Prayer Post 3 - The Attributes of God
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips. Ps. 63:1-5
God, as I read these words, I am brought low. I am humbled beneath your power and your glory. I, like the psalmist, have looked upon you in the sanctuary, and truly there is nothing more beautiful, more captivating, and more awe-inspiring, than a vision of who You are.
God, I have been thinking a lot recently about Your steadfast love, and it astounds me. I am astounded at the depth of Your love, a love so deep and so wide, that my puny feeble mind can only see a fraction of it. I am astounded that You would love me with a steadfast love, when my love for You has been anything but steadfast. I am astounded that YOU, the creator of the universe, would even consider loving ME! I am astounded that even when my heart is far from You, and I fail You, and I disobey You, You still love me. There is absolutely nothing more astonishing to me than this. And then I remember how that love was made manifest ... by the death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who is the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:8). God, today, I thank you with all my heart, for Your steadfast love.
Father, as I go through this day, and I am distracted by the cares and the busyness of this world, I ask that You would give me a thirst for You. I ask that You would give me a hunger for Your presence. I ask that you would remind me of Your presence, and that You would bring to my mind, a vision of who You are. I long for this thirst that the psalmist speaks of. I want to be so parched, that I will do ANYTHING to be near You, and to drink from the living water that flows from Your Son Jesus. I want to feast upon You. Let not a day go by when I do not remember Your steadfast love, and praise You in response to this love, with joyful lips.
Amen.
The bible is filled with descriptions of the attributes of God. Last month I discussed the importance of using our prayer time to adore Him. One way to do this is to pray through a list of the attributes of God, both the incommunicable attributes (those which God alone possesses), and the communicable attributes (those which God shares with us). Although you can likely find slightly different lists in different theology textbooks, we at Redeemer often refer to the list in Systematic Theology, by Wayne Grudem. I hope you will print this list out, have it next to your bible, and pray through some or all of these attributes of God, each and every day as you adore Him, who alone is perfect in all His ways (Matthew 5:48).
Incommunicable attributes
- Independence - Acts 17:24-25
- Unchangeableness - Psalm 102:25-27
- Eternity - Psalm 90:2
- Omnipresence - Jeremiah 23:23-24
- Unity - Deuteronomy 6:4
Communicable attributes
Attributes describing God’s being
- Spirituality - John 4:2
- Invisibility - John 1:18
Mental attributes
1. Knowledge (Omniscience) - Job 37:16
2. Wisdom - Job 12:13
3. Truthfulness (and Faithfulness) - John 17:3
Moral attributes
- Love - 1 John 4:8
- Mercy, Grace, Patience - Exodus 34:6
- Holiness - Psalm 99:9
- Peace (or order) - 1 Corinthians 14:33
- Righteousness/Justice - Deuteronomy 32:4
- Jealousy - Exodus 20:5
- Wrath - Romans 1:18
Attributes of purpose
- Will - Ephesians 1:11
- Freedom - Psalm 115:3
- Omnipotence (Power, Sovereignty) - Luke 1:37
Summary attributes
- Perfection - Matthew 5:48
- Blessedness - 1 Timothy 6:15
- Beauty - Psalm 27:4