Praying for God’s Perspective

Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart; 

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.

Thou my best Thought, by day or by night, 

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;

I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;

Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;

Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;

Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;

Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:

Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,

Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won, 

May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, 

Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Words: Attributed to Dallan Forgaill, 8th Century (Rob tu mo bhoile, a Comdi cride); translated from ancient Irish to English by Mary E. Byrne, in “Eriú,” Journal of the School of Irish Learning, 1905, and versed by Eleanor H. Hull, 1912, alt.

I want nothing more than to see as God sees. This should be my earnest request. It is a petition worth more than any other. To see as God truly sees is the greatest answer to all my needs. My desire is for His will and for me to understand it as He speaks it to me. We cannot regard Him with anything less than who He is ~ holy.

1. Read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Why shouldn’t we lose heart when our earthly bodies fail or circumstances come hard against us?

Even though we think of our circumstances as hard and at times unsolvable, through God’s eyes they are viewed differently. How does God view them?

What are our troubles achieving for us?

Who should we fix our eyes on? Why?

What is the difference between “seen” and “unseen”?

2. Read 2 Corinthians 5:7. (NIV) Fill in the blanks:

“We live by _____________ and not by__________________.”

So often we become exasperated with what is happening in our lives. Sometimes we can’t even put a finger on what is bothering us. Other times we face insurmountable circumstances in our lives. With the Lord they aren’t insurmountable. He can do anything. We must see God in a heavenly perspective and not our limited earthly perspective. Living by faith, is not depending on our own limited vision. It is an active belief in the Almighty who we cannot see, but know is with us always. Faith is using the vision of the heavens, not the limited vision we have on earth.

3. Read 1 Peter 1:3-9. Why should we praise God?

Describe the eternal inheritance we will receive as followers of Christ?

What are we shielded by?

Why should we rejoice?

What will have to endure for a little while? Why?

Even though we do not see Jesus physically now, we believe in Him. What are we filled with?

What are we receiving?

Receiving the vision of God is receiving 

a perspective of the heavenly kind.

When we pray we praise God for who He is, the position He holds and the power and mercy He has. Our prayers are heard in the very presence of God because God the Son made the way for us to be reconciled with God. The power and counsel of the Holy Spirit give us the words to say because He knows our deepest needs and knows exactly how to fill us.

In our communication with God the Father ~ God the Son ~ God the Holy Spirit, we worship, thanking God for who He is and what He has done. We lay our needs before Him and expect the best from His infinite provision. We seek to have the vision of God, a heavenly perspective, not this blurred, obscured, and distorted vision of this world.

4. Read Hebrews 11:1, 6. What is the definition of “faith”? 

What happens when we don’t have faith? Why? 

If we believe God what do we receive?

Believing God is essential to living full lives, especially in our prayer time. But, what’s cool about God is that He provides the faith that we need, all we have to do is ask Him. He supplies for every need that we have. So, in our petitioning of God, we must include our need for better vision ~ the vision from a heavenly perspective, God’s perspective.

As we close this study on prayer, it is my prayer that you have grown in your understanding of how God desires to communicate with you and draw you into the divine relationship He has within the Trinity. There is so much more that He will teach us as we learn our position in regard to His heavenly and righteous position. Through prayer and trust in God through His Son Jesus, we tap into the power provided by His Holy Spirit living within us. Continue growing in His Word and in responding to Him in your prayers. May God richly bless you as you go on by faith with a new heavenly perspective.

Prayer Time
God wants to give us the heavenly perspective that He has. All we have to do is ask. Go to your prayer journal and write out your request for the heavenly perspective from God’s hand and not the limited earthly vision the world has.

Discussion Questions
1. So many times we become exasperated with what is happening in our lives. Sometimes we can’t even put a finger on what is bothering us. Other times we face insurmountable circumstances in our lives. Share an incident that was/or is like this in your life.

2. You should want nothing more than to see as God sees. This should be your earnest request. It is a petition worth more than any other. Give an example of how having God’s perspective of something you have gone through or are going through that has not made sense to you before?

3. Believing God is essential in our lives, especially in our prayer lives. But, what’s cool about God is that He provides the faith that we need, all we have to do is ask Him. He supplies for every need that we have. So, in our petitioning of God, we must include our need for better vision ~ the vision from a heavenly perspective, God’s perspective. Have you ever prayed for the perspective of God? If so, how did it affect your faith? If not, why not?

4. After studying about prayer what is it that you have learned that has affected you most? Share.