Living in Resurrection Light - Your Nightly Prayer - April 6th

Your Nightly Prayer

Audio By Carbonatix

By Britt Mooney, Crosswalk.com

Your Nightly Prayer

Living in Resurrection Light
Your Nightly Prayer
by Britt Mooney

TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE

“Because I live, you also will live.” - John 14:19

SOMETHING TO PONDER

Too often, we still think in terms of the curse.

Adam and Eve didn’t create or earn the Garden of Eden or their purpose. Both were gifts. To eat, they could pick fruit from any tree except one. God simply called them to participate in the work he had already begun and accomplished. They could only partner with God by relying upon his power and leadership.

After the fall, humanity entered the curse, ending in death. To get food and stay alive, they’d have to work and battle thorns. Even so, they would still die. Because we’ve grown up and operate within a world enslaved by the curse, we naturally think in terms of what we can achieve, earn, or need to do to get what we want.

We can all point to the theology that counters this, yet we still engage God with questions and thoughts that never help or change our behavior. God continually tries to transform our thinking into being statements, which will ultimately change what we do.

In John 11 at Lazarus’s tomb, Martha gave the right doctrine—her brother would rise again in the resurrection. While true, Jesus points her to a more important reality. “I am the resurrection.” As God, even before he was born as a human, Jesus was (and is) the resurrection. He didn’t rise again because he achieved the event. He rose from the dead because he is life; he is the resurrection.

One day, we will also be resurrected. And yet we will experience this only by being found in Christ, living in and with Jesus, the resurrection. We will rise again in the future by being found in Christ today.

Easter celebrates the resurrection, an important moment in history, for sure. But we shouldn’t limit our idea of the resurrection to a past or future event. We can live in the light of resurrection now, today, in our everyday moments. Because Christ is the resurrection, and we cling to him, he redeems each part of our lives, no matter how insignificant they may seem. In God, they find eternal meaning and worth, even reward, when done in light of the eternal reality of the resurrection. Our hope for the future anchors our souls today, in hard and joyful times, knowing God works all things for good.

YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER

Heavenly Father,
Renew my mind to live by grace and life, rather than striving under the curse. Teach me to rest in who you are and what you’ve done, not in what I can achieve. You are the resurrection and the life; help me abide in you each day. Redeem my ordinary moments with eternal meaning. Anchor my hope in your victory so I walk in faith, joy, and obedience, trusting you will work all things for my good and your glory.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON

What would change if you believed God already loved you and was pleased with you? How would that change how you act and live?
What are some being statements God speaks over you in the Scripture? How could you seal his Word in your heart?
How could you speak those types of statements over others? Or pray them over the people you love?

Reflect on tonight’s prayer and share how God met you there. Join the Your Nightly Prayer discussion on the Crosswalk Forum.

Britt Mooney lives and tells great stories. As an author of fiction and non-fiction, he is passionate about teaching ministries and nonprofits the power of storytelling to inspire and spread truth. Mooney has a podcast called Kingdom Over Coffee and is a published author of We Were Reborn for This: The Jesus Model for Living Heaven on Earth as well as Say Yes: How God-Sized Dreams Take Flight.