Romans 4 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

PRAYERGreat God of the universe, we have heard your voice, speaking to us, loudly andclearly, in Jesus, and through his followers, in the preaching of the Gospel. You speak to us aword of infinite grace, and infinite demand; you speak to us a word of command, and a word ofpromise. Just as you spoke to Abraham in the long ago, so you speak to us today. Youcommand us to turn our lives around--to live, not on the basis of earthly desires and rewards,but to live in the light of your coming Kingdom, to walk hand in Hand with you, all our days.And you promise to make of us the source of divine blessing to all the nations of the earth.You promise that if we will walk with you, you will use us to bring Good News to the ends ofthe earth, and to share in building your Kingdom of peace in the life of our world.O God, we trust your word--and we reach out to take your Hand, to walk with youthroughout our short earthly pilgrimage. We know that every one of us will make many a misstep,and that oftentimes our trust will grow weak and hesitating. Nonetheless, we place ourhand in yours, believing that you are the God who takes the weak, and the impure, and thegodless, and makes them "rightly-related” through your mercy and grace.We know full well that our relationship with you is based on your character–on yourkindness, and mercy--on your free gifts of gracious favor--not on our imperfect obedience, oron any partial goodness that we may have, that could ever cause you to "owe" us anything.You do not owe us--but we owe you for everything we have and are.We come to you, not as those who have earned the right to come into your presence,but as those whose sins have been forgiven and covered over, and will no longer be countedagainst us, because of your love for us. Our only hope is in your loving forgiveness andgracious favor--not in our own goodness or ability to fulfill your teaching.This is the truth--but it is also the truth that we, like Abraham of old, and like yourtrusting people in all ages and times, both can and must walk hand in Hand with you. We canfollow in the footsteps of faith, obeying your command, doing everything in our power to fulfillyour teaching, always conforming our lives to your word.O God, we have seen your promise come true so many times in our lives--especially inthe overcoming of the Nazis and atheistic Communism in the twentieth century. We areseeing your promises come true in this twenty-first century, in Afghanistan, and in Iraq. Wehave seen the Good News spreading from the tiny country of Israel in its beginnings, untiltoday it reaches into every nation and country upon planet earth. All is not by any meansdone yet--but we trust your promise, and live by its hope. Make us servants of your promise!In the name of Jesus, our Teacher and Lord, we pray. Amen.229