Seeing

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer About Seeing with Gospel Eyes

     But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

     Loving Father, I’ve worn prescription glasses since high school, moving from regular to progressive-focus lenses over the course of years. I’ve even had laser surgery to help me see more precisely than ever. Yet there’s an ophthalmological corrective than can only take place as the gospel does its work on the eyes of my heart.
     Even if I could see with 20-15 or 20-10 vision, if I’m only focusing on the “outward appearance” of people and things, I’m still not seeing as you intend. My plea? “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, open the eyes of my heart. I want to see Jesus”… and by seeing Jesus more clearly, help me see everything else through the lens of the gospel.
     Father, help me to see people with gospel eyes. It’s easy for me to focus on things in people that irritate or inconvenience me. Enable me to see every person as your image bearer. What I call a quirk you might call unique. What I call odd you might call beautiful. With eyes of mercy, let me see brokenness not just blemishes. With eyes of grace, let me see potential and not just problems. Don’t let me see anybody just in terms of how they might help or harm me. Give me a vision of your good and perfect plan for them. Help me to see what you see in my spouse… my children… my friends… even in total strangers.
     Father, help me to see creation with gospel eyes. Show me your majesty through the things you have made. Stun me with your glory in every ocean and valley, mountain and star, sunrise and sunset and in all the flora and fauna. Let me see the imprint of the Garden of Eden and the firstfruits of the new heaven and new earth everywhere I look. And seeing your hand and heart everything, let me live more as a worshipful steward of your creation and less as a selfish consumer.
     Father, help me to see pain and suffering with gospel eyes. Sometimes looking at all the crucibles, crises and cruel stories of life… sometimes this makes me want to run away, deny reality, or despair of one more broken thing. Sometimes seeing what I see is just too much. Help me to see with the eyes of Jesus when overwhelming need is staring me down. He is Lord, I am not. His name is Redeemer, mine is beloved. So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ merciful and healing name.