A prayer to progress in the spiritual life

“Because the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have removed that veil can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord, who is the Spirit, makes us more and more like him as we are transformed into his glorious image “. (2 Corinthians 3: 17-18) My goal in life is to be transformed and learn to walk in love as I continue to grasp how much I am already loved by my precious Heavenly Father. Seeing this love will allow me to know what goals I should strive for, the goals God desires me to have. The more I realize the immensity of God's love for me, the more I will progress on the goals I would like to complete. God doesn't love our completed tasks as much as He loves our enthusiasm in working for Him. He is happy all the time that we are taking steps of obedience, not just at the end. There are some things that will never be completed on this side of heaven, like world peace, for example, but God is pleased when we take steps to live in unity with another person.

Progress towards our goals, and more importantly, progress towards our becoming more Christlike, is an ongoing thing. There will always be plenty to do and more ways to grow in character and love. God is happy when we take steps, when we step out of our comfort zones, and when we try. Hebrews 11 says a lot about God's happiness for our progress, otherwise known as faith: faith shows the reality of what we hope for and is evidence of things not yet seen. Thanks to faith, people earn a good reputation. We may never fully know God and His ways, but we can take steps to seek Him and try to walk in ways we can decipher.

Even when Abraham reached the land that God had promised him, he lived there by faith. Abraham was looking forward to a city designed and built by God. I will complete and should complete the tasks in this life and with enough progress the end of a project will come. But there will be another project to follow it. It's a journey and each project will teach me something new and grow my character. You can be obedient and make progress every day of your life, little by little. And God will help you as you seek Him. God has given you that good job to do and He won't leave you until your progress is complete. Pray with me: Dear Lord, you created me for good works. You have given me the desire to always learn and grow in my ability to love You and my neighbors. Help me make progress on my goals each day and not worry about the conclusion you might draw from that obedience. Remind me regularly that your conclusions on any matter will always bear fruit, even if the conclusion may be different from what I thought. Your ways are above mine. In the name of Jesus, amen