Find a quiet time and place to pray... take a few deep breaths...
be still... and know that God is near...
A word to reflect on:
You formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother's womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me;
wonderful are your works!
- Psalm 139
Me - wonderful?
That's a stretch, Lord!
And, at the risk of criticizing your handiwork,
it's just about impossible for me to think of myself as
"wonderfully made..."
The thing is, Lord - I see my flaws
and sometimes my flaws are all I can see:
my rough edges and the scrapes and dents
left behind as marks of my mistakes and failings...
I know my flaws don't come from your hand, Lord,
but I also know that you see them
so it's hard for me to say I'm one of your wonderful works,
that I am wonderfully made...
Because I know my flaws, I easily fail to see the wonder
of how I was made and who I am -
and, Lord, I don't even see all the flaws that are mine:
some I'm blind to, some I ignore and some I just plain deny...
But one of my biggest flaws is thinking, even believing,
that my dents and scrapes prove me to be worthless,
a failure, a mistake, not-much-good for anything or anyone...
Help me learn the difference, Lord, between
an honest discernment of my faults
and the temptation to forget, even to deny
that I'm created in your image, fashioned by your hand...
If I'm truly honest about myself, Lord,
I can't deny that you formed my inmost being,
that you knit me in my mother's womb,
and that by your hand I am wonderfully made...
Let my flaws not blind me to your image within me,
your handprint upon my heart and your signature upon my soul:
I am signed by the Artist, indelibly so...
You formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother's womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me;
wonderful are your works!
Before my mother knew, Lord,
you were knitting me in her womb,
stitching together my body and soul, my mind and heart,
the unique person you created and called me to be...
No one else, not even one from the same womb,
is the like of me, Lord,
for in the deepest core of my being
I am unique in your eyes and, indeed, in who I am
for every work of your hands is truly original
and for that blessing you call me to be grateful...
The wonder you created me to be I've marred, Lord, and scarred
with carelessness, neglect and sin
and for that I ask forgiveness.
And I trust in your promise
that any damage I've done you can and will
restore and mend with mercy and with pardon,
making whole again what I've broken and not cared for...
Even with all my faults and flaws, Lord,
you still find the wonder of the person you made me to be:
help me find and trust what you see within me:
the beauty of your image in my soul...
In the stillness of my prayer, Lord,
receive my plea for pardon of my faults
and help me see, in your mercy,
how I am the work of our hands;
that I am wonderfully made in your image,
that from my mother's womb, I am the apple of your eye...
You formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother's womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me;
wonderful are your works!
In the quiet of this time, Lord, help me to praise you
because you formed my inmost being in my mother's womb,
because, so wonderfully, you created me
and, indeed, I am the work of your hands...
You formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother's womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me;
wonderful are your works!
- Psalm 139
(Before moving on to the reflection below,
spend some quiet time with the scripture verse above...)
Me - wonderful?
That's a stretch, Lord!
And, at the risk of criticizing your handiwork,
it's just about impossible for me to think of myself as
"wonderfully made..."
The thing is, Lord - I see my flaws
and sometimes my flaws are all I can see:
my rough edges and the scrapes and dents
left behind as marks of my mistakes and failings...
I know my flaws don't come from your hand, Lord,
but I also know that you see them
so it's hard for me to say I'm one of your wonderful works,
that I am wonderfully made...
Because I know my flaws, I easily fail to see the wonder
of how I was made and who I am -
and, Lord, I don't even see all the flaws that are mine:
some I'm blind to, some I ignore and some I just plain deny...
But one of my biggest flaws is thinking, even believing,
that my dents and scrapes prove me to be worthless,
a failure, a mistake, not-much-good for anything or anyone...
Help me learn the difference, Lord, between
an honest discernment of my faults
and the temptation to forget, even to deny
that I'm created in your image, fashioned by your hand...
If I'm truly honest about myself, Lord,
I can't deny that you formed my inmost being,
that you knit me in my mother's womb,
and that by your hand I am wonderfully made...
Let my flaws not blind me to your image within me,
your handprint upon my heart and your signature upon my soul:
I am signed by the Artist, indelibly so...
You formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother's womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me;
wonderful are your works!
Before my mother knew, Lord,
you were knitting me in her womb,
stitching together my body and soul, my mind and heart,
the unique person you created and called me to be...
No one else, not even one from the same womb,
is the like of me, Lord,
for in the deepest core of my being
I am unique in your eyes and, indeed, in who I am
for every work of your hands is truly original
and for that blessing you call me to be grateful...
The wonder you created me to be I've marred, Lord, and scarred
with carelessness, neglect and sin
and for that I ask forgiveness.
And I trust in your promise
that any damage I've done you can and will
restore and mend with mercy and with pardon,
making whole again what I've broken and not cared for...
Even with all my faults and flaws, Lord,
you still find the wonder of the person you made me to be:
help me find and trust what you see within me:
the beauty of your image in my soul...
In the stillness of my prayer, Lord,
receive my plea for pardon of my faults
and help me see, in your mercy,
how I am the work of our hands;
that I am wonderfully made in your image,
that from my mother's womb, I am the apple of your eye...
You formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother's womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me;
wonderful are your works!
In the quiet of this time, Lord, help me to praise you
because you formed my inmost being in my mother's womb,
because, so wonderfully, you created me
and, indeed, I am the work of your hands...
To ponder and pray over...
Does awareness of my flaws keep me from trusting God's love for me?Have I given up on myself because of my failings and flaws?
Have I forgotten that I am the work of God's hand?
Do I need help in finding the wonder, the beauty, God sees in me?
What will I ask of the Lord today?
From this prayer time, what word or phrase will I keep with me
to carry through the rest of my day?
From this prayer time, what word or phrase will I keep with me
to carry through the rest of my day?
(After you spend some time with these questions,
pray the reflection above one more time...)
Here are some tips for praying 10 minutes a day. If you find these daily prayer reminders helpful, please let me know - and share them with others. You'll find an archive of these daily posts here.
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wonderfully made to be full of wonder, praise God.
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