“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)
Our Father, help us see this world as though we were looking through Your eyes. Teach us to see what You see in people and in the world You’ve made. We struggle because we see only the outward appearance, but You are able read hearts like an open book.
Help us to see and love the world with gospel eyes – lives that can be transformed by our living Lord Jesus. Let us see Your image in every single human being, so that when we find ourselves irritated or inconvenienced, grant us Your gracious patience. Expand our vision beyond our story, to Your larger story of redemption and restoration.
Open our eyes to see all of creation with Your eyes Father. Don’t let us look at the beauty of a Melbourne sunrise or the majestic waves along the Great Ocean Road, or the towering Snowy Mountains, or the unnumerable stars of the heavens – just in terms of us and our plans. Help us to see Your hand and heart everywhere. Enable us to be a more worshipful steward of Your creation and less as a selfish consumer of the things You have made.
Give us the ability to see the pain and suffering in our world with the heart of Jesus. Our Father, there are times when we see and hear the cries, the crises, and cruel stories of our world, that it becomes overwhelming, and we feel powerless to make a difference. But grant us the grace to love hurting people well – one life at a time, in Your way, on Your timetable, in Your strength, and for Your purposes. Enlarge our perspective and give us the long view of Your glorious plan of restoration.
Help us to do our part in diminishing the growing gap between those who have and those who have not. Teach us to live simply, so that others may simply live. Shed abroad in our hearts a sacrificial giving spirit. Remind us that even in a world of war, violence, political unrest, displaced people, refugees, poverty, famine, and disease – that we can live like Jesus – peacefully, truthfully, graciously, mercifully, understandingly, so that we might be a righteous agent of change in this world You have created.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
If you have any prayer requests, please contact our Pastoral Care team at prayer@heathdale.vic.edu.au.