For a Faith That Acts
Spirit of Life,
Thank you for the gift of faith, by which we have the sure confidence of our salvation, completed in full for us by Jesus. Faith that is healthy and growing is faith that acts. When faith listens, its natural response is to act. However, since the Old Adam in me is bent on self-service, it opposes any activity of faith that is directed toward others. Therefore, take me back to my baptism, where that part of me needs to be drowned again and again, and raise me up in newness of life, eager to put my faith into practice. Whenever I hear your Word, allow my heart and mind to collaborate with my ears so that I am contemplating how I might put your Word into practice. Compel me to be not just a hearer of your Word, but also a doer of it. Moved by the power of your grace and grounded in the certainty of your gift of eternal life, grant me a hard-working faith.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.