A PRAYER FOR HOLINESS

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 - 24

As we grow up, our parents teach us how to become more and more independent. They teach us how to tie our own shoes or how to cross a busy intersection. And then one day, they trust us to do it all alone. By the time we’ve become adults, we start believing we can do anything and everything on our own. That type of attitude often spills over into our spiritual lives. Scriptures teach us to live a holy life, and we determine to become holy by our own efforts. At the end of this letter, Paul doesn’t tell the Thessalonians to be holy. Instead, he prays: “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you.”

In our own strength and by our own striving, we’re not capable of becoming holy. But how are we blameless before God? Paul reassures the Thessalonians that God “is faithful, and he will do it” (5:24). Take to heart Paul’s message to the Thessalonians. Pray that God will make you holy.

PRAYER

Dear Lord, keep me blameless until that day when you come again …