{"id":3929,"date":"2017-07-10T09:43:52","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T13:43:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=3929"},"modified":"2017-07-10T09:46:16","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T13:46:16","slug":"prayer-color-blind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/07\/prayer-color-blind.html","title":{"rendered":"A Prayer to be Blind"},"content":{"rendered":"

But the Lord said to Samuel, \u201cDon\u2019t judge by his appearance or height\u2026The Lord doesn\u2019t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.\u201d 1 Samuel 16:7<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

He will not judge by appearance<\/strong><\/em>
\n nor make a decision based on hearsay. Isaiah 11:3b<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"32660357896_dd38c44218_z\"<\/a><\/p>\n

God, with His infinitely superior vision, sees through our outer core, right into the heart. He\u2019s not swayed by what is perceptible\u00a0to the human eye; He observes what is invisible yet evident\u00a0to His understanding.<\/p>\n

God shows no discrimination; He sees the heart of the individual, not his or her race. Scripture even tells us that there is no distinction in terms of gender when it comes to the value of a person, for there is \u201cneither male nor female.\u201d There is no value based on position or rank, for there is \u201cneither slave nor free.\u201d<\/p>\n

How does this contrast with the world we live in? In our culture, people with certain features, certain hues, are given more opportunities than those who don\u2019t possess them. When we pray, \u201cThy Kingdom come,\u201d are we not asking for God\u2019s perspective in all things that matter?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s pray today for eyes that see beyond face value. Let\u2019s ask for vision to\u00a0see into the heart of the person before us, observing\u00a0them from His point of view and loving them from His infinite source of love.<\/p>\n

Father,<\/em><\/p>\n

I have over-valued my physical senses. I have judged based on my limited perspective. These two eyes cannot penetrate skin, muscle, and organs to see the state of a soul, so I\u2019ve judged using my external guides, missing the mark regularly.<\/em><\/p>\n

Please take these physical eyes \u2013 I do thank You for them, for their place in my life is a blessing indeed \u2013 but please give me Your perspective on the people I live with, walk with, work with, and pass by day to day.<\/em><\/p>\n

Help me to see past skin color. Please, Lord, break down my stereotypes. Forgive me! Make me color blind, Father, as You are.<\/em><\/p>\n

As I lean into You in all things that matter in this life, transform me into the person\u00a0You designed me to be: a person acting very much like Jesus, speaking very much like Jesus, and seeing people very much like Jesus saw them \u2013 looking directly into the heart, not the outer appearance.<\/em><\/p>\n

In Jesus\u2019 Name,<\/em>
\n Amen<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo credit:\u00a0midianinja<\/a>\u00a0via\u00a0Foter.com<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0CC BY-SA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But the Lord said to Samuel, \u201cDon\u2019t judge by his appearance or height\u2026The Lord doesn\u2019t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.\u201d 1 Samuel 16:7 He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay. Isaiah 11:3b God, with His…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,7,4,25,3,1],"tags":[325,1260,405,623,208,511,225],"class_list":["post-3929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-daily-prayer","category-god","category-jesus","category-prayer","category-uncategorized","tag-change","tag-culture","tag-discrimination","tag-judging","tag-repentance-2","tag-understanding","tag-wisdom"],"yoast_head":"\nA Prayer to be Blind<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2017\/07\/prayer-color-blind.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Prayer to be Blind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"But the Lord said to Samuel, \u201cDon\u2019t judge by his appearance or height\u2026The Lord doesn\u2019t see things the way you see them. 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