crucifixion followed by a time of mourning by His followers before Jesus gloriously rose again from the dead.  So much packed into one week.  Our heads are almost spinning as all of these events move along.

Today we are challenged with these familiar words:

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,  to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:6-11

Heavenly Father, We know that the only way for us to live as You have created us to live is to be changed so our lives look like the life of Jesus Christ.  If we are to experience encouragement from belonging to Him, the comfort of His love and fellowship with others, we need to have tender and compassionate hearts that reach across divides to love and work with others.

Lord, You know we are all flawed human beings.  We all know some things and need to learn from others in significant ways in other areas.  We all tend towards self-centeredness and selfish ambition. But the shocking lifestyle of Jesus Christ, what motivated Him, what happened to Him, and the choices He made along the way seem to awaken us today from the stupor of self-will and pleasure seeking that have us mindlessly moving from one broken set of circumstances to another.

Lord Jesus, Help us to have the same attitude as You had.  Help us to see what that looks like for us.  Lord, you know we find it so difficult to be thought of and treated differently than what we know ourselves to be.  It’s hard to give up even a few of our comforts and rights, let alone all of them, in order to follow Your plan.

Lord, Help us to see and do what Jesus did.  Work in us Holy Spirit so we are changed more into the likeness of Jesus as we meditate on His great love, selfless humility, and amazing sacrifice.  Amen