Day 28: For Yours
One of my favorite worship songs is by Jon Thurlow and he sings, “I want to give all that’s inside of my heart to You.” It is simple, eloquent, beautiful, and mysterious. It is a powerful way of singing and speaking out surrender to God as not just Savior, but as Lord of our lives. My favorite part of this song is in the last two words: to You. Sometimes I just sit and sing these lyrics until I realize that there are more than three chords and two words that I can sing to the Lord. Yet still, it is a beautiful reminder that all we are and all that is, is to and for the Lord. It is a hopeful assurance that we can find true worship not in the most complex or wordy responses, but in the simple and heartfelt declaration of: to You.
As Jesus concludes His prayer, He is reminding the disciples of where, or rather, in Whom this prayer begins and ends. As we speak out the benediction of this prayer, we are declaring that it is for, from, to, because of, and in the Father that this prayer finds its fulfillment. It is not just for us, or our taking advantage of what we can get from praying, it is for the One who is more than happy to bless us and to just be with us. It is for the One who does not need worship or to be praised, but calls us to do so, because it is the best thing for us. It is the ultimate recognition that God is God, and we are not; that God is Creator and we are creation.
It is the boiling down of so many difficult matters and questions to the reality that no matter what may come, no matter who may hurt us, no matter where we are, our God is good, our God is present, and our God is worthy of praise. Why? Before you were born, as you live now, and after you are gone from this earth, He will continue to sustain, redeem, and lead into eternal life. He has paid the highest price, He has given us all we need for life in godliness, He has provided so much that we lack nothing. The testimonies are endless and so is our God’s goodness. The Lord is, indeed, worthy of all things.
When we pray this prayer, we are declaring that we can only breath, speak, live, move, and exist because of the Lord. It is from the Lord and it is for the Lord. As we pray this today, I encourage you to not just speak this out for things, people, or places around you, but for yourself. I hope that as you pray “for Yours is the Kingdom” that you would truly be aligning yourself with all that God was, is, and will be. It was from and is for Christ alone, and as we speak this out today, may we live this today and forevermore. Amen.
Action: Sometimes it is much easier to place limits or conditions on the love of God, rather than remain open to what He has been, is, and will be doing in our lives. I believe we distract ourselves and others by these limits and conditions, and I believe, today, that the Lord wants you to walk in true freedom. I encourage you, when you feel like slipping back into those limits and conditions, step forward in God’s love and ask: Limitless God, align me with all You are.
