Praying to Keep God the Apple of MY Eye

 

 

“Keep me the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” ~Psalm 17:8

 

One of my favorite photographs is a picture of my son taken when he was three. His chubby cheeks beckon a momma’s touch, and his awkward smile echoes the sound of “cheeeezzzz . . .” But the best part about the photo is the image of the photographer captured in his eyes—the apple of his eyes. Right smack in the middle.

That photo helps me visualize what it means to be the apple of God’s eye. The object of His vision.

The Apostle Paul prayed a very important prayer for the Ephesians. It went like this:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family in heaven and earth derive its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ (Ephesians 3:14-18, NIV).

 

For years I believed that the most important prayer we could pray was, “Help me love you more, Lord.” It’s a prayer I prayed for decades, but lately I’ve realized that this prayer places the focus on my ability, my work of love. Rather than praying to love God more, I now believe the better prayer is to pray for the Lord to help me know His love—just as Paul prayed. Because once we know beyond knowing that God loves us, we’re secure in His love, and that changes you and me.

When we know someone loves us, and wants the best for us, we can trust him. And trusting God is paramount to our faith and our peace.

But I was reading this scripture again today, “Keep me the apple of your eye . . . “, and I had this thought:

[bctt tweet=”What if God asked me to keep Him the apple of my eye?” username=”wordsbyandylee”]

We’ve been talking about focus and new thought patterns the last few weeks, and suddenly I realized how powerful it would be to keep God and Jesus smack dab in the center of my sight. What does that look like in practical terms?

• reading the Bible.
• getting out into creation and breathing the air.
• having a thankful spirit.
• making prayer a dialogue, listening for His response.
• singing with the radio (I listen to K-Love or our local Christian station).
• asking for our marching orders daily. What eternal thing has God planned for us today?

A good friend is reading John Eldredge’s newest book, Moving Mountains.  You know I love John Eldredge, so I will be borrowing her book when she’s done. But she told me something that she’s learned from the book that is very profound. She said it has made her realize how much she prays out of fear. This is a powerful precept in his book–praying out of fear. We do that don’t we?

The term “apple of my eye” is an endearing term. It’s not just about focus, but it’s about delight and joy. I don’t fear people or their choices or actions if I delight in those individuals. And I will not fear God’s answers to my petition nor will my prayers be spoken out of fear if I’m trusting Him, the One who is my joy and delight.

Oh my friends, let’s work on our focus and our delight in the Lord as we pray to know how much He loves us. Make Him the apple of your eye.

 

Your turn: What are ways you will work on placing God smack dab in the center of your eyes and heart?

 

Finding Purpose in Worship,

 

andy