A Prayer for God's Light to Shine through Us On Reformation Day - Your Daily Prayer - October 31

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One of my favorite songs to sing in church growing up was “This Little Light of Mine,” waving my one little index finger through the air as my shining light.

As a child, my heart would fill with joy as I sang the words over and over, preparing it to believe that God’s light could shine through me for others to see.

The words to the song go:

This little light of mine

I’m going to let it shine.

Oh, this little light of mine

I’m going to let it shine.

This little light of mine

I’m going to let it shine.

Let it shine, all the time, let it shine.

Personally, light has always drawn me in, more than I’ve realized at times, especially when I remember doing a monologue in college theater, where we filled the stage with an array of lamps.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, though, because as Christians, we are called to let our lights shine. As Ephesians 5:8 reminds us, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.”

As a Christian, who doesn’t want to shine and be a light in a dark world? Who doesn’t want to bring light into darkness because what is more satisfying to our hearts than to let God’s light shine through us so that He is glorified?

Martin Luther’s Lightning Conversion

As we commemorate another Reformation Day, we look at the life of Martin Luther. Born at the end of the Middle Ages, he converted to Christianity in 1505 during a moment of crisis, making a passionate deal with God to protect him from being hit by lightning during a ferocious thunderstorm, exchanging the safety of God sparing his life with a promise to serve Him the rest of his life.

Yet, as hard as Luther tried serving God, he felt undeserving. His efforts didn’t ever seem like enough, even though he worked his hardest to achieve righteousness, to do enough to appease the wrath of a holy God by whipping himself raw and confessing his sins for hours upon hours, hoping and praying to be good enough to be accepted into heaven.

As Luther studied God’s word, graciously, through His love and mercy, God gave him a revelation through the Holy Spirit that, no matter how much he did, the just shall live by faith. His spiritual eyes opened, and he realized at that moment that his self-afflictions would never be enough to ever justify him before a holy God, because Salvation comes only through faith in Jesus Christ.

Luther’s breakthrough came through Romans 1:17, “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.”

With all he had, Luther began to shine Christ’s light to dispel the darkness, translating the Bible into German and making God’s word available so everyone could read it for themselves. His shining efforts led to countless people being saved and transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ,

Luther, being only one man, helped usher in a new era known as the Reformation and the birth of the Protestant Church. His shining light is an inspiration to all generations, showing how we, too, can let God’s light shine through each of us.

Let’s Pray

Dear Father,

Help me today on Reformation Day and every day this coming year, to let Your glorious light shine through me into a dark world.

Strengthen and embolden me as You did, Martin Luther, so many years ago, to be courageous enough to even risk my reputation if necessary to share Your gracious gift of Salvation with a lost world.

Today and every day, let Your glorious light shine through me to draw those in darkness to You.

Remove all hindrances that keep me from proclaiming that the just shall live by faith. Fill me with the power and fullness of Your Holy Spirit so that I might go out into a lost world as a beacon shining brightly to all I meet.

Shine Your light through me from this very moment on, in everything I do, so that You, O Lord, might be glorified.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Discuss today’s devotional with others in the Your Daily Prayer thread on the Crosswalk Forum.

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/typo-graphics

Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV.

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