Restore your glory

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1 Peter 5v10

This season of prayer and fasting has been about resetting and renewing by pressing deeper into our relationship with God. It has been a time to reset as we start out a new year, leaving the old ways in the past and letting God establish new habits and patterns as we devote the first fruits of this new year to Him. And hopefully what you have found as you have been intentional about setting aside additional time to focus on Him, to spend time in His presence, to pray with increased vigour, to be more intentional about opening the pages of His word and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak life and hope into your soul is that God has been using this season to restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

We are reminded today that we have been called to eternal glory in Christ. That is the call on each of our lives – we have been called to eternal glory. You may not feel very glorious, but you have been called to glory. Maybe there are things that have happened that have left you feeling unworthy, undeserving. The truth is, we are all unworthy. By our own efforts there are none of us who meet God’s standards. We all fall short, but God promises to restore us. He will restore our glory. He will clothe us with a righteousness we do not deserve and could never hope to earn. He intends to use us for His purposes. He considers us His masterpiece, the pinnacle of all creation. There are no mere ordinary average Christians – we have all been called to eternal glory. Remember today that is your calling if you have put your trust in Jesus.

This verse is a reminder that we can’t restore by our own efforts. Our own strength isn’t enough. But God promises to restore us. He will strengthen us through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us – the same power that raised Jesus from the grave now dwells in us, strengthening and establishing us to carry out every good work that God has planned out for us to do. We have a purpose that He created us to carry out. We have a role to play in carrying the good news of forgiveness, mercy and grace to the whole world. That is what God restores us for. This is what He strengthens us to carry out. The purpose of prayer and fasting is to great space to allow God to do that work of restoring our glory, strengthening and establishing us to carry out all that He has called us to do for the sake of His kingdom. We don’t fast just for what we can get out of it for ourselves – we fast and pray because that is how God can restore us to the glory He called us to and establish us to go into the world and make an impact for the sake of His name.

Prayer focus

Thank God for the grace he has shown in calling you to His eternal glory. Ask the Holy Spirit to continue restoring, confirming, strengthening and establishing you.