Where Is Your Ultimate Prize?

Pastor John has asked us to pray for three specific items (see post below), the first of which is asking God to make our priorities His priorities, that is, valuing His glory above our own private pursuits.

The Colossian church had some of this going on, and therefore, Paul gives thanks to the only One who is able to make this happen, namely, God Himelf: “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel . . .” (Colossians 1:3-5 ESV).

Notice where the faith and love are rooted: “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.” No wonder Paul exhorts this church two chapters later to “seek” and “set [their] minds on things that are above, not on the things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:1-2 ESV).

This line of thinking was prompted by something I read about William Wilberforce, the British Abolitionist of the 18th century:

Wilberforce knew his prize awaited him in heaven, and so he was free to spend himself entirely on earth for God’s work. Where is your ultimate prize? You prize something the most. You can figure out what it is by asking what you spend all your physical, financial, social, and mental resources trying to build, protect, or accomplish. What is it? Is your life increasingly lining up with the great promise of the Scriptures [enjoying the glory of God in heaven forever]—or with something else?*”

*Quoted from Mark Dever, The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2006), 44.

Revere! Revive! Reveal!

It isn’t uncommon to feel like our prayer lives can be filled with generic requests (e.g., “God bless this church.”). The problem with vague generalities in prayer is that it is difficult to be passionate about them and it is also hard to know whether the request has been answered. Pastor John has given us some very specific items to be praying for. Here they are again to aid you in praying specifically for this church. Keep these requests in mind as you pray together with your Life Group.

Revere - Pray that God would work in our hearts to help us admire and treasure His glory, particularly, its display in this church. Pray that we’ll be so caught up in the greatness of God that our small, fleeting, private pursuits fade away and lose their grip on us.

Revive - Pray that God would bring great spiritual awakening (revival) to this church and to our city at large. Pray for the specific components of revival such as zeal for personal holiness, eagerness in turning away from sin, love for God’s truth, genuine concern for one another, compassion for the loss, boldness in our evangelistic witness, etc.

Reveal - Pray that God would make it unmistakably clear how He would have you participate in His work here at Harvest. Pray for God to stir up within you a fresh passion to serve Him in a way that is consistent with how He has gifted you to serve AND a specific opportunity to focus your passion and gifts.