Glory

One of the things that is absolutely true about God is His glory. On one level, we know this, and we think about it when we see it reflected in the natural world around us - the majestic mountains towering over the horizon, the brilliant colors of the sunrise, the soaring wings of the eagle. Even, perhaps, when we hear beautiful music of worship and praise do we think about God's glory.

But when do we pray about it? 

Or rather, when do we pray for it?

In Psalm 115, the psalmist prays for God's glory, saying, "Not to us, but to your name bring glory." Read that again: not to us, but to Your name bring glory. 

This is a lost prayer in our modern worship. In a time and place that emphasizes the individual, that tells us that our faith is all about us, that pounds into us that what we believe is about us and nothing more, that tells us that Jesus loves uniquely us and it's all about what we do with Him in private...we aren't praying for God's glory to be anywhere but in us. We aren't praying for Him to be glorious. 

More often than not, what we pray for God's glory is that He would make us glorious. Make us beautiful and wonderful and famous and successful and secure and lovely and, sure, I guess, loving. Make us majestic and brilliant, with the ability to soar. God, we know about Your glory, so make us glorious. 

And then we close our eyes to the mountains, to the sunrise, to the soaring wings of eagles. Most of us don't even see them any more. They blend into our daily commute, blend into our backgrounds, blend into our plans. The only place we're looking for glory is in the mirror, and if we don't see it there (and we often don't, for who among us is ever satisfied wholly with who we are?), then we start to wonder if God loves us at all or if He even is glorious. 

Think about what it would change if it were God's glory we desired to see. If it was His best we were after. If we developed a vision for His greatness in the world. If we stopped looking in the mirror to see Him in ourselves and started looking around to see Him in His world. Think about what it would change if, when we prayed for glory, it was God's glory we prayed for. For His sake. For His name.

No one ever became a Christian because you are such a good one. Anyone who has ever come to Christ has come for the glory of God in His own name, not yours. If we want to transform the world, we have to put a proper emphasis back on glory, for His name's sake, so that the watching world would see Him, not us. Would come to Him, not us. So that we would come to Him. 

This Christian life we live, it's about Him. It always has been. Even in a time when the world tries to tell us that it's all about us. It's not. It never was. 

So not to us, but to Your name bring glory, Lord. For we long to see it, to know it, to witness it in our world, that the world may see and know that You are God and You are good...and You are glorious.