Prepare My Heart
I can’t count how many times in my life I felt a big event or task crept up on me and suddenly came out of nowhere. Often in those situations I feel as though time “flew by”. This idea is obviously a false perception in our minds because time never speeds up and never slows down despite what we feel.
However, something within the Church calendar in the post-Christmas and spring craziness often allows Easter to sneak up sooner than expected—I know in my life it’s been this way too many times. There have been years I participated in giving something up for Lent in preparation of Easter to help focus my mind, my prayers, and my thoughts on the coming celebration. But despite what I proactively choose to do to get ready for Easter, I still feel as though some injustice is done in preparing for how significant a time in my life Easter should be.
Have you ever felt this way?
There are a few thoughts I always come back to that encourage me and help prepare my heart for Easter.
God prepared long ago for the very first Easter. I’m encouraged to see in Scripture the plan of the cross, sending Christ to die for my sins, was not an afterthought or a “plan B” once Adam and Eve chose to eat fruit from the tree in the garden. The sacrifice of His Son was something God decided to do for His glory (Isaiah 53:5-12). Not all was lost in the garden.
God knew the first Easter would be enough. Although we remember Easter each year, God required only one crucifixion because Christ’s death was sufficient. “And every Priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:11-14).
I’m often convicted in my spiritual life how much emphasis we place on the birth of Christ at Christmas, and so little emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter. In some ways it’s puzzling how the climax of the Christian faith can so easily be overlooked. My challenge to myself each year is to take time to prepare to celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ.
In preparation for Easter this week I focus my prayers in a few very specific ways to help prepare my heart to celebrate my Saviour. Would you pray these prayers with me this week?
God, help me see the significance of Easter in a new way this year.
God, allow someone to see for the first time the significance of Easter this year.
God, prepare my heart to remember and celebrate Jesus, and just how much you love me.
This week we encourage you to share your prayer requests with our church family and worship with us in an attitude of reflection and reverence for the cross. Click the buttons below to see the prayer wall or listen to our Holy Week playlist.
