PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body as a living sacrifice to you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
Romans 13:11–12 (ESV)
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
CONSIDER THIS
Many years ago I tried to get Max Lucado to come and speak at a Good Friday event we were hosting at our church. He wrote a nice letter back I have never forgotten. It said something to this effect, “Our lives are like books with many chapters and pages. Blessed is the person who knows the chapter and page number in which they are living. I am now living in the chapter called family and as a consequence I am not taking any speaking engagements beyond my church at this time.” It was the nicest rejection letter I ever got.
It is another way of emphasizing the importance of the question on our table these last few days of this brand new year—When are we? I want to thank you for bearing with me as we struggle together to map out the time in which we live. For years now, almost every day, Marsha Matthews Little, one of our daily readers has crafted the Wake-Up Call’s daily entry into a beautifully sketched picture. She shares it on our Wake-Up Call Facebook group page. I was eager to see her drawing of our working map. She did not disappoint. Take a look:
If we know when we are; grasping a clearer sense of when now actually is, we can ask the pressing question, “Now what?!” Because Brother Max knew his chapter and page number, he had clarity both about what to do and what not to do with his time. As we read the Bible now, with this map in hand, we will discover answers to the “Now what?!” question all over the place. Let’s begin with Jesus’s first sermon:
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:14–15)
This stars the star on the left side of the drawing. Right here. Right now. This is happening. And he is not just announcing—Jesus is calling us to a certain kind of response. Jesus is calling for consecration. He is in effect saying, “Wake up (repent), rise from the dead (believe the gospel), because I am shining on you! (The kingdom of God is at hand).
Hear today’s text in this light:
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Consecrate. It means it’s time to rise and shine. Put on the armor of light. It means to make an offering of your whole self to God who knows you better than you know yourself; who created your inmost being; who loves you beyond imagining. To consecrate oneself is to wake up to your true self and begin living your real life which will be found in Jesus or not at all.
Consecration: It means to say, Jesus, I belong to you, and then to say it until you are praying it and to pray it until you are playing it. Jesus, I belong to you. The consecrated life is the awakened life.
Chapter and page.
THE PRAYER
Jesus, I belong to you. Jesus, I belong to you. Jesus, I belong to you. Jesus, I belong to you. Jesus, I belong to you. Make it so, Holy Spirit for the glory of God the Father. Praying in Jesus’s name, amen.
THE QUESTION
What does the word consecration mean to you?
THE HYMN
“He is Lord” hymn 268 in our Seedbed hymnal Our Great Redeemers Praise.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
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13 Responses
To be used for no other purpose.
Living without Jesus alive in me is not living. The chapter and page of my daily life are the same; it’s all about Jesus. The settings, characters, and experiences may differ, but the plot is the same, Jesus. At one time in the Past Age, my daily thoughts or behavior were never about Christ. Now, I couldn’t stop thinking or talking about Him if I tried. If a mind-reading atheist threatened to shoot me if I thought about Jesus, well, see ya in heaven.
Question.
What is the difference between Present Age and Now? I understand the overlapping circles’ reference, but my thoughts went to Past Age, Age to Come, and Now.
Staying 💪’n Christ,
Doc
My understanding of consecration is the obedience to Romans 12:1, “to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” In other words, total submission to Christ, and death to self will.
Stepping out into the day…it’s time to Shine, as Jesus Christ is Lord and I belong to Him. It is well with my soul.
Consecration begins with awakening to the awareness of the omnipresence of the risen Jesus. If we’re unaware of His presence, we won’t be fully dedicated to His service.
One moment I became
Ever aware
That Jesus Christ
Is everywhere.
Are you aware?
“In Him we live and move and have our being.”
Consecration: Living my life entirely for the will of God. Consulting Him about my every decision, small and great. Being willing to lay my life on the line to serve God and others, beginning in my own home, where people know me best. Subjecting my own will to God’s, gladly and without complaint. Trusting Him to know and communicate what’s best.
Set apart for God!
I’m 60 years old and have been a believer my whole life, mom and dad did one of the greatest things they could have done for me, introduced me to God at an early age. I accepted Jesus as my Savior at 12. I really didn’t get much instruction on what that truly meant until I was an adult. I’ve ebbed and flowed in my walk but I always talked to and prayed to my Papa Jesus, though I have never fully Consecrated my whole self to Him, I do however believe I’ve about gotten there. I only hope I can navigate what that means for my life going forward.
Consecrate me now to Thy service Lord by the power of grace divine
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope and my will be lost in Thine
Your prayer of consecration reminded me of a prayer that I rememobrized several years ago when I was struggling with questions from the death of my mother-in-law. For some reason Scripture was being elusive and I came upon this Universal Prayer by Pope Clement XI. Rememborizing it brought me peace. Here it is:
Universal Prayer
Pope Clement XI
Lord, I believe in you: increase my faith. I trust in you: strengthen my trust. I love you: let me love you more and more. I am sorry for my sins: deepen my sorrow.
I worship you as my first beginning, I long for you as my last end, I praise you as my constant helper, And call on you as my loving protector. Guide me by your wisdom, Correct me with your justice, Comfort me with your mercy, Protect me with your power.
I offer you, Lord, my thoughts: to be fixed on you; My words: to have you for their theme; My actions: to reflect my love for you; My sufferings: to be endured for your greater glory. I want to do what you ask of me: In the way you ask, For as long as you ask, Because you ask it.
Lord, enlighten my understanding, Strengthen my will, Purify my heart, and make me holy.
Help me to repent of my past sins And to resist temptation in the future. Help me to rise above my human weaknesses And to grow stronger as a Christian.
Let me love you, my Lord and my God, And see myself as I really am: A pilgrim in this world, A Christian called to respect and love All whose lives I touch, Those under my authority, My friends and my enemies.
Help me to conquer anger with gentleness, Greed by generosity, Apathy by fervor. Help me to forget myself And reach out toward others.
Make me prudent in planning, Courageous in taking risks. Make me patient in suffering, unassuming in prosperity.
Keep me, Lord, attentive at prayer, Temperate in food and drink, Diligent in my work, Firm in my good intentions.
Let my conscience be clear, My conduct without fault, My speech blameless, My life well-ordered.
Put me on guard against my human weaknesses. Let me cherish your love for me, Keep your law, And come at last to your salvation.
Teach me to realize that this world is passing, That my true future is the happiness of heaven, That life on earth is short, And the life to come eternal.
Help me to prepare for death With a proper fear of judgment, But a greater trust in your goodness. Lead me safely through death To the endless joy of heaven. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Thank you, Kimberly!
Howard
The word consecration in itself tells us that it is acting now and continuously, not only once and its a done deal, hence the word is not “consecratED”, but consecratION. So, to me, I see it as working out my own salvation with fear and trembling each day….each moment….in holy reverence to God the Father. Doing my best to LOVE GOD and LOVE my neighbor as myself. I mean, this is the whole point….we are being perfected in LOVE. Perfect love casts out all fear. There is no fear in LOVE. Fear has to do with punishment. God is LOVE and Light and in HIM there is no darkness at all. My aim each day is this; with the Lord, I can do all things because it is Him who strengthens me and fills me with His Love and Light and Spirit and has called me to be a Light to the world. I trust in Him and obey His commands because I love Him, because He first loved me! (Of course, I repented and was baptized). So now, I daily carry with me, for 7 years now, His incredible and undeniable and undeserving love for me and LOVE what many would term the “unloveable”. Jesus tells us to Love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, to bless those who curse us and to pray for those who misuse us. Luke 6: 28-28. I am telling you all….at first, this was not easy and sometimes it is still challenging….but all things just take practice and walking by the Spirit is no exception! Love covers a multitude of sins and quite honestly, IT changes EVERYTHING! If it doesn’t change someone else…it WILL change YOU! This is why I see it as consecraTION. It is an EVENT and it is happening in the NOW. Today is the acceptable time…today is the day of Salvation! Amen! Glory be to God in the Highest! With much Love,…Blessings and Shalom to you all my Dear Brothers and Sisters! Hold Fast and Firm to the faith and LOVE for our Lord and Savior Yeshua Messiah and the Truth of the Gold News of the Gospel! May God be with You All!
Typo: Good News of the Gospel