Whose words, whose prayers are these?

Off line, a reader who follows my MMO's and Daily Prayers in Lent asked me an interesting question: "Are these prayers a kind of diary of your own spiritual life?"

Well, the answer is that on some days they are and on some days they're not.

I've spent a good portion of my life standing with others before God as they struggle to pray, to open their hearts to the Lord, to pour out what their hearts need to speak to the Lord. From those experiences, I've learned a lot about what and how people pray - and the problems they have in prayer. My own prayer, a pastor's prayer, is very much like everyone else's prayer. Like others, I struggle to bring to speech what my heart has and needs to say to God.

The "topics" for the MMO's come from my reflection and my prayer for the Holy Spirit to plant a seed in my imagination. The Daily Prayer in Lent series is under the umbrella of the verse from Joel and more immediately shaped by a verse or passage from the day's scriptures for Mass.

So on some days, the prayers you read here may have jumped from my heart to the keyboard to the blog - to you! And on other days, the scripture or notion upon which a prayer is blessed by my experience of others' prayer and spiritual struggles over the years.

My biggest prayer in this regard is that those who read these prayers will grow in the knowledge and love of God.

-ConcordPastor
2009
- Heart image by Gwen Mehorg
- Coffee image by George Mendoza