Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

What does it mean, exactly, to give God glory, to glorify Him? That became clearer to me when I learned that the Greek word translated glory is doxa, which means an opinion, judgment, or estimate. To give God glory is to give a full and accurate evaluation of who He is. When I pray about a problem or struggle in my life, I give God glory when I acknowledge before Him that he has ample power to solve it and that His wisdom in the matter is far superior to mine.  When I thank Him for something I have, I glorify Him by recognizing that He is the source of every good thing. When I bring my fears about the future before Him in prayer, I give Him glory by reminding myself that He knows the future and holds it in His hand. Do my prayers – does my life? – dishonor God by underestimating Him?  Or do they reveal a true and accurate picture of Him and thereby glorify Him? 
 
Here are some suggested prayer ingredients for this week:
 
1.  Leaf through the Psalms looking for a passage that gives glory to God in the sense defined above.  Pray it to the Lord.
 
2.  Join Jamie Gilbert in thanking God for all the people who serve at Calvary in any capacity.  Jamie requests prayer for the provision of a teacher for the 2’s and 3’s class during second service.  This class has been covered by subs for four months, and the children would really benefit from having the same teacher every week.
 
3.  Since the beginning of Calvary’s fiscal year, giving has covered 94% of the budget on average.  (Check out the e-communication every month for summaries of financial data.)  Pray that we will all give more generously so that the budget will be 100% funded and also so that overdue priorities, such as raises for pastors, can be met.  Pray in particular for those who do not tithe – that they would take concrete steps of obedience toward the goal of a full tithe.
 
4.  Lift up the six men in our TLC house.  Pray that they will stay on track with what they need to do to turn their lives around and that the TLC team will be a real help to them.
 
5.  In his sermon yesterday, Andrew Mahler pointed out the painful truth that, while Jesus Christ has torn down the dividing wall of hostility between believers, we humans love to build up new walls.  Pray for unity among the body of believers at Calvary.  Ask the Lord to show you – and all of us – what erodes unity and what builds unity.

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert, Prayer Chair
Calvary Community Church of Brea