He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
—Philippians 1:6
Embraced
Then I turned and looked down the corridor at the David, the statue fully chiseled by a master artist. As I walked toward it, I whispered,
“O God, chisel me. I don’t want to be locked in my hard places forever. I want to be free. I want to be all that You have in mind for me to be.”
It is beautiful when the Master chisels. God doesn’t want us to label ourselves and stay stuck. But He does want to make us aware of the chiseling that needs to be done. So instead of condemning myself with statements like, I’m such a mess, I could say, Let God chisel. Let Him work on my hard places so I can leave the dark places of being stuck and come into the light of who He designed me to be.
God is calling us out—out of darkness, out from those places we thought would never get better, out of being stuck. And with His call comes His promise that He will complete the good work He began in us (Philippians 1:6).
Lord, You are the Divine Artist. Thank You for applying Your creativity to me—first in creating me, and now in continuing to shape me into who You designed me to be.
I surrender to Your work. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Excerpt from It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way by Lysa TerKeurst
How the Faithful Pray Differently
Great men of the faith think differently than the rest of us.
The reason some men and women of faith rise above the rest, you decide, is that they think and pray differently than those around them.
Many people wonder if it’s wrong or selfish to ask God for more blessings, fearing that persistent or bold requests might come off as greedy. But rather than being self-centered, such prayers can be a sign of spiritual maturity. In fact, these honest, faith-filled requests are exactly the kind our Father longs to hear.
Summary:
True spiritual growth involves boldness in prayer. We honor God not by holding back but by trusting Him enough to ask for great and abundant blessings, knowing that our trust pleases Him.
Excerpt from The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkerson