A prayer based on Matthew 7:21-23.

<aside> 🙏🏻 We praise You our God, for You are righteous and just. You love what is true and hate all evil, and You will not leave the guilty unpunished. We thank You that a day is coming when all wrongs will be righted, as Your Son returns to judge the world; that final day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.

As we consider that moment, when everyone will face Jesus and have Him issue His final verdict on their lives, we praise You our God, that You are also gracious and merciful. that You have already sent Jesus to be the Saviour of the world. that He died once for all time on the cross, to rescue us, as without this we would be among the guilty being punished, because by nature, we are those who have entered through the wrong gate and are walking along the wide road that leads to destruction and the great wrath and great loss that is hell. We thank You that as Christ hung on the cross, all we deserve because of our sins was laid on Him, so that we can be forgiven, we can be brought in, and hear the words ‘Well done, good and faithful servant, come share in your Master’s happiness.”

Yet we know that our hearts are deceitful, and we can we think that we are right with You when we are not. Jesus, You warns us that it is possible to say the right things, to believe the right things, and to do the right things, and be someone You call an evildoer, to whom You will say “I never knew you, away from me”.

O may that not be true of us. Help us to be those who have true repented of our sins. to be those who are truly relying on Your blood and righteousness to save us. to be those who have truly rejected the way of the world and who are following You on the path of obedience. to be those who do the will of God.

Would we, on that great day of separation be found among the sheep not the goats, the wheat not the weeds, the good fish not the bad fish. because we have listened to the Good Shepherd, and entered through the narrow gate, and are walking along the difficult road that leads to eternal life.

Holy Spirit, give us the grace and strength we need to seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness, to make our calling and election sure, to press on towards heaven and be determined not to fall short of it. And help us to encourage one another to do the same, so that together, we are all presented perfect and mature in Christ.

Amen.

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