This post was last updated on May 20, 2026
Day 46 (Year 2)
God Shines Light Out of Darkness
“Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3 NASB)
“For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6 NASB)
Today’s first scripture showed that God’s Spirit first moved in darkness, and then God commanded light to shine. The second one suggests that Paul saw a similar darkness within the human heart. When God’s light shines, we perceive the glory of God on the face of Jesus Christ. First, when we sense darkness within ourselves, we can pray for God’s Spirit to move powerfully in those areas and ask for His light to come. For example, if believers feel that the eyes of the heart are blind, we may ask the Lord Jesus and His Spirit to work in those blind areas and grant us light. When His light comes, there is often a sudden clarity and freedom. Similarly, if we sense that our reason, emotions, or other inner faculties need God’s work, we may pray in the same way. Even when encountering unbelievers, we can pray that God’s Spirit would move in and shine on them.
However, we must be careful. Only under God’s guidance should believers declare or command, in Jesus’ name, that light come upon someone. Without God’s leading, rashly making such declarations risks overstepping His authority and may even be considered a form of evil manipulation, inviting false light or deceptive influence upon them. In all things, we must confirm the Lord’s leading and walk in divine obedience.
We could pray for God to illuminate our hearts, for the heart is the source of motivation and the place where spiritual truth is perceived and responded to. Our minds need to reconnect with our hearts. If our hearts are suppressed or veiled—perhaps through the control or oppression of others—we should ask God to remove every obstacle in them and on them. When people wrongly submit to external authority or continually suppress their hearts, they become disconnected from their own hearts and are unable to sense the inner moving work of God. In contrast, young children often have simple hearts that are more open to His light. Perhaps for this reason, Jesus told the disciples to become like little children, thereby restoring the human heart’s natural sensitivity to God’s truth so that they could enter His kingdom. We should pray for God’s light to come upon us and others, and continue praying until we see the glory of Christ shining and leading us on His way.
Reflection questions:
1) Do you find your mind easily understands what God illuminates? If not, how would you pray about it?
2) In your heart, do you see the glorious Jesus, or a dim and weakened image of Him? If you have not clearly seen His glorious face, are you willing to keep praying until you do?