Perfect Love
December 6, 2017·Ben McEntee
I’m the first person up in the morning at our home; that means I make the coffee, and (for the record) we like coffee in our house, so I make a lot of it! I get up, brew the (gallons of) coffee, tidy up the house, and then take part in my devotional time.
As I’m in the kitchen preparing the coffee (the large batch of coffee!), I look in our dining area, where I can see the portraits of each of our daughters hanging on the wall: Lucy, Jubilee, and Lavender. Recently, I’ve been challenged to pray more fervently, and I’ve begun to look at each picture as I pray for them in the early morning quiet of our house. When I’ve finished praying for our children, I pray for my wife, Danielle, and our marriage and our ministry to students here at the church, then I sit down to read. This is not always how every morning goes – but it’s my ideal morning, and I love how it prepares me for the day.
This last week, as I was praying, I was compelled by the Spirit to kneel with my arms held up, and, as I did, I heard these words come out of my mouth: “God, may You be the desire of my heart, and may the desire of my heart be Your desires.” I stopped. I repeated the words slowly to contemplate them: May God Himself be my desire. May God’s desires be mine. I paused. At the outset, I knew my desires are superficial and self-serving, and I knew God’s desires are what I truly need to live a life of power and love in the Spirit, and these words that I prayed affected me. I was moved, and I realized that God knew exactly what I needed to pray that morning.
Today, we read in 1 John 4:16, “Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” As I read, I took a step back in my mind and was reminded of the prayer I spoke last week in the early morning quiet. I remembered those words that came out of my mouth, I believe, from the Holy Spirit, but I also acknowledged that they were tinged with my own fear and misgivings. And so, I paused as I reflected on God’s Word and then continued reading in 1 John until I got to the words, “perfect love drives out fear” (vs.18). I love when God speaks to me through His Spirit and His Word, to convict me and challenge me. It makes me stop and take notice. It forces me to recognize where I need heart-change. It reminds me how He loves us and demonstrated His love for us by sending His Son, “that we might live through Him” (vs. 9).
This new prayer life has been reawakening my devotional time. That prayer – for my heart to be changed – was answered in the reading of 1 John 4. I saw the reality of God’s love against the backdrop of my own fear and misgivings, and I handed those things over to the Lord. I love how God works! He speaks to us of His love and offers to transform us by its perfection.
Lord, change our hearts!
