Spirit of the Living God 

Flow into your beloved child

Heal in me everything that harms you

Strengthen everything that is weak

And lift my heart to reflect your glory. Amen  

                                                                                                         —Celtic prayer

In quiet humility, pray the Celtic prayer again. Pause at the completion of each phrase. What does the Spirit of the Living God bring to mind as you recall how beloved you are, especially when you consider activities that harm God or places of personal weakness?

 

Flow into your beloved child. At first, I resist the notion of being beloved. My museum of memories kicks in and is flooded with all the reasons I should not be beloved: past failures and present self-centeredness; the countless times my sins have broken the heart of God; my overarching tendency to look to myself to accomplish what only God can do. But like the sun peeking through the dark clouds, the gentle reminder from the Spirit of the Living God comes: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy� (Titus 3:4-5). I am comforted by mercy and lean again into being the beloved.

 

Heal in me everything that harms you. Ok, so what comes to mind when you ponder the ways you harm God. For me, getting busy with the daily stuff of life instead of spending time just to be with the one who loved me enough to hang for me. I harm him when I choose to live in unforgiveness, bitterness, and resentment when he has so lavishly forgiven me of things I dare not even speak about. King David captured the thought in Psalm 51:4: “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.� He was grieved over his harm of God. I am, too.

 

Strengthen everything that is weak. Acknowledging weakness attracts the presence of God, fine-tunes our dependency, and advances our prayer life like nothing else. Isaiah 40:29 says, “He gives strength to the weary and increases power to the weak.� In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul quotes the Lord’s promise, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness,� and Paul goes on to conclude, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.�

 

And lift my heart to reflect your glory. Can you believe we’d have such an honor? Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.� May his glory be replicated in us.