A Prayer about Finishing Well
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 24–25 NIV)
Heavenly Father, the older I get the more I care about finishing this life well. I wish less temptation came with more years. I wish diminishment of physical strength brought an automatic increase in spiritual strength. But that’s not the way it works.
I need Jesus’ mercy and grace today just as much as the first day you placed me safely in Christ. Thus I abandon myself to the promises that overflow in this pas- sage. They are a balm to my whole being.
I praise you, Father, that the most important grasp in the gospel is yours, not mine. You will keep me from ultimately falling away from you. And when I do falter, fall, and fail to love you and others as I am commanded in the gospel, you will pick me up.
As hard as it is to imagine, especially in my times of weakness, one day you will present me before your glorious presence without fault and with great joy. How many times do I have to say that for my heart to really believe it? Without fault and with great joy . . . without fault and with great joy . . . without fault and with great joy!
Indeed, may my heart passionately proclaim with myriads of angels and countless believers: to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, in this life and in the life to come!
Jesus, trusting in the life you lived for me as the second Adam, the life you gave for me as the Lamb of God, and the life you now live through me as my hope of glory, I will finish well— without fault and with great joy . . . without fault and with great joy . . . without fault and with great joy! I pray in your glorious name.
Amen.