A Prayer for Ascension Day

Last May 9, we celebrated Ascension Day. That is a momentous day, for the Scriptures tell us that when Jesus ascended into heaven we went with him to live continually in the heavenly realms. One of our collects for the day reminds us of that truth:

Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that as we believe your only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into heaven, so we may also in heart and mind there ascend, and with him continually dwell; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen (Book of Common Prayer, 226).

That collect asks that we may ascend, in heart and mind, with Christ to dwell with him in heaven. The petition is based a snippet from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, which an up-to-date translation renders this way:

Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6-7, The Message).

What an amazing truth to contemplate: When our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, each of us went with him to dwell even now as we await his coming in glory.

So here’s a suggestion for making this truth practical: During difficult times, remember that you really are in the next world with our Lord Jesus Christ.

You might respond, “I don’t want to be so heavenly minded that I am no earthly good.” But C. S. Lewis wrote that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. He points out that the Apostles who started the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great saints who built up the Middle Ages, and the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade all left their mark on Earth precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven.

So, to help us pray the collect for Ascension Day every day, here is an up-to-date version:

Please, Almighty God, help us believe that your only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, that we also may live with him in heaven even as we go about our business here on earth—for Jesus lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.