A Concord Pastor Comments: Praying 10 minutes today: WEDNESDAY 10/10

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:
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;

a contrite, humbled heart, O God,
you will not scorn...

- Psalm 51

(Before moving on to the reflection below,

spend some quiet time with the scripture verse above...)

I offer you a humbled, contrite heart...

I'm humbled, Lord,
   because I can't begin to understand the mystery of your mercy,
      that you love me, even in my sins:
   would that I might forgive and love as freely
      those who offend me...

You never fail to see the good in me;
   you always find what's to be loved in me...

You never cease to reach out, gently,
   to rescue me from my selfish ways,
   to mend what's broken in me,
   to heal what's sick,
   to forgive what offends against your love
   to bring me home to your embrace,...

I don't understand such love but I'm ever grateful
   for how you never fail to offer me
      the mystery of your loving pardon...

And so I offer you my humbled, contrite heart...

So great is your love, Lord,
   so exquisitely personal the delight you take in each of us,
that even when I forget, when I tarnish, when I deny
   the image of your beauty within me,
      your heart remains open to a change in mine...

I return to you, Lord,
   with a heart I sometimes try to hide from you,
especially when I've marred your beauty
   mirrored in my soul...

So, I offer you my humbled, contrite heart...

I lose sight of your goodness within me, Lord,
   and I fear that you'll see only what I see -
       my brokenness...

So, I offer you my humbled, contrite heart...

I forget that you come to meet me:
   just where I'm ragged
      so you might smooth my rough edges;
   just where I'm broken,
      that you might mend me;
   just where I'm weak,
      so you might make me strong;
   just where I'm sick, in body and soul,
      so you might heal me;
   just where I've sinned, just when I've sinned,
      that I might find and have and be cleansed
   by your mercy...

And so I offer you my humbled, contrite heart...

Forgive my sins, Lord,
   and nurture the good you find within me...

Be gentle in receiving the heart I offer:
   it's damaged and broken
and needs your healing touch...

And when I see in others
   only their rough and broken parts,
when I miss their goodness
   (through which your beauty shines)
remind me how I'm one with them in sin
   and in my need for your great mercy...

Help me forgive those who hurt me, Lord:
   help me see in them the image of your face,
      the goodness that is theirs;
   help me gently welcome them
       into my broken, humbled, contrite heart...

My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;

a contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn...

In the quiet of my prayer, Lord,
   make me unafraid to bare my heart to you
who know its every contour,
   its every nook and cranny,
its every haunted memory...

Let no fear, no shamed embarrassment,
   keep me from showing you and sharing

what I would rather hide...

Rather, give me courage to expose my sin
and so, my heart and soul,

to the cool refreshing waters of your mercy...

In the stillness of my prayer, Lord,

   show me the face of your mercy,
the mercy of your healing
   and the healing of your kindness...

Help me find your image within me, Lord,
   to see the goodness that's mine
for being fashioned by your hand...

In the quiet of my prayer,
   help me see myself as you do,
help me see that I'm your child, your own,
      your beloved in whom you take delight...

My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;

a contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn...

To ponder and pray over...

What part of my story, what place in my heart,
   do I try to hide from the Lord?
Do I trust that God loves me even in my sins,
   and even in my sins is calling, drawing me back to his love?
Do I understand that it's God's love that leads me
   to contrition? leads me to have a contrite heart?

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?

(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.