Daily Prayer in Lent - Friday, Week Three

Word for the Season

Even now, says the LORD,

return to me with your whole heart...
Joel 2:12

Word for the Day

Forgive all iniquity,
and receive what is good...
(see today's readings for Hosea 14)

Reflection

Such must be how God loves us, sinners...
God never fails to see the good in each of us
and never fails to forgive our sins...

So great is God's love for each of us;
so much does the Lord delight in us;
so taken is God with each of us as the apple of his eye:
the Lord forgives the many ways
we have denied and broken and tarnished the beauty in us,
the beauty reflecting the One who made us...

Prayer
I return to you today, Lord,
with a heart I often try to hide
when I lose sight of the beauty
you have created in me...

I know my sins, Lord,
and I lose sight of your goodness within me:
I fear that you see only what I see,
my brokenness...

I forget that you come to meet me
where I am rough-edged, that you might smooth me;
where I am broken, that you might mend me;
where I am weak, that you might strengthen me;
where I am sick, that you might heal me;
where I have sinned, that you might forgive me...

And sometimes I look on others in the same way...
I see only their rough edges
and miss the polished parts
through which your beauty shines...

Forgive my sins, Lord,
and receive what is good within my heart:
be gentle in receiving the heart I offer you...

Help me to forgive others, Lord,
and to see what is good within them:
let me be gentle in receiving them in my heart...

I trust you, Lord,
and pray you will trust me
to return to you this Lent, day by day,
with my whole heart...
Amen. 2009LentPostCollection

Image: Gwen Meharg

-ConcordPastor