Theme: Stuffed
Homer Simpson didn't believe bacon, ham, pork chops, and sausage could all come from the same "magical" animal. Well, they do! Sorry vegetarians if this is making you ill. So let me get quickly to the point. With the new year, millions will be making pledges to lose weight. After stuffing themselves over the Holiday Season, people realize it is time to empty their diets of all that sugar and fat. I will include myself in the millions!
So maybe along with all the dieters, we should pray a prayer of emptiness. Maybe some thoughts have stuffed our minds and are hurting our attitude. Maybe our schedules got stuffed with work and our quiet time with God has suffered. Maybe we stuffed our homes with gifts and now we have unhealthy debt. Stuffing seems like a good idea, but it never leads to health, physical or spiritual. So the obvious answer to stuffing is to empty.
So our prayer this week comes from Philippians, where Paul describes how Jesus emptied himself to do the will of God. May 2021 be a year where there is less stuffing and more Jesus in our lives.
Scripture: Philippians 2:5-8 (ESV)
"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
Prayer: Empty Me
"Father, You made me and desire to use me. I pray that You empty me of all the stuff that would hinder my walk with you, and that I am willing to be emptied. I pray that You purify me so that I may walk in the cleanliness of Your Holiness. I pray that You fill me with all that is You. And then, Father, pour me out into this world in the ways that You have appointed for me, for my life. In Jesus’ beautiful Name, Amen."