Looking back on my life, when I was much younger, it is amusing to think about my past beliefs on prayer. For example, I distinctly recall being advised against praying for patience. The reasoning was that if I did pray for patience, God would send me numerous challenges to test my patience, so it was best to avoid that particular request altogether. Or what about praying, “Thy will be done?” What if I prayed those words and God sent me to live in the wilds of a rain forest, never to be seen or heard from again? Did I really want to do His will that badly? Like I said, amusing!
That all changed though as I grew in faith. When I fully surrendered to Christ, prayer became the treasure of my soul and it was a delight to desire His will, no matter the cost. And one such prayer that sought His will, was the following:
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
Talk about a prayer that packs a punch. Sanctify me completely. Sanctify me completely. Sanctify me completely. Those are words with weight.
What Does Sanctify Really Mean?
Sanctify or sanctification is one of those fancy words in our Bible, like justification or glorification, that can seem a bit intimidating at first. In this case, what are we asking the “God of peace Himself” to do when we pray Sanctify me completely? Let me try to explain.
The word Saint and the word Sanct (sanctify) both come from the same Greek word “hagios.” It means holy, sacred, and set apart by and for God. Therefore, a “saint” is a holy one, or plural, holy ones. Keeping that in mind, consider this - when the English language adds an “ify” to a word, it’s added to make that particular word that thing. To purify, makes something pure. To clarify, makes something clear. To rectify, makes something right. So, to sanctify…is to make saints, holy ones. And how does God do this? Through the indwelling power and presence of the Holy Spirit working in our lives.
Once we have taken the step of salvation in Jesus Christ, we are declared “righteous,” but now the work of sanctification begins, the work to conform us into His image. For most of us, there is a lot of “undoing” to do (thoughts, deeds, speech). Commanded now to carry out Christ’s work upon the earth, we need to make sure that when we go out as His representatives, others see Christ in us.
A Surrendered Saint
Think about how Jesus lived on the earth. That’s the goal: to walk as He walked (1 John 2:6). When we pray for the Lord to sanctify us completely, by His Spirit, we are asking the refiner Himself to refine us in such a way that we walk as He walked. We are asking to be made into holy ones, and it’s a prayer you will never regret praying.
Holiness is a concept found only in the Bible. No other religious book reveals the source or nature of it. When our aim is holiness, it allows the world to see a glimpse of Christ and His holiness through us. People can comprehend love, and kindness, and even serving others, but without the Bible, they cannot comprehend what it means to be holy except by what they see in us.
God commands His people, Be holy, for I am holy (1 Peter 1:16). Why? Because, you just may be the closest thing to holiness anyone on this earth will see.
God Bless You,
Carole
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