A Prayer to Know Christ

Lord Jesus, we want to know you. Not merely know about you, though we are grateful for all we have learned, but to know you the way Paul longed to, in the power of your resurrection and in the fellowship of your sufferings.

We confess that we have trusted in the flesh. We have leaned on our upbringing, our records, our years of church, our being on the right side of arguments. Set these beside you and show us their true weight. Give us the courage to count them loss.

Clothe us in a righteousness that is not our own, the righteousness that comes through faith in you. As one month ends and another begins, make this our single ambition: to be found in you. Whatever else the summer holds, let us come out of it knowing you better than we do today. Amen.