Your petition breathes an earnest desire to be made beautiful, to be a model of comeliness, to shine with a glory that commands admiration. I hear the urgency in your cry and I would not quench a single spark of your fervent prayer. Yet let me bend your eye away from the fading glories of this present world to a loveliness that shall never wane, a splendour that time cannot mar nor death extinguish. For you have asked amiss, yearning after that which would too easily become an idol to your own soul and a snare to others. The Lord does indeed give beauty, but it is beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
Consider the words of the prophet: “To give unto them beauty for ashes.” It is a free gift, and what He takes away is of no value. The ashes of worldly vanity, the cinders of self-seeking, these He removes and bestows instead His own comeliness. Have you not seen how He turns our mourning into morning? He gives us splendours for cinders. But what is this beauty? It is not the surface fairness of the flesh, which decays with age and vanishes at the touch of disease. It is a beauty of the mind, a spiritual lustre far superior. When men find peace in Jesus Christ, there comes a visible radiance upon the countenance, the beauty of holiness, a thing of joy to all who behold it.
You ask to be a model, a pattern for the world. Behold the Model Missionary, the Lord Jesus. The world saw no outward beauty in Him that they should desire Him. His visage was marred more than any man’s, and His form more than the sons of men. Yet no picture can do justice to the beauty of His character, the majesty of His person. The King in His beauty is seen not by eyes of flesh but by the clearer eye of faith. His beauty is that of humility, of love, of perfect obedience. He was clothed with tender mercies, with strength, with righteousness. This is the beauty that holds angels spellbound, beside which sun and moon are dim. And all who look to Him partake of His beauty as the branch draws sap from the olive tree.
A true longing to be beautiful in God’s sight will lead you to the foot of the cross. There, the transformation begins. The crooked is made straight, the thorn becomes the fir tree, the brier the myrtle. Do you desire to be a wonder to yourself and to others? Then ask the Holy Spirit to impart the beauty of holiness, the comeliness of a gentle and quiet spirit, the adornment of good works. The olive tree is beautiful not merely in its leaves but in its fruitfulness, its progeny. So let your beauty be as the olive tree, a beauty that nourishes others, that provides oil for the sanctuary, that perseveres in all seasons.
When you pray, learn from Jacob’s model prayer. He pleaded God’s own promises, he argued from covenant mercies. You have cried out, “Lord, your word says ask and I will receive.” That is well, but let your asking be according to His will. He has promised beauty, but it is the beauty of His salvation, the glorious clothing of Christ’s righteousness, the transformation of the inner man. Seek this with all your urgency, and you shall be amazed, astonished indeed, for “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” Press your suit with holy argument, reminding the Lord of His promise to beautify the meek with salvation. He will perform it for you.
Lay aside, then, the feverish desire to outshine every creature in outward form. The first face that long mirrors itself in the stream will grow forgetful of heaven. But a soul absorbed with the beauty of Christ reflects His glory and becomes a joy to the church and to the world. Come to Him just now, weary and laden with your mortal cares, and He will give you rest. In that rest you shall discover a beauty which is not your own, a loveliness radiant and eternal. Then, with earnest meditation upon His Person, you shall see the King in His beauty and the land that is very far off. May you be kept from marring this beauty, and be forever so fair that even our Lord Himself may look and love. Amen.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. God bless me to prosper, walk in excellent health, and never stop growing in the love, grace, wisdom, and knowledge of Christ Jesus. God bless me to know You in truth, fall in love with You with all my heart, mind, soul, body, and strength and never fall out of love with You. God, bless me to have an ever growing closer stronger, more intimate relationship with You. Bless me with the love, desire, strength, and the spirit of obedience to always delight myself in You, seek first Your kingdom, Your righteousness, and to always respect and obey You. Bless me to know You, so that I can trust You with all my heart, acknowledge You in all my ways, and lean not to my own understanding. Bless me with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in all You have called me to do. 
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