Abundant Grace: A Haphazard Prayer

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…From His fullness, we have all received, grace upon grace.

—John 1:14, 16

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The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree: “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you.

—Luke 17:5-6

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Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much.

—Luke 7:47a

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Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.

—Psalm 73:25

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When the Lord has given to a man much grace, He will give him more. A little faith is a nest egg; more faith will come to it. But then it must not be seeming faith, but real and true. What a necessity is laid upon us to make sure work in religion, and not to profess much, and possess nothing!

Blessed be the Lord, it is His way when He has once made a beginning, to go on bestowing the graces of His Spirit, till He who had but little, and yet truly had that little, is made to have abundance. Oh, for that abundance!

Abundance of grace is a thing to be coveted. It would be well to know much, but better still to love much. It would be delightful to have abundance of skill to serve God, but better still to have abundance of faith to trust in the Lord for skill and everything.

Lord, since Thou hast given me a sense of sin, deepen my hatred of evil. Since Thou hast caused me to trust Jesus, raise my faith to full assurance. Since Thou hast made me to love Thee, cause me to be carried away with vehement affection for Thee!

—Charles Spurgeon

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O, Lord.

What grace You have given us, what grace You have shown—already. Shown to us, shown to all of humanity, all of Your creation, throughout all of time. Grace upon grace upon grace, until its number, its amount, its value, far exceeds anything our human hearts and minds can comprehend. You came to us—first, face to face: Adam and Eve walking with you in the Garden, then in flesh: Christ, the Word—given, broken, risen and ascended, then in spirit: Your very Spirit, dwelling within us even now. Again and again, You came. In a myriad of ways and forms. Your desire for us—unending, unquenchable, stubbornly persistent, a magnificent picture of True Love.

O, Lord—our faith is so little, like a mustard seed. Hundreds of them, thousands of them, don’t even begin to fill a small glass jar. We can really uproot trees with this tiny speck of faith You’ve bestowed upon us, by Your grace? (amazed) O, Lord—we believe; help our unbelief. Please make our faith genuine, so that even though it is small, it is real and true and good, not a mere wisp or vapor or mirage; not an act or an unfounded profession, but a possession, a pure metal, sure to survive even the hottest flame.

O, Lord—we hesitate to ask for more when You’ve already given so much, and yet, we plead for more grace, for greater faith. We plead to be made more like Christ. O, Lord—we plead for the ability to love as you love, for a Love like Your Love. O, Lord—may the Love you work in us in Christ be ‘enough’ to cover over our many sins, we pray. May we hide in His tender arms; may the angel of death pass over us, His blood being spread over the doorposts of our hearts, we pray.

O Lord—Whom have we in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that we desire besides You. Make this true of us, please, Father? May You be ‘sufficient’ to calm our hearts and minds, to offer comfort when we are aching and rest when we are weary. May we look to You, and You alone, as the One who can satisfy us—finally and forever.

O, Lord—apart from You, we can do none of these things. Apart from You we are lost, hopeless, headed for destruction. It is only by Your initiating intimacy with us that we know any good thing. (entirely grateful for this, for Him) Leave us not to our own devices, we pray. Take not Your Holy Spirit from us. Take hold of us and never let go. Shake us, burn us, hammer us, chisel us. Send us through high waters and storms as black as night, but do not abandon us, O Father, we beg You, respectfully.

May we be carried away with affection for You, Christ. May we happily play to the face of Him in all of time. O, Lord—may it be so, by Your grace.

Amen.