Salvation Is of The Lord Reminder/Prayer

Tullian Tchividjian posted this prayer by Pastor Scotty Smith that is worth echoing:


"Gracious Father, today is a great day for me to be reminded that “salvation is of the Lord.”

You are the one who begins the “good work” of redemption in our lives; You are the one who is carrying it on, even when you’re not working according to my timetable and agenda; and You are the one who will bring redemption to completion on the Day Jesus returns to finish making all things new.

This is incredibly good news, as I ponder my own heart and the lives of other people I care about a whole lot. I cannot be my own savior, and neither can I be anyone else’s savior. What a relief, but also what a critical truth to remember. This grand affirmation leads me to offer these earnest supplications:

Father, give me the same confidence about your vigilance and faithfulness you gave Paul for the Philippians. Sometimes irritation, worry and fear loom larger in my life than patience, trust and hope. When this happens, I’m pretty worthless as a friend.

Father, teach me how to wrestle in confident prayer for others, like Epaphras wrestled in prayer for the believers in Colossae (Col. 4:12). My tendency is to wrangle emotionally rather than wrestle believingly. This leaves me worn out and it simply frustrates others.

Father, keep me tender enough to engage in my friends’ broken stories, but tough enough not to get entangled in “stuff” that has nothing to do with me.

Father, teach me how to wait on you without falling into self-protective passivity or self-validating activity.

Only the gospel is sufficient to help someone like me love others in such redemptive and healthy ways. So I abandon myself to you and your resources, Father, in light of the weight of grace and the Day of Christ.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.