Note: This prayer meditation is first and foremost designed to be listened to, so we encourage you to listen to the audio as you read along.
WEEK 13 – Be Alert
For the next 10 minutes or so, we are going to turn our attention to God in prayer. He desires to meet with us today. To talk to us. To share His heart with us. Take a few deep breaths and say the following prayer:
God, You are here, now. And I am loved by You.
Now take a moment and pray this simple prayer that can be said in the span of a breath.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
As I read the following passage from Mark listen with the expectation that God is moving towards you, to speak to you, through these Spirit-inspired words today.
Jesus said,
32 “Now concerning that day or hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son —but only the Father.
33 “Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming.
34 “It is like a man on a journey, who left his house, gave authority to his servants, gave each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to be alert. 35 Therefore be alert, since you don’t know when the master of the house is coming—whether in the evening or at midnight or at the crowing of the rooster or early in the morning.36 Otherwise, when he comes suddenly he might find you sleeping.37 And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Be alert!”
We are surrounded by so many things that can easily pull our attention away from what’s most important. It’s easy to live life according to our plans and preferences and not with a sense of urgency or anticipation of Christ’s return. And we don’t realize how costly this could be.
But Jesus tells His disciples (and us!) to be alert. But what does that mean? We might be tempted to associate “being alert” with paranoia or anxiety. But what if our anticipation looked more like hope? What if living with our eyes lifted looked like bringing order out of chaos…seeking His Kingdom first?
Our very lives proclaiming that He’s coming soon. We watch and wait, joining Him in His work to restore our broken world once and for all.
In Mark 13 Jesus is telling the disciples how to discern what will happen all around them before He returns. Then He says that no one will know the day or the hour but that doesn’t mean they don’t need to pay attention, to be alert, because the true “owner of the house” is coming home. The earth is the Lord’s and He is redeeming all of creation. Jesus is making all things new.
Let’s pray.
King of Kings and Lord of Lords,
You are coming soon. I want to live in the anticipation of your return.
I want to be alert and ready.
You have not given me a Spirit of fear but of power, love, and self-control.
I renounce fear and anxiety and take hold of hope.
The hope that You are coming to make all things new.
I don’t want to live distracted or asleep to what You’re doing, to the work You’re inviting me to join You in.
May Your kingdom come, and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Hear the Word of the Lord:
REVELATION 22:1-5
Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the city’s main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, 3 and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.
AMEN.
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