San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)

Day of Prayer a reason to celebrate

- By Stacy Dollar Stacy Dollar is co-coordinato­r for San Antonio’s National Day of Prayer observance. She also co-hosts The Bible Live on AM630 KSLR, volunteers as a religious education teacher for BMT at Joint Base Lackland AFB, and is a member of Trinity

My dearest San Antonio, how are you? What a year it has been. A year of a whole lot of who knows what is not happening not happening. There have been surprising, wonderful victories and crushing, unexpected defeats. From the pandemic to power outages, it’s been quite a year.

I’d like to publicly say thank you to God for sustaining San Antonio. What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear, indeed. I miss you, friends, and I’d like to invite you “to carry everything to Him in prayer.”

Join us in unified prayer for

San Antonio on the National Day of Prayer at Noon Thursday at Main Plaza, across from City Hall.

We need good news, and we come together to celebrate the best news: the wedding is on! Despite the extra pounds we’ve gained during COVID, despite the puffy eyelids, the financial losses, the isolation, the anger, the envy, the weariness — despite it all, we are deeply loved. The Holy God of all eternity past, present and future wants us. He broke through time and space to have our perfect hands in his, to see us face to face, and to call us by name, for we are his.

We are no strangers to guilt and shame. From our earliest disappoint­ments in life, we know something is wrong. It doesn’t take much: I remember running into the house sobbing with my hands over my face during my sixth birthday party. I was ashamed because I was the first person out during a game of musical chairs.

My mother tried to convince me it was going to be OK. After some loving encouragem­ent from my parents, I remember finally being willing to show my face again. It was scary walking back out there though, and that sensation never quite went away.

There were other moments — some far more consequent­ial — when that same great desire to hide my face took over. I had failed in securing my seat, and I tucked that away knowing it would catch up with me. If not in this life, I knew I would one day appear before a God who is utterly and completely holy. He is perfection, and I knew that I wanted nothing more in life or death than to look upon his face.

It was in a Bible study when I was about 15 years old that a friend read me this passage from II Corinthian­s 3:17-18:

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplat­e the Lord’s glory, are being transforme­d into His image with everincrea­sing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

I realized then that God felt the same about me! He loved me and desired to know me. He knew, though, that I would never be able to make myself holy, so he descended to me.

Jesus surrendere­d his seat to be able to look upon me, upon us. He asks us to receive his proposal, which is this: He gave his life for ours. If we receive his gift, we are clothed in his righteousn­ess (Eph 4:24). We are made holy, free to look upon the face of the one seated on the throne of eternity. The wedding feast is on! And we joyfully invite our dearest friends to join us in celebratin­g the great privilege of going before the throne of God in prayer for our city.

Join us at Noon Thursday at Main Plaza when a proclamati­on from Mayor Ron Nirenberg will be read. Then we will pray. Preservice music begins at 11:30 a.m. A livestream will be available at ndpsananto­nio.org.

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