Do you seek to be like Christ? Do you long to be the person He wants you to be? How do you go about that? Do you work hard at fixing yourself? Do you spend time praying, asking God to make the changes in you that he desires?
We can say we want to be like Christ all we want. We may even want it. But unless we pursue it with all our heart, we simply won’t get there. One way in which we can pursue it with our heart is to go to God in prayer.
Our prayers are a reflection of our beliefs, behavior, and thoughts. On the opposite of that, our prayers can influence our beliefs, behavior and thoughts. Ever think about that? Those things are in a symbiotic relationship. Each one has an effect on the other.
As we pray that God works in our lives and open ourselves up to him, we can change. The changes are not merely intellectual. They are physical. They become visible in our behavior. They become verbal in our speech. As we experience those changes in our speech and behavior, our beliefs change as well. Why? We are experiencing God.
For several verses above today’s passage, the Apostle Paul tells us what negative to let go and what positive to replace it with. We can use his instructions as a guide to pray. Pray that God works in your life to replace the negatives with positives so that you may imitate Christ.
I pray we all desire to imitate Christ. I pray we use Paul’s instructions as a guide for our prayers. I pray each one of us will that God change us into the person he wants us to be so we may shine the light of Jesus to everyone we meet. Desire to imitate Christ. Pray according to Paul’s instructions. Pray that God changes you. Shine the light of Jesus.
Ephesians 5:1-2 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Marty Pressey 