Today's post is a little different from the others. It contains no attempt at literary sparkle or philosophical depth. It is a simple prayer I found recently in one of my journals from 2007. I share it with you at the beginning of this new year. I send it up once again--my most heartfelt desires for 2013 for me and mine. Perhaps it will become your prayer too.
Dear Father,
This morning I come to
you with a specific request for myself and all those I most love— these you
have given to me, these to whom I have also been given. I ask you for this having just come from a
study in Your Word that is always available to us as the sharp instrument to
attune our hearts and minds to your will.
I am sorry and ask your forgiveness for all those times I have come away
from it unmoved, unchanged, cold-hearted, and thick-skinned. I ask you also in the Name of Jesus, my Lord,
your only begotten Son sent to deliver me and all for whom I pray, sent as a
ransom for our sins. Because of Him, we have this lovely hope of Heaven to
sustain us every day, every moment, no matter how hard things might become down
here. You inspired Paul to write in his
letter to the Philippians, “With prayer and thanksgiving, let your requests be
known to God.” So I come trusting that
what he said would follow will indeed follow: “…and the peace of God that
transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus.” I thank you for hearing and
taking into your heart’s deep consideration all I am about to ask.
I ask that you grant us
tender consciences that are controlled by You; tender, moveable hearts that can
feel deeply what and how you want them to; and, sensitivity
to the feelings of others, especially those we love and who are closest and
thus most vulnerable to us-- sensitivity to their need for our undivided attention, our kindness, our mercy, our touch, our noticing eyes and listening ears. Please keep those hearts that are still like this
intact, and restore them to the rest of us who have lost these qualities through time and familiarity's subtle whetstone or
have thrown them away out of bitterness due to the pain they make possible.
I know, Lord, that you
will not force these upon any who are willfully set against them, so I pray
also that all in our family and circle of friends will want these things and
will perhaps be prompted to ask you to have their sins and deep needs revealed
to them. I know this is a scary thing to
ask because we never know how deep your scalpel will need to cut to produce
the revelations. Help us all desire to walk in obedience to You and to do that
prompted by the right kind of hearts and minds.
Patience, kindness,
sensitivity, tenderness, mercy, compassion, Lord. Soft things that take strong people to offer them, especially, and ironically, to those whose closest breath we share. Please, please, please.
Amen
